Right out of the box, Sir Stirling had an advantage over everybody else in this contest. Like Jenson Button half a century later he was the carrier of a super cool name! Would Ernest Moss have been remembered so easily?
Of course to put his place in history down to name recognition along is to do Sir Stirling a massive injustice. He was one of the racing greats, and on his day he could beat anyone! A boast made even more impressive by the names he was racing against.
Like Graham Hill after him he was the very essence of an English Gentleman. A Pioneer who shaped many of the ideas people still hold today about the glamorous racing driver lifestyle.
He was as naturally talented in a sports car as he was in a Grand Prix machine. A fact demonstrated by one of his most famous drives, the 1955 Mille Miglia.
What makes him stand out from the drivers today however, is his honour. He lost the chance of being Britain’s first World Champion to Mike Hawthorn after appealing in Hawthorn’s favour, against a stewards penalty. He lost by just one point!
His determination to stay in British cars may also have cost him a title, but it showed a loyalty and determination that doesn’t seem to exist in today’s financially driven world.
Before Stirling Moss Motor Racing was a German/Italian dominated sport, by the time he left Britain was the centre of the motor racing world, as it remains today.
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