It’s 60 years ago this month that F1 World Champion Mike Hawthorn died, at the age of 29. The anniversary will be marked by several events during 2019 but the first major display of the year will tap into Hawthorn enthusiast Nigel Webb’s amazing private collection of cars and memorabilia. It will take place at the UK’s Race Retro show at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, on February 22-24, in the Motor Sport Hall of Fame section. The display will include the Jaguar D-type that Webb rebuilt using the chassis from Hawthorn’s 1955 Le Mans winning car, the Lotus Eleven that Hawthorn raced in period, and a selection of the driver’s gold medals, a steering wheel from one of his Ferrari Formula 1 cars, and plenty more. Webb has built up a private museum in tribute to Hawthorn over the years, and it’s a rare treat to see items from the collection on public display.
Hawthorn was born in Yorkshire in April 1929 but will always be associated the county of Surrey, where his father ran the famous Tourist Trophy Garage in Farnham. He won his first single-seater race in 1952 and went on to drive for Ferrari, BRM and Vanwall, among others, usually sporting a flamboyant bow tie. In 1958 he became the first British driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship, beating Stirling Moss to the title by a single point. He then retired from the sport and died just three months later, on January 22, 1959, when the Jaguar 3.4 saloon he was driving left the road near Guildford in Surrey. Tickets for the show, including the Hawthorn tribute, are now on sale.
Images courtesy of Race Retro and Nigel Webb.
