| Racing drivers' favourite... |
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| "A couple of months later Peter bought a Lancia Flaminia four door saloon in Turin and arranged to sell "the row of shops' (Mercury Station Wagon) in England. He and Louise loved the Lancia but Enzo Ferrari didn't approve, being firmly of the opinion that his young driver should be seen in a Ferrari. Early in 1958n he arranged for Peter to part exchange the Lancia for the special bodied Pinin Farina bodied 250 GT cabriolet" Source: "MON AMI MATE" Collins (pictured on top) also gave the wheel of his Lancia-Ferrari to Fangio during the 1956 GP of Monza (right) so Fangio could become the World Champion instead of himself! That's what being a "gentleman driver" is all about. He lived for a while on his yacht in Monaco... Read more about this grand gesture here |
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| Peter Collins married American actress Louise King on February 11, 1957 in Coconut Grove Miami where the movie "The 7 year itch" casting Marilyn Monroe was filmed. |
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| Mike Hawthorn and Fangio both had an Aurelia for personal transport (among others I must say) and Hawthorn's car still exists today. He had the car fitted with a special camshaft (Stanguelini), 2 chromed Abarth exhaust and a special custom made 4 branch Nardi steering wheel. Another special feauture of his car was the leather interior. In "Challenge Me The Race" Mike describes his wonderful Lancia Aprilia also, saying this car handled better than anything he drove before!!! |
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| Same story for Briggs Cunningham whose Aurelia below was tweaked too. Note the special horn ring on the Nardi steering wheel. |
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| Enzo Ferrari considered Peter Collins as a second son. When Peter lived near the Ferrari estate, a close friendship subsisted between Peter and the very ill Dino. As Dino stayed ill in his bed, he pushed Peter to go out and have fun.... knowing the next day Peter will visit his friend and tell him all the details. When Dino died, Peter wore a black ribbon on his arm during the French Grand Prix which he won. These signs of affection were highly appreciated by Dino's father. When Peter was killed at Pflanzgarten on the Nurburgring, Enzo felt this loss as deeply as for his own son Dino. At that time, Enzo Ferrari felt very bad about these deaths caused by the racing industry. Story goes that Peter's very close friend, Mike Hawthorn, told Ferrari they were racing drivers, and if they couldn't race Ferrari's, they'd race anyhow... |
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| Eugenio Castellotti and his pale green Lancia Aurelia B20! |
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| Tony Brooks, another famous racing driver (nicknamed the Racing Dentist...) had a Lancia dealership in England after her retired from racing. Behind the BMW is a Lancia Fulvia sedan and a Flavia Coup�. |
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| Jean Behra and Cesare Perdisa. Behra was a works Maserati racing driver and had a light blue Lancia Aurelia B24 for his personal transportation. Here the 2 men are testing their new cars on a race track somewhere in Italy. The article says they were really impressed with the car's performance and roadholding. |
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| The dashing MIKE HAWTHORN... WORLD CHAMPION 1958 I don't like the headlight covers though. See the ABARTH badge on the grille? I read somewhere Mike had his Aurelia fitted with hotter camshafts from Stanguellini according to the article... but my guess is that NARDI seems more probable. Among other stuff fitted on Mike's car were two ABARTH exhausts at the rear and of course his famous 4 branch NARDI steering wheel... Hawthorn loved cars and my guess is that the B20 held a special place as it was the only car for which he managed to get a special license number. "JMH 021". I'm not sure about the number, but his initials were on the plate! Mike Hawthorn was a real hero for a whole generation. World Champion in 1958, Mike died a few months after retiring in his Jaguar MK1, nicknamed "the MERCEATER"... He hated German cars, and when he saw Rob Walkers 300SL it had the same effect as a red flag on a bull! Mike suffered from a lethal kidney disease which gave him 1 or 2 years to live. Mike had 2 ways to die, but none to live... |
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| And here's FANGIO... Normally he would have left England together with Prince BIRA'S airplane, but the Prince left earlier... without Fangio. He rushed towards Italy in this B20... had an accident (but managed to reduce the damage thanks to his driving skills and the Aurelia's wonderful behaviour). Used afterwards for publicity, this picture shows Fangio with his wounded wrist and the "quite undamaged" Aurelia... This all to say... If I had a Morris Oxford or some other less exotic machinery I wouldn't be here anymore to tell the tale... |
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| Mike's exploded Jaguar.... The end of the "MERCEATER" as Mike nicknamed his Jag. His encounters with "Kraut cars" never had happy endings... The 1955 Le Mans disaster was still on everyone's mind and the end of the war was only ten years old back then. The German team decided wisely to stop the race... |
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| Jean Behra, the famous French racing driver, is seen here besides his B24 in the Bois de Boulogne. It's the same car (see license number) on the other picture above. Behra's B24 was light blue while Perdisa's was Rosso! |