PORSCHE WORLD MOURNS THE DEATH OF VIC ELFORD
Former Porsche factory driver, Vic Elford, has passed away at his home in Florida following a battle with cancer. He was eighty-six years old.
Considered by many to be the most versatile racer in the history of motorsport (on account of his winning ways in a variety of disciplines, including touring car racing, rallying, endurance events, Canam, NASCAR and Formula One), his efforts in the British Saloon Car Championship alone helped put the 911 on the map, while his ability to wring the neck of various Porsche sports-prototypes, including the 906, 908 and 917, saw the Zuffenhausen trophy cabinet become increasingly short on space.
In an extraordinarily short period of time, ‘Quick Vic’ (as he became known) won the European Rally Championship, the Monte Carlo Rally, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Targa Florio and the 1,000km of Nürburgring, as well as many more top tier events. He is regarded as the greatest driver to have never won Le Mans, though he did score two class wins at Sarthe. The first came with the no.37 works 906 in 1967, the second was when he was racing a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 for the Charles Pozzi team in 1973.
Vic was born on 10th June 1935 in Peckham, London. He came to prominence in the televised inaugural rallycross event, held at Lydden Hill in Kent on 4th February 1967. After a panelbending game of chicken with the works Ford Cortinas, he clinched the win in a two-litre 911 (GVB 911D, featured in the September 2021 issue of 911 & Porsche World) loaned to him by the UK’S sole Porsche concessionaire, AFN. He’d already made his mark as a first-class rally driver with Triumph and Ford, but a series of mechanical failures with Lotus Cortinas led to a conversation with Porsche racing manager, Fritz Huschke von Hanstein, who offered Elford a 911 to contest the 1966 Tour de Corse. Vic — accompanied by his regular navigator, David Stone — placed third, landing him a spot in the works Porsche squad. This also meant heading a fledgling rally effort, as well as handling 906 and 910 prototypes in endurance events.
Elford retired from full-time racing in 1974, though he made a return to Le Mans in 1983, co-driving with Joël Gouhier and Anne-charlotte Verney in a Rondeau M379. Regrettably, the outing resulted in a DNF. Earlier, he’d embarked on a new path, working with Rondeau on the 1976 Inaltera GTP race car project, before going on to manage the ATS F1 team.
In his later years, Elford was a regular guest at historic racing events and was always happy to take control of a Porsche, demonstrated when he drove a 911 in the 2017 Tour de Corse Historique. He is survived by his French wife, Anita. Our condolences go out to her.