Manzon death

Robert Manzon in Rosier’s Ferrari 625 Grand Prix car in the 1954 British Grand Prix running ahead of Horace Gould’s Maserati 250F. Manzon retired with a cracked cylinder block.

By Graham Gauld

He was the last living driver to compete in the first World Championship Grand Prix for Formula 1 cars back in 1950 but now he is gone. Robert Manzon was perhaps not the best known Grand Prix driver but he was a much greater racing talent than his results would suggest.

Robert Manzon aged 95 up in the hills behind Cuneo smiling as usual.

Robert was French and born into a family that could trace their origins to Italy. Small, compact, tough and yet highly amusing Manzo was quite a character.
As Pete has mentioned elsewhere he started out racing with one of those wonderful little Cisitalia D46s that created quite a stir when they were produced. However, the Cisi did not turn out to be as successful as they might have been, at a time when there was a dearth of new racing cars coming along, particularly ones ideal for drivers coming into racing.
[Read more…] about Robert Manzon Remembered

Review by Pete Vack
Photos from the book

Robert Manzon passed away on January 20 at the age of 97, but not before leaving us with an interesting biography written by Pierre Fouquet-Hatevilain. We review it today while remembering this fine driver.

Publisher: Drivers, 2005
Language: French and English
ISBN-10: 2952049173
ISBN-13: 978-2952049177
Product Dimensions: 0.4 x 8.3 x 10.7 inches

“My ten years of motor racing have been ten years of happiness to me. Not only did I live my passion to the full but thanks to it, I discovered the world and mixed with extraordinary people….there were many retirements but I was lucky enough never to be seriously injured in my accidents. I was able to conclude this adventure with beautiful victories. Yes, it really was pure happiness!”

So Robert Manzon wrote in 2004, while looking back at his life behind the wheel between 1946 and 1956, years of both the golden age of racing and yet the deadliest. Robert Manzon may not have been a top flight driver, but many say he would have won far more victories if he had a more reliable drive.

A photo from 1933 shows the family garage; Robert Manzon is second from right.

Like many of the drivers of the era, Manzon was born into the auto trade. His grandmother had migrated from Italy to Marseille, France and began a family and a business; her sons became garage proprietors. Born in 1917, Manzon grew up working in the family garage, did his stint in the service before the fall of France in 1940. After the war, the family garage was successful enough to allow Robert to raise the money to buy a Simca 8, and following that a new Cisitalia D46. Due to the war he got a late start, often joking that his two children, racing baby Bugattis, began racing before he did. He shared a love of racing, a mechanic’s background, and an Italian heritage with Amédée Gordini. The two met in 1946, and it was the beginning of a long and interesting relationship.

Manzon with his new Cisitalia at Nimes on June 1, 1947. It was his first race with the Cisi and he placed third. Impressive.

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