Non-F1 deaths in the automotive world
Posted: 03 Jul 2019, 11:20
Lee Iacocca died on 2nd July aged 94. And while he may never have been involved in F1, mainly due to being American (and probably barely recognising anything outside NASCAR and Indy), I think everyone on this board should at least be aware of his life and works. As close to F1 as he ever got would be as the big cheese of Chrysler, which he left at the end of 1992 just before the potential tie-up with McLaren and Lamborghini that never happened. I would recommend watching Regular Car Reviews' overview of his career - that's one of the automotive channels I've spent a fair while watching in recent times.
Another recent departure is Norman Dewis, who died on 8th June aged 98. Only three years before, he'd appeared on the reconstituted post-Clarkson Top Gear and was one of the highlights of the sole Chris Evans-fronted Series 23 as he recounted his tales of driving the Jaguar E-Type overnight to its unveiling at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show. As a Jaguar test driver, one of his other jobs was to test the all-new concept of disc brakes that caused Jaguars that adapted them to carry a warning on the back bumper to other cars that this Jag could stop a hell of a lot sooner than mere mortals in their Ford Anglias could - and he had one shot at Le Mans, with Don Beauman, which scored him a mention on the Rejects Of Le Mans article on this site.
A rather more tragically short life is that of Alex Mills, who lost a two-year-long battle with leukemia on 27th February, aged 34; I only found out recently. Maybe you don't recognise the name. Chances are, you don't. But if you ever did enjoy Top Gear, the Clarkson/Wilman version, or the foreign spin-offs, or the original magazine version, or Fifth Gear, you'll certainly recognise Final Gear, the website he founded as the fan-hub for both Top Gear and Fifth Gear. It was my original automotive online hang-out before this place took over - and this site has had a much longer run, given that GPR hasn't fallen prey to petty tribalism or over-zealous moderation (for the most part) - but, had it not been for Final Gear, I probably wouldn't be here. Yes, I knew about The Original Site before this forum even existed, and it was regularly namedropped on Final Gear, which is probably what convinced me to sign up. The FG forums are still a going concern, as other moderators have ensured that it survives, but the torrent site was whacked a long time ago and it's never quite been the same since.
If anyone has other names to add to the roll of honour, do so.
Another recent departure is Norman Dewis, who died on 8th June aged 98. Only three years before, he'd appeared on the reconstituted post-Clarkson Top Gear and was one of the highlights of the sole Chris Evans-fronted Series 23 as he recounted his tales of driving the Jaguar E-Type overnight to its unveiling at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show. As a Jaguar test driver, one of his other jobs was to test the all-new concept of disc brakes that caused Jaguars that adapted them to carry a warning on the back bumper to other cars that this Jag could stop a hell of a lot sooner than mere mortals in their Ford Anglias could - and he had one shot at Le Mans, with Don Beauman, which scored him a mention on the Rejects Of Le Mans article on this site.
A rather more tragically short life is that of Alex Mills, who lost a two-year-long battle with leukemia on 27th February, aged 34; I only found out recently. Maybe you don't recognise the name. Chances are, you don't. But if you ever did enjoy Top Gear, the Clarkson/Wilman version, or the foreign spin-offs, or the original magazine version, or Fifth Gear, you'll certainly recognise Final Gear, the website he founded as the fan-hub for both Top Gear and Fifth Gear. It was my original automotive online hang-out before this place took over - and this site has had a much longer run, given that GPR hasn't fallen prey to petty tribalism or over-zealous moderation (for the most part) - but, had it not been for Final Gear, I probably wouldn't be here. Yes, I knew about The Original Site before this forum even existed, and it was regularly namedropped on Final Gear, which is probably what convinced me to sign up. The FG forums are still a going concern, as other moderators have ensured that it survives, but the torrent site was whacked a long time ago and it's never quite been the same since.
If anyone has other names to add to the roll of honour, do so.