Sir Stirling Moss died today at the age of 90.
Sir Stirling Moss died today at the age of 90.
Sir Stirling was one of my racing heroes. Certainly he was one of the best racers ever, on the same pedestal as Fangio, Clark, Senna and Nuvolari. But passion to excel and to pursue perfection in his driving was combined with a fierce national pride that led him prefer British race cars or at least British race teams. Driving British was more important to him than winning. Agree or disagree with that, but it does show tremendous class and self-confidence.
Today, even though it is Easter, is a little sad for me for the passing of the great Sir Stirling Moss.
Geeeez. Very sad.
A life well lived.
Driving British with this exception .... 1955 Mille Miglia #722 Mercedes 300SLR ... ET 10hrs,7min,48sec. at an avg. of 157.650km/hr...... RIP
Goodwood is streaming previous Easter Day historical races in honor of Sir Stirling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQS4D3E2Ifg It started at 10am UK time and runs for six hours, so about another hours' worth as of this post.
759NRNG (Forum Partidario) said:Driving British with this exception .... 1955 Mille Miglia #722 Mercedes 300SLR ... ET 10hrs,7min,48sec. at an avg. of 157.650km/hr...... RIP
A record that still seems impossible to beat by today's technology. I learned about Sterling Moss at a young age, and ever since then he has been sort of a hero. Moss said that the Mercedes had about an inch of play in the steering wheel each direction. Imagine traveling those tiny European streets, with that much steering wheel play, at those speeds!
One of very few motoring greats that I got the chance to meet. If only we all could make the most of the hand we're dealt as he did.
In reply to nderwater :
I love how "steelies" on any other car look like cheap trash, but look expensive in this.
759NRNG (Forum Partidario) said:Driving British with this exception .... 1955 Mille Miglia #722 Mercedes 300SLR ... ET 10hrs,7min,48sec. at an avg. of 157.650km/hr...... RIP
He drove for Mercedes in other races besides the 1955 Mille Miglia, and also raced for Maserati and Ferrari.
When my wife and I got married X years ago, one of the concessions granted to me was that the tables at our reception would have names of my favourite racers over the years, instead of the usual numbers.
When I told her he had died, she remembered that there had been a Moss table at our wedding. She's not into cars at all, but she understood that if there had been a table in his name, that he must have been a pretty big deal to me, someone who wasn't even born when he was forced to quit racing.
RIP.
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