Jim Clark, Racing Hero
By Graham Gauld
McKlein Publishing/Verlag Reinhard Klein GbR
400 pages, hard cover, with slipcase 29 x 29 cm
72 color, 253 B&W images
English and German text
ISBN: 978-3-927458-75-8
Price 99 Euros plus shipping
Order here
Review by Pete Vack
All photos by and courtesy of Graham Gauld
Being the editor of VeloceToday is a wonderful job; In fact if one asked me if to create the ideal occupation for someone with my aptitudes and skills, the resulting job description would be identical with those of the editor of VeloceToday. Fancy that.
The downside to this often 24 x 7 job is that one does get all motored-out at times. The general antidote over-revving oneself on automobiles is to settle in after hours with a book or movie which has nothing to do with anything on four wheels; anything from Shakespeare to Soccer…. There are times that the last thing one wants to read is a book about motoring or motor racing or racing drivers.
So it was a bit of surprised that one night I settled in not with my normal non-automotive fare, but with Graham Gauld’s latest book, Jim Clark, Racing Hero and enjoyed it immensely, even on my ‘off hours’. We know the story, we know the writer, but the combination of Gauld and the over 300 excellent photos grabbed my interest immediately and didn’t let go. So Graham, you are responsible for this stint of automotive overtime. But time well spent.
That stated, it may be obvious that we are happily biased; Gauld has been writing monthly for VeloceToday for some years now and we like him. So bear this in mind as one reads on.
It is a picture book but the text is more than just long captions but a good deal of splendid and insightful writing. And in Graham’s case, the writing is typically Graham Gauld; humorous, honest, and is the result of a lot of firsthand experience and an acute memory. Graham is if nothing else a story-teller and one can hear his Scottish accent in almost every sentence.
Can you imagine? Graham Gauld, center, at a party given by rally driver John Milne, (far right) in 1963 in Glasgow. Clark is apparently chatting with Jackie Stewart while Nigel Dewar Gibb listens in.
Clark is one of his favorite subjects, having already penned an autobiography of the first Scottish World Champion, and knew Clark very well in the days when Clark still managed to put his pants on one leg at a time. That is not to say Clark himself never thought he was more important than thou, but Clark quickly became legend and a worldwide traveler, who did indeed enjoy the limelight he so richly deserved.
The color images are rare. On December 26, 1959 Gauld captured Clark in a front-engined Gemini F Jr. at Brands Hatch. It was Clark’s first race in a single-seater, but he retired early, not have a particularly good run anyway.
Jim Clark is a new kind of biography, which like its sister volume Jacky Ickx also by McKlein Publishing, relies largely on photographs to reveal a very personal biography. Much to his credit, Reinhard Klein has searched far and wide for suitable and rarely if ever published photos of Clark’s career, from judging a beauty contest to doing PR work for a farm. There are 72 color and 253 b&w images.
Another way in which this book is different is the way it is organized. I have rarely seen a biography quite like it. Gauld defines Clark by an odd assortment of subjects. They aren’t chapters; they aren’t categories, but topics from A to Z (Aintree to Zandvoort) that portray Clark’s personal life. Like “Chewing Fingers”, “Ferrari”, “Humour” etc. For a historian this is a pain; for the general reader (like me in the evening), it is a different and entertaining way to present a story.
The Lotus 30 was not a happy car either. Clark took it to three victories in 1964 and 1965 but by the time of the Tourist Trophy at Oulton Park, the results were dismal; Clark finished well down in the first heat and retired in the second heat. He is seen leading the GTO of Michael Parkes.
Like so many today, it is a big book…11.5 by 11.5 inches, with 400 pages, which allows the photos to be used to full effect. Many of the photos are Graham’s, including the six we publish here, but many are from the McKlein collection, Bernard Cahier, and others. Text is in English and German.
Clark was a modern race driver who took advantage of the many PR opportunities offered to him. That is to say money of course. But he also put up money to enable Scotchcircuits Ltd. to open a new race track near Edinburgh and took part in an impromptu race of electric milk vans. He obviously enjoyed that, too.
There is no index but a very complete set of statistics on the events Clark entered, from 1955 to 1968, and includes the date, location, race, class, entrant and car type (but no serial numbers).
