GUY LOVERIDGE
Amateur motorsport photographer EV Starr left a wonderfully evocative and poignant legacy that, thanks to a planned series of books, can now be enjoyed for the first time
‘EV Starr’s photographs capture what it was really like to be in and amongst the racing scene of the 1960s. I was excited by each image and the stories behind them – as well as the personalities who loved them and were happy to talk to co-author Tim Beavis and me, which was genuinely humbling.’
WHEN ENTHUSIASTS LIST motorsport’s photographic greats, the name EV Starr is unlikely to feature, yet when two boxes of his unseen colour slides emerged at auction 15 years ago, their insight into the sport sparked a 15-year project culminating in a book of his work. Not just one, in fact, but a series of five, of which the first has recently been published.
Edgar Vernon Starr spent most of his life in the West Country. The aircraft draughtsman was a member of the Cheltenham Motor Club and competed in a Riley, but he followed motorsport widely. He had no association with the teams and no privileged access – this was a keen amateur with a gift for getting into the thick of the action in the pits and paddock.
These talents came to light at a Charterhouse sale in 2004, when Tim Beavis stumbled across lot 88: two cardboard boxes of slides, some in sleeves, some in Kodak slide boxes. He couldn’t believe his eyes: ‘I vividly recall seeing one showing Colin Chapman leaning in to Graham Hill, and I then uncovered more and more of the era’s iconic drivers. And I wasn’t looking at these in some gallery, but a barn on a farm!’
After buying them, Tim got in touch with Guy Loveridge, a long-standing friend with a history in publishing, who supplied the captions for this article. Guy says: ‘When anyone tells you they have unseen pictures, your reaction tends to be tempered with caution as they usually turn out to be Uncle Bob’s snaps snatched through the fence. But not this time.
‘These pictures show the drivers, mechanics, managers and support crew at work, the true greats of the sport from the early ’60s to the ’80s. They show the development of a sport into the industry we now know. They progress from Jim Clark wearing his Herbert Johnson helmet, grinning broadly in his Lotus, to later looking tense in his Bell lid – though there is still time to share a joke with Mike Spence – and later still at Silverstone, as team-mates with Graham Hill, and giving a serious interview to Tony Brooks and Jenks. There are only five years between these pictures, but you could believe it was 20 from the lines etched into Jim’s face.’
An initial meet in a Bridport pub snowballed into years of research. Tim and Guy discussed the late Innes Ireland with his daughter Christianne, John Surtees was encouraging and supportive, while Geoff Brabham spoke candidly of his memories of the era with dad Jack. Tim then ‘found’ Jack Lewis, the first Welsh GP driver, who regaled them with tales of his time racing. Jackie Oliver contributed, too, and Derek Bell generously stepped up to provide a foreword after Surtees’ death.
Tim says of these evocative photos: ‘In the drivers’ faces you can see such sadness and worry, but also joy in what they were doing. Knowing such images had never been seen made me determined to give them an audience because they seemed so much more than just pictures, a journey through time. Although that took a while, we are overjoyed with the result.’