Stirling Moss: My Racing Life

by Stirling Moss, Simon Taylor

In this very personal book, Stirling Moss guides the reader through his motor racing life with a fascinating, insightful and often amusing commentary to an unrivalled collection of over 300 photographs, many of which will be unfamiliar to even his most ardent fans. He takes us from his childhood to the height of his fame as 'Mr Motor Racing' and then to the sudden end of his career with that crash at Goodwood in 1962. Along the way we dwell on his finest moments as well as the setbacks, and delight in the sheer variety of machinery - almost 100 different cars - in which he competed during his rollercoaster racing life. This is a book that all motor racing enthusiasts will treasure. - Starting in 1948, he made his name in little 500cc Coopers, moving towards stardom in HWM, ERA and Cooper F2 cars, then his own F1 Maserati 250F. - The 1955 Mercedes season and its twin highlights – winning the Mille Miglia and the British Grand Prix. - His longing to win in British cars was rewarded with two fine F1 seasons at Vanwall (1957–58), with whom he came very close to winning the F1 World Championship, and sports car successes with Aston Martin. - Rear-engined Cooper and Lotus F1 cars with Rob Walker (1958–62), including two celebrated Monaco GP wins. - Two-seater the amazing range of sports cars he drove included Jaguars (XK120, C-type and D-type), Maseratis (150S to 450S), Ferraris (250 GT SWB and Testa Rossa) and Porsches (550 Spyder to RS61), plus Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica, Osca, Healey 100S, Cooper ‘Bobtail' and more. - Ever busy and rallying with Sunbeams, trialling a Harford special, Bonneville record-breaking with MG EX181, saloon car racing in a humble Standard Ten – and even a kart race. - Published to mark the 60th anniversary of Moss's famous win in the 1955 Mille Miglia road race in a Mercedes 300SLR. Foreword by 2014 Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2015

About the author

Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE was a British former Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of competition and has been described as "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship". In a seven-year span between 1955 and 1961 Moss finished as championship runner-up four times and in third place the other three times.

Reviews

[Damage98 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must have for Moss fans, and fans of 50s sportscar and GP racing. When the Tyres were thin and the Drivers were wide, when sex was safe and racing was deadly. Sir Stirling gives a personal touch, the phrasing and captions in the writing and photo captions all sound like he was reading this out loud to you. It's a shame he never did an Audible version.
The book covers some of the most life-threatening events with casual matter of fact wording. Make no mistake in Moss' era drivers were at risk of life and limb every time they sat in a car. Fear was an everyday thing, and the passion for speed kept the dedicated ones at the limit, and some went beyond, they 'leaned too far out the window' whether they were pushed, like Castellotti, or simply erred in judgement like Fon de Portago. Others were the victims of mechanical failure, and those deaths I find even more tragic. Say what you will about modern racing cars and tracks, there's no doubt lives are being saved. Moss mentions many of these losses, so be aware going in that it's not all sunshine and puppy dogs. All in all a fantastic, sometimes joyful, sometimes heart rending read, brought to life with great photos, some I had never seen.