Stirling Moss – Racing Legend
The internationally celebrated racing driver started his career in Tring, driving an old car around his family home’s orchard.
The orchard at White Cloud Farm in Tring was the location for the beginning of a vastly successful career for the racing legend that was Sir Stirling Moss.
Sir Stirling is considered one of the world’s greatest drivers, skilled at driving almost any car, even though he never won the Formula One world title.
He became synonymous with speed and was a household name. Many a policeman would stop motorists for speeding saying, ‘Who do you think you are – Stirling Moss?’ He made headlines in 2000 when he was knighted at Buckingham Palace and a palace officer joked as he got into his Mercedes, ‘Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?’ Pointing to his newly-received honour, he said: ‘Sir Stirling Moss, actually.’
Although Stirling Craufurd Moss was born on 17 September 1929 in London, the family later moved to White Cloud Farm (previously called Home Farm) in Tring, and it was in the orchard there that he first drove an old Austin around, getting a taste for being behind the wheel.
Upgrading from the Austin, his first racing car was a Cooper 500, in which he started winning races – not that his parents were too keen! As drivers themselves, they knew the potential risks. His mother Aileen had been a successful rally driver and his father Alfred raced at Brooklands and had competed in the 1924 Indianapolis 500-mile race. But despite their misgivings, by the tender age of 19 he was already making his mark on the racing scene, with multiple wins in various cars.
His future as a professional was sealed when he met his future manager and friend Ken Gregory, who steered Stirling towards the new Formula 3 Championship, the ideal category for his Cooper. As Stirling started to make waves abroad, he was offered the chance to drive for Ferrari in 1951, but when he arrived in Italy found his space taken by a local driver instead.
So Stirling committed to British teams, competing in 67 Grands Prix, and winning a total of 16. He also entered into other endurance events, including Mille Miglia and the Targa Florio as well as attempting land speed records at Bonneville with MG.
In 1955 he joined team Mercedes, winning the Mille Miglia the same year, with his old friend Denis Jenkinson as navigator.
According to the Watford Observer, congratulations from Tring Council were sent on the win: ‘A congratulatory letter was suggested at Tuesday’s council meeting by councillor Mrs M.G. Grace, who reminded the meeting that it had been the first time that this difficult race had been won by a British driver.’
It was a memorable year for Stirling, as he also won his first Formula One Grand Prix at Aintree in the British Grand Prix.
His classic 1955 Mercedes, in which he raced, was sold in February this year at auction for a record £43m.
His 14-year career ended in 1962 after an accident at the Easter Monday meeting at Goodwood, which left him in a month-long coma and facing a year of rehabilitation.
But he never lost his love of cars and racing. He worked as a commentator, raced historic cars, and also ran a racing team. He was also the narrator of the children’s TV series Roary the Racing Car. He finally retired from racing at the age of 81.
Mark Cole is a journalist and author who covered his 40th Le Mans 24 Hours in 2021. Following Stirling’s death, he recalled how the great driver had sparked his own passion for racing: ‘I was fortunate to grow up in Tring, Hertfordshire, where Stirling lived with his family at White Cloud Farm, and on Monday mornings during school holidays, my 10-year-old pals and I would hang on the gate waiting for him to return from his latest race; he would always stop and talk to us.’
‘The circuit had two corners I remember well,’ wrote Mark, ‘Wardy’s Wiggle and Stirling’s Bump’.
‘Later Norman took me to Silverstone regularly, where we would meet Stirling (who always had time to introduce me, still in short trousers, to his friends including Mike Hawthorn).’
Stirling and his wife Susie were also regulars at The Stag in Mentmore in the 80s.
He suffered another serious injury in 2010, when he fell three storeys in his Mayfair home. But against the doctors’ prognosis, he went back to racing historic cars.
He died on Easter Sunday, 2020. Lady Moss told the Daily Mail: ‘He died as he lived, looking wonderful.’
Sir Stirling Moss left a £22 million estate, and surprise gifts in his will included £1,000 for a seafood dinner to his agent, £10,000 to his niece for a new horse, and a silver rabbit’s foot to his psychotherapist.
