Stirling Moss 1961 Scrapbook

If you’re experiencing a sense of déjà vu, it’s because this is the second volume based on Stirling Moss’s own scrapbooks to appear in recent months. And, like the first one, it’s our Book of the Month.

There aren’t many motor racing books that you can leave on your coffee table and be confident that any visitor – including your car-hating Aunt Agatha – will pick up and enjoy. Designer Andrew Garman and co-author Philip Porter have done a great job of creating a real pick’n’mix of press cuttings, photographs, letters and ephemera alongside a running commentary based on Moss’s diaries;

Sex, money and motor racing-its all here and there’s more of it to come as Porter publishes further scrapbooks. We can’t wait.

Vintage Racecar

This book is the second in a series of scrapbooks that takes a revealing look at one year in the life of Stirling Moss. As described here previously with the first edition, covering the year 1955, the 1961 scrapbook pulls more photos, press clippings and thoughts from Moss’s personal diaries and scrapbooks to take the reader inside his life, month-by-month and event-by-event. Each chapter covers a wide variety of material including races, testing, travel, social engagements and Moss’s thoughts or a plethora of racing and popular personalities.

While this book is beautiful to look at with its large format and gloss all-colour reproduction, one of the most amazing things about it is the true honest and candour with which Moss describes himself and others. In this day and age of politically correct professional drivers and even historic legend wishing to leave behind the most squeaky-clean image possible, it is incredibly refreshing (and fascinating!) to read a significant driver’s unfiltered thoughts on the people and events that make up racing history as we know it. Whether discussing the temperamental nature of mechanic Alf Francia or his romance with star-crossed actress Judy Carne, Moss appears to hold nothing back giving the reader one of the closest insights into the life of a 50s – 60s Formula One driver perhaps ever recorded in print. This book and its predecessor are true treats.

* * * * Reviewed by Casey Annis, Vintage Racecar

The second of Porter’s Moss scrapbooks, this follows Moss’s 1961 month by month, expanding on his diary entries and setting the context with newspaper reports, photos, adverts, and asides on girls, shops, nightclubs and circuits. A respite from the purely racing histories, it gives a picture of just how big a news story Moss was – forever in the papers, being photographed at parties and featuring in gossip columns with yet another pretty girl. Little drop-in interview-ettes allow Moss to explain some of the stories, and while some of the clippings can be hard to read, the scrapbook format makes every spread look enticing. Porter’s commentary ties it together, but it’s the interplay between Moss’s diary and the news stories that fascinates.

Review by Gordon Cruickshank