Hot on the heels of some amazing talks in the back rooms of
pubs from the likes of Murray Walker, John Cleland, and Tiff Needell, Steve
Mell of the Lotus 7 Club had asked Derek Bell if he would like to come and talk
to us , at the Surrey meet at the Parrot. A fantastic buffet was laid on -
where else could you go out for dinner, listen to a talk from the Le Mans
legend, all for £20 !???
Amazingly Derek agreed, and probably one of the main reasons
was that he, like many other racers, had started his career in a Lotus Seven
that he and a friend had put together to go racing in.
After starting out in a very homebuilt Seven that leaked so
much he curtailed his planned first 50 mile test drive to 20, but didn't
mention that to his co-racer. The next morning he won a very wet race in the Seven,
after they had driven it to the circuit!!!!
He was then asked to join Lotus, and driving a Lotus 41, he
duly went through quite a few chassis, while 'fine-tuning' his race-craft !!. good video here.
It's amazing to think that the guy you are listening to
drove with probably the best 'real race-drivers' - Ickxx, Amon, Stewart, and
was probably one of the last people to see Jim Clark alive as they shared a cab
from the hotel to Hockenheim circuit.
Some of the stories are absolutely legendary, like actually
driving your F2 car to the circuit 'On The Road' (Very much like a Sunrise
Sevens blat, I would imagine!), and whilst making the Le Mans movie, hammering
around La Sarthe circuit at speed with another driver tucked into his
slipstream, pulling out to find McQueen lying in the middle of the road with a
very large camera, trying to create one of the many fantastic arty shots for the movie!
The night ended with a charity-auction, and considering
there were only 100 people in the room, some big bids were hitting the floor!
No. 1/500 of a fabulous print of Nicolas Watts Mulsanne Express - £750
Set of 5 models of his cars in a glass case - £400
They also had a sealed bid auction for a signed pic of his
original Seven - made another £500, so all told adding in the food they
probably raised in excess of £2000 for Hope for Tomorrow, a charity working to help people affected by cancer , and they are patroned by Derek and Stirling Moss.
Getting home was interesting - could hardly manage 40 MPH on
rain and flooded roads, a world away from Derek Bell at 246MPH on the Mulsanne
in the wet - kudos to the man !!!!
At the end of the night Steve presented a very surprised Derek Bell with number 3/500 of the Mulsanne Express print, and I swear it brought a tear to his eye.
.........a true racer !
MORE on Caterham's site
At the end of the night Steve presented a very surprised Derek Bell with number 3/500 of the Mulsanne Express print, and I swear it brought a tear to his eye.
.........a true racer !
MORE on Caterham's site
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