Of all the things that interested Phil in his life, I’m sure that driving race cars and classic automobiles was number one on his list for many years

We sadly lost Phil Hill on August 28 in Monterey, California. To most of the world his name meant the Formula One World Champion of 1961, the only American-born driver to reach that highest level in motor racing. There have been many Formula One champions, but to us in the States, and especially those who knew him, Phil was a very special person.

He used to say that, while he drove race cars for 20 years, he was never in a serious accident and never lost a drop of blood.  He’d wonder, ‘Maybe I didn’t try hard enough.’ I can tell you that I raced against Phil enough to know that he did. He was a very, very good race driver. And besides that, he managed to win Best of Show at Pebble Beach twice with cars he’d restored.

Phil loved the sound of engines, but he also loved classical music. I remember in the 1950s when we both lived in Modena he came up to me one day and said, ‘There’s a young guy who can really sing down at the opera house; would you like to go down there with me?’ Not being a classical music aficionado myself, I reluctantly said OK and followed him down there, and I was enthralled with the voice of this young man Phil had found. His name was Pavarotti.

Of all the things that interested Phil in his life, I’m sure that driving race cars and classic automobiles was number one on his list for many years. I knew him to tear down one of his Pierce-Arrows three times, if I remember correctly, and put it completely back together – even when it hadn’t been necessary to take it apart. He just loved to tinker. He loved to play the piano, and he used to come over and tune mine. Phil could take apart any mechanical instrument, and he had the patience to put it back together, then take it apart again if it didn’t go back together correctly or work properly.  

Phil waited to marry until he was into his forties, when he found Alma. It was worth the wait as far as Phil was concerned.  Now he leaves his two wonderful children, Derek and Vanessa, and Alma’s Jennifer. I will always respect Derek for putting his own professional life aside for the past two years. Phil’s son had a career driving race cars, but he shut that down to devote himself to his father when he became ill with Parkinson’s disease.  

I’ve been in fairly bad health off and on for the last 85 years.

I was hoping to make it past the year 2000 – I’d already had my heart transplant for ten years and knew that I wasn’t supposed to make it, but Phil and I said we were going to celebrate together if I did. My wife Cleo and I got to share the coming of the new century with Phil and Alma and other friends.

I knew Phil for almost 60 years and never saw him to have any vindictiveness. Any time he was done wrong by anybody, he just shrugged it off. And Phil was never one to brag about his accomplishments. He always played them down. I won the 24 Hours of Le Mans once, but Phil Hill won Le Mans three times. He loved to win, but he was the epitome of the driver who knew you couldn’t win if you didn’t finish.

We Americans used to go over to Le Mans and see what we could do in that endurance.The funny thing was, the engines weren’t supposed to last the whole 24 hours, the brakes probably wouldn’t be any good after that long, and the gearboxes might not go the distance. Phil’s approach was different from most drivers – by that I mean his way of not ever wanting to hurt a car. He would very patiently seat his drum brakes before ever thinking about fast laps. That was Phil’s style, and it worked for him over and over when he would finish while others failed to.     

Phil was 81 when elected this year to the Automotive Hall of Fame in Dearborn, Michigan, and would have been inducted in October. I would have loved for him to be there for that, where past inductees include Henry Ford, Dan Gurney, WO Bentley and so many of the real pioneers of the automobile industry.
People everywhere will miss him. I certainly will. He was a talented gentleman, and everything we’d ever imagine a true champion to be.