Phil Hill, American Champion 1927 – 2008

More sad news, Phil, America’s first world driving champion, died shortly after 10 a.m. PST in a Monterey County, Calif., hospital as a result of respiratory problems complicated by Parkinson’s disease. Hill was 81.

I had the opportunity to see Phil Hill race when I was a kid.

He was a class act all the way around. I never heard of him running somebody off the track or blocking or being a hot head.

He was always slightly introverted, and was always really good at looking after his car, and excelled at distance races.

He also had one of my favorite racing quotes:

“If you’re going to get into racing, you better get used to loosing. Look at Fangio. Statistically, he’s the best there ever was. [This was years before Schumacher] And he only won 3 out’a ten times he tried! So even if you’re that good, which I doubt, what your going to be doing most of the time is loosing.”

Pretty perceptive for a postman’s kid from Southern California.

Source: Autoweek

Filed Under: Car News