Hi Chris and Keith,
I think that David Morton is being modest. He was the captain on that flight which meant that the Maestro’s life was in his hands!
Through an amazing twist of fate, probably a million to one chance, I also met Fangio. When I arrived at Porsche in 1962 I had to wait for someone to resign before I could join the export/sales department. I took the opportunity to visit the pretty Brigitte in Baden-bei-Wien in Austria followed by Switzerland. But before I left Stuttgart I just had to visit the Mercedes-Benz museum. It was a mid-week morning and the place was desolate, in fact it was quiet as morgue. As I wandered around drooling over the magnificent machines in particular the racing cars I noticed two people in the far distance. As I drew nearer I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was looking at Juan Manuel Fangio and the great (in more ways than one) former racing manager, Alfred Neubauer.
When I was at school in the 1950s I was an avid Mercedes-Benz fan and used to devour all the 1954/1955 race reports. I also wrote to the factory to tell them how to design their cars and what colours to use. The one design for the 300SL Gullwing
was a foot operated pedal situated under the sills which would activate the door lock by means of rods. I received a lengthy letter from Daimler-Benz saying that they had sent my design to their body plant in Sindelfingen for ‘detailed analysis.’ The finding was that in the event of an accident the rods could become jammed and consequently they preferred their own door handle. When I finally joined Porsche I used to visit the Mercedes-Benz factory and once asked one of the directors why they would have bothered to write to a cheeky 14 year old upstart in Cape Town about his door handle idea. The reply was a good one. He said that in a flash a 14 year old is an adult and a potential Mercedes-Benz customer and that it was company policy to make kids feel good. He also reminded me that in the in-house magazine, ‘In Aller Welt’, there was a page of Mercedes-Benz drawings from kids all over the world. I said to him that his company certainly had my enduring respect and support. Other companies please take note of marketing lesson!
Back to Fangio and Neubauer. One of my letters was about colour schemes and I was gobsmacked that the letter was passed on to Herr Neubauer ‘for direct settlement.’ He put me in my place and didn’t say you cheeky little sh…! It’s still a treasured possession.
With heart pounding I approached the two gentlemen and introduced myself. I reminded Herr Neubauer about the letter and thanked him replying to me seven years earlier, whereupon he roared with laughter!
Naturally I asked JMF for his autograph. I told him that in 1955 I had painted a water colour of him and that if or when I returned to South Africa I would attach the autograph to the painting. That I did and it now hangs in my study.
Keith, sad about the British aircraft. automotive, motor cycle and shipping industries. Basically ain’t no more thanks to Harold Wilson and his cronies. When I moved to London from Germany in 1964, yes I was pleased to part of the Swinging 60s era but concerned about Labour’s apparent lack of understanding of good governance in particular their belief that money fell from the sky. Basically endless strikes for higher wages crippled the above industries. I recall a young doctor, a casualty officer at a London hospital, earning 20 pounds per week and not being able to afford to turn on the central heating whereas some of the working class guys would queue at the dole offices and moonlight to earn up to 50 quid a week. That just couldn’t have lasted.
I often think of those great British cars that were around me when I was growing up in Cape Town. When I met my wife she was working for Rootes in Devonshire House between Park Lane and Piccadilly Circus. Will I ever forget the glittering showroom full of Humbers, Hillmans, Singers and Sunbeams. No! We only ever drove Imps which were great little cars with their busy little Coventry Climax engines.
Then from 1979 Maggie Thatcher kicked arse and got it right. She then thanked Tony Blair for taking over where she left off. True, his Labour government is a far cry from Wilson’s.
The British aircraft designers and builders from WW1 to the 1960s were brilliant. Just think how quickly Reginald Mitchell’s Spitfire was up in the sky. David Chadwick’s Lancaster bomber is an another amazing story. He must have had a split mind for when he did the crossword puzzle every day he designed the Lancaster in the left hand column. Luckily his daughter still has all the newspapers, an amazing treasure trove. Like you I just couldn’t believe that the TSR2 was canned and I well remember the huge outcry from those involved and supporters of the project.
Sadly instructions were given that all jigs and tooling were to be destroyed. Must have been heartbreaking for the designers and their teams. If the Thunder City aircraft are 1950s vintage and still as good as they are TSR2 would, I agree, probably until today have been a world beater.
Amazing to think that TVR is now Russian owned and MG-Rover Chinese owned.
In 1946/7 when Major Ivan Hirst was given the job of selling the VW Beetle and no one wanted it can you image at the time a soothsayer predicting that VW would one day own Rolls-Royce. That incredibly bizarre thought at that time and under those circumstances would probably have demanded the death sentence!
A major consolation. The UK rules the world of motor sport and the industry with about 30000 members and an annual turnover of close to three billion pounds is a major export earner for the country. Also John Bloor’s wholly UK owned Triumph is doing very well with a wide range of great bikes.
A changing world indeed!
André 40
