Phil Hill, 1927-2008

[Bob Beamesderfer]

[Steve Coe]

Phil Hill
August 29, 2008
Phil Hill, a reserved Californian who became a gifted race-car driver & the only American-born driver to win the F1 international auto-racing championship, died today He was 81.

Hill died at Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula of complications from Parkinson's disease, according to John Lamm, a close friend who is also editor-at-large of R&T magazine.


"It's a sad day," said Carroll Shelby, a close friend of Hill's who won Le Mans himself in '59 & then became a celebrated sports car builder. "Phil was an excellent race car driver w/a unique feel for the car, & his real expertise was in long-distance racing."

Hill won the F1 title for Ferrari in '61. He also was the 1st American to win the 24-hour endurance sports-car race at Le Mans, France -- a race he would win twice again -- & he won the Sebring 12-hour race 3 times, among many other victories.

"Phil set the standard" for other American drivers who competed overseas, such as Dan Gurney & Mario Andretti, said the late Shav Glick, longtime motor sports writer for the Times, in '06.

(The Italian-born Andretti, whose family emigrated to the U.S. when he was a teenager, won the F1 title in '78.)

Hill "also was a great representative of the sport," Glick said, adding that he was "quiet & not given to self-promotion. A very gracious man."

Shelby recalled Hill as a man w/"multiple talents."

"Phil tuned pianos, he could take anything apart & put it back together, & he loved opera," Shelby told The Times.

Hill won his F1 championship at the season's penultimate race in Monza, Italy, after he had swapped the series lead all year w/his Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips of Germany.

In the same race, Trips died in a crash that also killed 14 spectators. As a result, Ferrari did not participate in the season's final race in Watkins Glen (NY), & Hill was unable to celebrate his championship in his home nation.

Hill, despite driving w/safety gear in his race car that paled by today's standards, never suffered a serious injury in his career. He retired from driving in '67 at 39.

"I had an amazing amount of luck to race for 22 years & not a drop of blood or a broken bone," Hill once said. Then he quipped: "Maybe I wasn't trying hard enough."

But racing was not always easy for Hill. According to F1's website, Hill was "profoundly intelligent & deeply sensitive," a driver "always fearful & throughout his career he struggled to find a balance between the perils & pleasures of his profession."

At one point in the early '50s he stopped racing for 10 months because of stomach ulcers, but then returned & "by the mid-'50s he had become America's best sports car racer," the website said.

Philip Toll Hill was born in Miami on 4/20/1927, & was raised in Santa Monica. His love of cars began at an early age &, when he was 12, his aunt bought him a Model T Ford that he would drive on private roads in Santa Monica Canyon.

He studied business administration at USC in 1945/47 but eventually dropped out because his passion was race cars.

Hill worked as a mechanic on other drivers' cars &, in the early to mid-'50s, drove in races in Santa Ana, Pebble Beach, Mexico & Europe & eventually joined the Ferrari team.

In September '58, Hill finally got the ride he wanted in a Ferrari F1 car, which would culminate w/his world title. The 1st of Hill's Le Mans victories also came in '58, where he co-drove a Ferrari w/Olivier Gendebien.

After retiring, Hill focused much of his attention on his lifelong love of classic automobiles, as well as his collection of player pianos & other antique musical instruments.

He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in '91.

Hill is survived by his wife Alma, son Derek of Culver City, daughter Vanessa Rogers of Phoenix, stepdaughter Jennifer Delaney of Niwot (CO), & 4 grandchildren.

[Giovanni Jaramillo]

He studied business administration at USC in 1945/47 but eventually dropped out because his passion was race cars.

Even though he didn't graduate..........a fellow Trojan has passed on. RIP to one of the few "Americans" that made it in F1 (sorry S. Speed don't count).

[Steve Ekstrand]

A full life.

Both and

[John Coffey]

One of the few gentlemen racers.

[Pat O\'Neal]

Taken from an AP story...

“He had an extraordinary mechanical sense. He was very much in tune with the car,” said friend John Lamm, a noted automotive photographer and editor-at-large with Road & Track magazine. “His knowledge of automobiles was almost spooky. And he knew it off the top of his head. … He was extremely intelligent and well-rounded. He was an opera expert and very well-read. He was very sophisticated.”

“Phil was a very special guy and had a love for the automotive age,” said Dan Gurney, a teammate with Ferrari. “He was always a potential winner when he sat in a race car. He was both a competitor and a close friend and a fellow I could look up to.”

Racing F1 in the '60s had to be both horrifying and so rewarding. You had a seat belt and a helmet. There was no aero until '68 and tires so hard they lasted several races. The cars were very light and made stupid power. You had to be a master just to keep from going off. To win a championship and have hardly any mishaps boggles the mind.

RIP, Phil Hill!

[Bob Beamesderfer]

A British perspective on the man:

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns20701.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Reijo Silvennoinen]

There is a photo of him in the Calgary Sports Car Club (CSCC) Clubhouse from when he visited here in Calgary back in the sixties some time.....(I think). I'll see if I can post a photo of it.

A good man gone.

Reijo

[Bob Beamesderfer]

One other thing that's important to mention is that Phil was a member of the Cal Club Region.

He and Craig are probably bench racing already.

[Mako Koiwai]

Paul Newman might be next. Apparently he's pretty ill. Recently did a farewell lap ...

[Mako Koiwai]

http://www.piloti.com/