A lot has been written about Jim Clark, but Gauld’s book provides a great deal of information about Clark’s untimely death. The details are told in the segment entitled “Hockenheim”, which puts the end of the story in the middle of the book. Most telling perhaps is the testimony of Winfried Kolb, who was a marshal at the time, witnessed the accident and was one of the first on the scene. We were all shocked at the death; Clark was far too perfect to have such an accident. Yet to this day, the exact cause remains a mystery.
Clark’s last race. Driving the Formula 2 Lotus 48, he was unhappy with the handling of the car and spun twice in practice. Here Clark helps re-fuel the Lotus right before the start of the 1968 F2 race at Hockenheim. Credit Graham Gauld Archive Photographer Jerry Sloniger
Throughout the book Gauld provides insights and commentary that give those strange chapters meaning. In the section on Indianapolis, he notes that in 1965, after Clark won Indy, the previous winner traditionally hands over a large ring to the new winner. A.J. Foyt chose not to do so, and the ring was presented instead to Clark by an Indy official the next day. Ah well….
Yes, good book, a must for Clark fans, Gauld fans, Grand Prix fans and even those who like to sit down and savor a good book after hours. Even if it’s about cars.
Jim and Sally Stokes share a moment in the pits. She was a model and his long time girlfriend, who eventually married Abarth driver Ed Swart.
Dear Pete, intended or not?? TODAY is the 07 April 2015–exactly 47 years already since the dreadful day at Hockenheim!! And the book is as you describe, maybe the ‘last’ book on J.Clark , what should follow???
Best regards Michael
This book really looks the part. I already have five books on this great driver and will add this one up too. Jim Clark was one of the best racers ever.He made racing look simple by using his great natural ability.More than four decades after his death his memory is still with so.Thanks for many happy memories mate
I’ll have to get a copy. Graham Gauld is unbeatable with this kind of work…and he continues to find more photos we have never seen before. What did happen with the Lotus 30? I was so disappointed when it first appeared as must have been a whole raft of drivers, if not Colin Chapman himself. Oh, me just being smart, the electric milk van was always a milk float…
God I loved to watch this guy and how I wish he had lived to a ripe old age. Loved/hated the picture of Oulton Park, so typical of the day. Could they have made the trees any bigger and placed them any closer to the pavement?
Michael,
Just a coincidence on the dates…but Graham’s book is a hard act to follow in any event!
Pete
Tim,
Good to hear from you. Oddly enough, Graham used the term milk float in the text of his book, but I said, hmm, maybe more people will click with the term van vs float. Damn Editors!
Hi Pete:
Enjoyed your review of Gauld’s book on one of my personal heroes.i will order Graham’s book ASAP. My wife will tell me if I get any more books on my heroes, the house will start to list. However, I can always put on an addition…
Cheers,
John R. Wright
Lotus 30? I remember it being followed up by a Lotus 40 which one of the mags of the day described as ” …a Lotus 30 with 10 more mistakes.”
I just received my copy of ‘Jim Clark’ from The Motorsport Collector in the mail yesterday. This is a hefty volume in a deluxe slipcase and is more of a photographic journey through Clark’s life rather than a standard, factually-oriented and thorough biography (for that, you have Gauld’s earlier books.) It is organized by subject chapter headings versus chronologically – a novel approach although I must admit I was initially a bit put-off by coming across his fatal accident at Hockenheim under ‘H’ near the middle of the book and then going on to read about the different Lotus cars (under ‘L’) which he drove, etc. The value of the book lies in the many photos from Gauld’s large personal archive and there are many in this volume from the early, less well known years of Clark’s driving career. It is a photographic journey through the formative influences, friendships, the cars and tracks which played a role in Clark’s rise to becoming the arguably greatest Formula One driver of all time. There are first-person observations and vignettes from those who were around him during those years which give added ‘feel’ for both what that era was like for all racing drivers and more specifically, the evolution of Clark as both a person and as a driver as he ends up at the top of his profession. A complete statistical racing record is also included toward the back of the book. It comes with an also hefty price tag of $150 but I unreservedly recommend it highly to any motorsport enthusiast. Certainly not to be missed by Clark enthusiasts!