DEREK BELL
The Legend
Ihave never considered myself to be overtly sentimental, but I do tend to hold on to things. My Porsche 924 Carrera GTS is a case in point. I have had it since the early 1980s. It was a new car when I got it, and now it’s an old one. The point is, I generally find it hard to imagine buying a 40-year-old car, let alone something older. That said, my attention occasionally wanders in the direction of the classic stuff, and that happened recently in the hills above Monaco. It rather caught me off guard to the point that I am still thinking about the car in question.
It has been such a relief to be out and about again, and I was honoured to participate in the Credit Suisse Classic Car Weekend event in May. There were some wonderful people on what was in essence a tour with a bit of map-reading regularity stuff thrown in. There were some amazing cars, too, not least a Ferrari 275 GTB, a twin-cam version that reminded me of the old quad-cam car I bought when I was with Scuderia Ferrari in the late 1960s. And me? Well, I was due to drive a new Porsche, but then it was pointed out that it wasn’t quite in the spirit of the event.
Instead, I was then armed with a 1959 Chevrolet Corvette. In many ways, it’s everything I shouldn’t like in that it had a floppy throttle, it wallowed, and the steering was on the vague side. Nevertheless, I loved it. Driving that car triggered a memory, too. I remember seeing one parked at the side of the road in Elkhart Lake many years ago. It was for sale and I seem to remember the guy wanted $40,000, which I thought was a bit steep. It appealed massively, though, and I seriously considered making an offer. There was just something about the way it looked; what it evoked. That slice of Americana screamed ‘buy me’.
I didn’t, of course. Now I rather wish I had given in to how much I loved this car. I really enjoyed the V8 burble and the way you could pull away from traffic lights in third gear. The fun factor is sadly missing from so many cars these days. Being able to go ballistically fast is one thing, but are they fun?
You can’t engineer in a soul, either. That old Corvette certainly had one. I was due to do a lap of the circuit in Monaco along with the rest of those on the event, but that didn’t happen. Perhaps that would have shaken me out of my misty-eyed reverie, but I honestly doubt it.
I did enjoy soaking up the atmosphere during the Monaco Historic Grand Prix meeting, though. I was amazed to see eight Formula 1 cars that I had driven in period. There were three variants of Surtees, and I was invited to sit in the Ferrari 312B that Chris Amon piloted in the March 1969 Daily Express International Trophy race. I remember it well because I was in the sister car. The Scuderia was in disarray, with wily old Jacky Ickx having read the writing on the wall and departed for pastures new. We were ‘let go of ’ halfway through the season because there was nothing to race.
That outing at Silverstone wasn’t memorable for the result, because I finished ninth. I remember it because I beat my team-mate. I had such great affection and admiration for Chris, having spent a wonderful winter with him Down Under competing in the Tasman Series. I appreciated that he was faster than me, but I always went well in the wet. He finished behind me that day. Our Firestone tyres were next to useless, and we just sort of splashed around to the flag. My fate with The Reds was effectively sealed thereafter for reasons beyond my control, more’s the pity.
I am not a big chap, but I was shocked at how tight the car seemed all these years later. My shoulders were too wide to the point that I wondered how I managed 53 years ago. A Tecno was there, too, although I prefer not to be reminded of driving that particular car. There was also a LEC. I never raced it, but my great mate and former neighbour Dave Purley did. Dave hated testing so he used to leave it to me to do all the grunt work. He was a brilliant bloke, and I was best man at his wedding, but he sadly departed this world in 1985. I miss him still.
While it was wonderful to be reunited with so many former flames, I didn’t venture on-track in any of them. I really felt for Charles Leclerc after he crashed the ex-Lauda Ferrari 312T at Rascasse, albeit with what appeared to be relatively little damage. Jacky was lapping at the time, too, driving his old Ferrari 312 B2. They both made it back to the starting grid, Jacky putting his arm around Charles and whispering a few comforting words to him. Unfortunately, accidents do happen. Even the very best get caught out once in a while.
‘I WAS ARMED WITH A 1959 CHEVROLET CORVETTE, IN MANY WAYS EVERYTHING I SHOULDN’T LIKE. BUT I LOVED IT’