CARS AT SPEED: Classic Stories from Grand Prix’s Golden Age By Robert Daley

Grand Prix racing on public roads--trees, walls, fences, houses. Racing in the 50's and 60's bore little resemblance to what is done today, some say no resemblance. The circuits, Spa, Monza, Nurburgring were deadly dangerous, and the racing was deadly dangerous. The driver who went off the road, most likely paid a heavy price. So did many spectators. It was a time of heroes, of drivers larger than life: of the Englishmen, who for a few years seemed to take over the sport: Moss, Collins, Hawthorn, Graham Hill; of the flamboyant Marquis de Portago of Spain and the nervous German, Count Von Trips; of Musso, Ascari and Castellotti, each one the pride of Italy; of Phil Hill, the quiet, some said sullen, American who became world champion.