The fourth 1000km race at the Nürburgring took place on June 1, 1958, on the Nordschleife and was the fourth race of that year’s Sports Car World Championship. The David Brown Aston Martin Ltd. team came to the Eifel region with three of its DBR1/300s. The number 1 Aston Martin was driven by Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham, the number 2 by Tony Brooks and Stuart Lewis-Evans, and the number 3 by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby.
Until now, Scuderia Ferrari dominated the Sports Car World Championship. Three World Championship races had already been held, culminating in overall victories for the Ferrari TR (Testa Rossa) at the 1000 km of Buenos Aires, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the Targa Florio. Aston Martin, on the other hand, had yet to score a single point.
As expected, Scuderia Ferrari, with driver Mike Hawthorn in a Testa Rossa 250TR58, was the fastest in practice. But on this warm and dry race day, Stirling Moss clearly had the upper hand.
150,000 spectators came to the Nordschleife and witnessed a dominant Stirling Moss. He took the lead in his Aston Martin right at the start of the race, ahead of his two teammates Tony Brooks and Roy Salvadori. Behind him were the two Porsche drivers Harry Schell and Jean Behra.
Moss spent almost the entire time at the wheel of the DBR1/300, while Brabham, who had never previously driven a single meter on the Nürburgring, only took the wheel twice. Briton Stirling Moss crossed the finish line with a lead of almost four minutes, followed by Briton Mike Hawthorn and three other Ferrari Testa Rossas in second to fifth place.
Sir William Lyons founded the Swallow company in Blackpool in 1922 and initially manufactured motorcycle sidecars. Vehicles were built from 1931 onwards and were given the brand name “S.S.” The most powerful models were called “S.S. Jaguar.”
After World War II, Swallow Sidecars abandoned the previous “SS” name (due to its associations), and the name “Jaguar” became the brand name.
The first Jaguar XK 120 was unveiled at the London Motor Show in 1948. XK refers to the engine (X stands for Experimental), and 120 to the top speed in miles. It was succeeded by the XK 140 in 1954 and then by the XK 150 in 1957. The vehicles were offered as open two-seaters (OTS), fixed-roof (FHC), and drop-head coupes (DHC).
The numerous successful racing campaigns were reflected in sales figures: a total of 30,357 XK sports cars were built between 1949 and 1961. In 1996, Jaguar revived the XK model name.
The original Bentley Motors Ltd. was founded in London in 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley and existed until 1931 (when it was purchased by Rolls-Royce). 1924 is considered the company’s strongest production year, with 462 vehicles.
The late 1920s were Bentley’s years. The successes at Le Mans were already a barometer of the company’s economy. In 1924 and four more times in a row from 1927 onward, a Bentley won the race at Le Sarthe.
Scotsman James “Jim” Clark Jr., born in 1936, drove the Lotus 18 Formula Junior so successfully in 1960 that English racing car designer Colin Chapman offered him a Formula 1 entry that same year. Colin Chapman, the genius on the drawing board, and Jim Clark, the virtuoso on the road, complemented each other uniquely. What Colin Chapman developed as an engineer, Jim Clark perfectly translated into speed. Over the years, a genuine friendship developed, which further intensified their collaboration.
Jim Clark was the outstanding driver of the 1960s. He won 25 Grand Prix races, stood on pole 33 times, and in 1965 was the first European Indy 500 winner since 1916. He became world champion in 1963 and 1965, losing the title in 1962 and 1964 due to technical defects in the final race.
Jim Clark: “For me personally, the main attraction of racing is pushing a car to its ultimate physical limits without actually exceeding them. I have always recognized and respected the limits of safety for myself and others, and I would rather lose a race than exceed my own capabilities—or those of my car.”
April 7, 1968 Hockenheimring: The 32-year-old champion on the track:
“Absolutely ridiculous.” Clark had a fatal accident in the rain in what was, for him, a completely unimportant Formula 2 race. The memory of a great man and racing driver remains.
Jochen Rindt – a true Formula 1 character. The man with the German passport and Austrian racing license, the crooked nose, and the mischievous smile is still considered a national hero of Austria today. He began his Formula 2 career in 1961 with a Simca and was soon able to achieve his first good placings. His performance caught the attention of Ford Austria, and in 1964 he finished second in the Formula 2 at Mallory Park and even first at Crystal Palace in a Brabham-Cosworth, beating the then reigning world champion Graham Hill. This earned him a place in the Cooper Formula 1 team the following year.
In addition to single-seater races, he also competed in endurance races such as the 1000 km at the Nürburgring, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and Le Mans. In 1965, he won the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ferrari 250LM.
On September 5, 1970, Jochen Rindt suffered a fatal accident during Formula 1 practice for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. The points he had accumulated in the 1970 season up until his death were enough to earn him posthumous Formula 1 World Champion status. His widow, Nina, accepted the World Champion trophy on his behalf. He was only 28 years old.
Invicta was considered the car with the “Most Wonderful Performance” of its time, in the 1920s. It was a robust vehicle with enormous torque that required few gear changes. Despite its four-speed transmission, most drivers used only first and fourth gears. The name “Invicta” (translation: the Unconquered) refers to a white knight in Edmund Spenser’s 16th-century novel “The Faerie Queene.” Invicta has existed as an automobile brand with many interruptions: 1901-1906, 1914, 1925-1937, 1947-1949, and 2004 to the present day.
One of the greatest racing successes in an Invicta S was achieved by Donald Mitchell Healey, who won the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally. Oversized wheels were fitted at the time to improve ground clearance. Healey then became a director of the Triumph Motor Company in 1931 and founded the Donald Healey Motor Company Ltd. in 1945.
Invicta Racing Successes (Excerpt)
1926 Monza: 4 world records, 4 international class records, 33 national records
1926 Montlhery: 5 world records, 5 international class records
1926 Montlhery: Dewar Trophy / 8,000 km with an average speed of 113.78 km/h
1929 Brooklands: Dewar Trophy / 48.280 km with an average speed of 99.09 km/h
1930 Austrian Alpine Race: Winner of the Alpine Cup
1930 Hungarian Alpine Race: Winner of the Alpine Cup
1931 Winner of the Monte Carlo Rally
1931 Victory in the Tourist Trophy
1931 International Alpine Race: Winner of the Glacier Cup
1932 International Alpine Race: 3 Glacier Cups
1932 Second place Monte Carlo Rally
