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PHIL HILL:
HERO AS ARTIST
America's first World F1 Champion took some world class photos to document his long and illustrious racing career.
by PETER BROCK |
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| The intense glare surrounding world champions, even those of years past, is often so brilliant that it tends to obscure everything but the single dimension for which they became famous. Phil Hill, America's first World Champion Grand Prix racer, driving for Ferrari in 1961, obviously didn't begin his career as a front line driver for Enzo, rather he worked his way into the sport, starting at the very bottom, as a mechanic.
Phil grew up in Santa Monica, California with a great sense of racing history, as that town on the western edge of Los Angeles, was the site of some of America's greatest road racing during the early 1900s. Obviously Phil missed those races, as he wasn't born until 1927, but the sporting essence of those early street races, and the fabulous board track era that followed in the Los Angeles area, left a heavy imprint on the younger generations that followed.
Phil's passion for racing and fine machinery began on the dry lakes and midget racing ovals of Southern California, where he was exposed to engines and cars of every type, as well as the fantastically interesting and diverse personalities that defined and sustained the sport. A fascination with all these aspects of the scene led him to begin recording his experiences photographically. As his career progressed he continued to carry a camera wherever he went and quietly snapped away, taking photos of the cars and men he raced with. In 1954 when Phil went to Mexico with pal Richie Ginther, to race a 4.1 Ferrari in the Carrera PanAmericana he took along his camera and shot some of the races most interesting images, as he saw the event from a completely different perspective…that of a participant not a journalist. Those images today are some of the most beautiful, personal and poignant of an era long past. Later, when Phil went to Europe to race in many of the most important F1 and Sports Car enduros, as all the top drivers did in those days, his camera went along to record history. Auto Aficionado will feature a conversation with Phil about his photography and a selection of his best images from his lengthy career in its premier issue, which will debut at In the Spring of 2005. Don't miss it.
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| Phil the artist of life, above in 2004 and below in La Carrera PanAmericana with Richie Ginther. Boyd Harnell, the photographer, explained that while they are having an animated chat Phil is negotiating the corner where they had gone off in 1953 AND they are leading the race. Above left, though, is an example of Phil's great sense of history and style. They were driving the big Ferrari 342/375 Vignale spider south to the starting line near the Guatemala border. Phil saw this remarkable location that few racing drivers would have noticed and stopped to make a photograph. |
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