The cerebral driver who won at Le Mans
Phil Hill
1927–2008
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Phil Hill drove his first car when he was 9 years old, slipping behind the wheel of his neighbor’s Oldsmobile in Santa Monica, Calif., and taking it around the block. Years later, he would achieve international fame as the first American to win the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans. Despite driving in some of the world’s most dangerous and arduous races, Hill never suffered an injury worse than a bloody nose. “Maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough,” he once quipped.
Hill loved cars, said The Washington Post. “When he was 12, an aunt bought him a Model T, which he took apart and rebuilt.” He won his first race at 19 and was soon competing everywhere. In one “poorly marked road race in Venezuela, he took a wrong turn and found himself driving 100 mph on a street filled with commuters.” Working his way up the professional circuit, Hill won Le Mans in 1958, in a torrential rainstorm. “Soaked to the skin, he sat on a bag of tools in order to look over the top of his rain-streaked windshield.” Hill won Le Mans again in 1961 and 1962, and, in 1961, became the first and only U.S.-born driver to win the Formula One international championship.
Hill raced “in an era when cars were far faster than they were safe,” said The New York Times. Ten of his competitors died in the 1953 Pan-American race in Mexico, and his Formula One triumph at the Italian Grand Prix in 1961 was darkened when his teammate Wolfgang von Trips crashed, killing himself and 13 spectators. Consequently, Hill took an “introspective and cerebral” approach to his sport. “When you’ve lived as close to death and danger as long as I have,” he said, “then your emotional defenses are equal to almost anything.” Asked when he might quit, he replied, “When I love motor racing less, my own life will become worth more to me, and I will be less willing to risk it.”
After retiring in 1967, Hill became a commentator for ABC’s Wide World of Sports, road-tested cars, and contributed to Road & Track magazine. He died of complications from Parkinson’s disease.
-
The mystery of flight MH370The Explainer In 2014, the passenger plane vanished without trace. Twelve years on, a new operation is under way to find the wreckage of the doomed airliner
-
5 royally funny cartoons about the former prince Andrew’s arrestCartoons Artists take on falling from grace, kingly manners, and more
-
The identical twins derailing a French murder trialUnder The Radar Police are unable to tell which suspect’s DNA is on the weapon
-
James Van Der Beek obituary: fresh-faced Dawson’s Creek starIn The Spotlight Van Der Beek fronted one of the most successful teen dramas of the 90s – but his Dawson fame proved a double-edged sword
-
Catherine O'Hara: The madcap actress who sparkled on ‘SCTV’ and ‘Schitt’s Creek’Feature O'Hara cracked up audiences for more than 50 years
-
Bob Weir: The Grateful Dead guitarist who kept the hippie flameFeature The fan favorite died at 78
-
Brigitte Bardot: the bombshell who embodied the new FranceFeature The actress retired from cinema at 39, and later become known for animal rights activism and anti-Muslim bigotry
-
Frank Gehry: the architect who made buildings flow like waterFeature The revered building master died at the age of 96
-
R&B singer D’AngeloFeature A reclusive visionary who transformed the genre
-
Kiss guitarist Ace FrehleyFeature The rocker who shot fireworks from his guitar
-
Robert Redford: the Hollywood icon who founded the Sundance Film FestivalFeature Redford’s most lasting influence may have been as the man who ‘invigorated American independent cinema’ through Sundance
