By William Edgar
Images Courtesy of Edgar Motorsport Archive
www.edgar-motorsport.com
No End in Sight – Still race-ready and fit at age 77, Phil Hill is interviewed by the younger generation during 2004's Monterey Historic Races at Laguna Seca, California. Phil drove an Alfa Romeo 6C-3000CM coupe here, also during last May's Monaco Historique.
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America's first Formula One World Champion, winner of Le Mans and Sebring three times in Ferraris—that California car kid who began driving at age nine and turned a pair of lucky sevens earlier this year—will be honored before a major gathering of family, friends and enthusiastic fans at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles the evening of November 11, 2004.
The ticket-reservations dinner gala celebrates Phil Hill and other Yanks who went to France to drive the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Those stepping to the after-dinner dais for commemoration, personal comments and entertainment will compile one of the greatest name grids ever in motor racing. Among the more than 30 guests invited to join Phil Hill are legendary Dan Gurney, AJ Foyt, John Fitch, Jim Hall, Mario Andretti and Carroll Shelby, Le Mans masters forming the nucleus of our very best and most victorious veteran American racing stars. The party, planned by Petersen Museum president Bruce Meyer, event chairman Tom McIntyre and members of the Petersen’s Checkered Flag 200 Club, promises to be as good as it gets—a winner of a night and total enjoyment, most certainly. In the truest sense of the word, this will be a Biggie.
Man for all Races – Phil Hill, age 31, on the cover of Sports Illustrated, winner of Sebring’s 12-Hours 1958-59 and 1961, co-driving works Testa Rossas once with Peter Collins, twice with Olivier Gendebien. Team Ferrari Hill on Newsweek, 1961 Formula One World Champion. Ferrari Yearbook pages illustrate Phil's wins in 1958, 1961-62 driving factory TRs with Gendebien at The 24-Hours of Le Mans.
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Now, with clarion trumpets' call and anticipatory engines started, a more focused look at The Man is in order here. Phil Hill is all driver, all talent—from his race-winning history to his first-rate, insightful writing found in Phil’s prime new publication "Ferrari, A Champion’s View." (Hill, with this book’s photographer, John Lamm, will autograph copies that night at the Petersen.) Over the years it's been hard, perhaps impossible, to beat Phil Hill at his own game. Ask any of those who’ve tried.
The Hills – Married in 1971, Alma and Phil are parents of Vanessa and Derek. Alma brought to the marriage her daughter Jennifer, who’s presented Phil and Alma with two grandchildren, Isabella and Liz. Phil and Alma live in Santa Monica, California, in the house where Phil grew up.
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I met Phil decades ago when he was first racing sports cars in California—MG, Jaguar, Alfa, Ferrari—before he went east, before he crossed the Atlantic to drive Le Mans, the Nurburgring, and Formula One for Enzo. Tightly wound and acutely tuned to the tasks and incredible trials of race driving is how Phil is often described. Temperamental, rather short-fused, often exasperatingly demanding. Yes, every bit true. But why not?.
Down Mexico Way – Hill drove the punishing Carrera Panamericana twice in Ferrari Vignale coupes with Arnold Stubbs and Richie Ginther in 1952-53. Phil (helmet) and Richie paired again in 1954 to drive this 375MM Vignale Spyder, finishing 2nd behind Umberto Maglioli's 375 Plus Spyder.
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Although there is more to him than the vigilant driver we know from what has been written of him, and from what he has so well written of himself and his sport, particularly in the pages of Road & Track. First and foremost, he's a keenly amazing tactician behind the wheel of a race car, be it Ferrari, Alfa-Romeo, or other, non-Italian, fare. Ford, specifically the GT-40 at Le Mans, and Cobra and Chaparral, all have, in his grip, proven perfect examples of Phil Hill controlling horsepower and handling while making it art. And what Phil continues to do in recent vintage race laps at the wheel of heady 3-liter Alfa coupes at Monaco and Laguna Seca is no less than remarkable for a driver of his years.
Wild Bunch – Phil (center) with Carroll Shelby and John Edgar’s race mechanic, Joe Landaker, shooting the breeze at 1957’s Hawaiian Speed Week during Shel’s and Phil’s sports car racing years in which these two Fifties superstars were often on-track rivals. Shelby and Hill teamed in 1955 to finish 2nd at Sebring in a Ferrari 750 Monza. They hooked-up again later with Ford-powered cars.
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Beyond his championships and resilient racing talent—if it isn't absurd to say there's even more than that—Phil Hill is one to persistently explore and discover all there is to know about the intricacies of those machines which, in his hands, so swiftly and distinctively carried him to fame. Phil's faultless restorations of classics have captivated and won at the Pebble Beach Concours. His own photography is no less scrupulous and artistic, and his ear hears fine music in much the degree as it revels in the throat of an engine on full song. Life for him, it may be said, fairly trembles with the precision and beauty of things.
Rain Dance – In May 1957, Phil Hill skippered John Edgar’s battlewagon Ferrari 410 Sport at Santa Barbara. All in all, 1952 through 1964, Phil logged 137 starts in Ferraris ranging from 212 Barchetta to Formula One Monoposto, winning 42 times, finishing top three on 74 triumphant occasions.
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And while these attributes may also be Phil's self-proclaimed obsessions, they are as well the fabric of his renown. It's what he has given to us in his years of being—quite frankly, and without peer—Phil Hill.
Mark your calendars to spend an evening with Phil and the Americans of Le Mans, along with famous Le Mans cars displayed throughout the Petersen Museum's banquet area. The date is Thursday, November 11, 2004. Attendance is expected to reach 750 or more. Cocktails begin at 6:30 pm, followed by dinner and the gala’s program emceed by Dave McClelland. For ticket information, call Susan Garcia at (323) 964-6359. Museum Members are $85 per person; $100 per person for non-members. Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90036. Website is www.petersen.org.
