Riverside, October 1958. During the inaugural Times Grand Prix Phil Hill was at the wheel of this Ferrari 412MI, equipped with the 4.1-liter V12 from the Ferrari used in the June 1958 500 Miglia di Monza, between Indianapolis and Formula One drivers. The factory claimed 450 BHP, but then Italian horses were always a bit smaller. Having qualified in the middle of the front row, Phil fought a close battle for the lead with Chuck Daigh in one of the Scarabs, until the Ferrari had to retire due to vapor lock. Note the crude windshield. (photo: Bob Tronolone)
Captions by Willem Oosthoek
It is still Phil Hill’s Championship year, albeit 60 years ago. We began with a look at Phil’s career in California, compliments of Jim Sitz, and then came Maserati historian Willem Oosthoek, who offered to allow us to use some of the photos from his collection. “After Jim Sitz’s wonderful columns on his personal interaction with Phil Hill, I recalled that I have a fair number of photos of Phil in sport racers as well.” In this case, Oosthoek did not take the photos but has the rights and or permissions to use them.