Peter John Collins (6 November 1931 – 3 August 1958) was a British racing driver. He was killed in the
1958 German Grand Prix, just weeks after winning the
RAC British Grand Prix. He started his career as a 17-year-old in 1949, impressing in
Formula 3 races, finishing third in the 1951 Autosport National Formula 3 Championship.
Early life and racing career
Born on 6 November 1931, Collins grew up in Mustow Green,
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
, England. The son of a motor-garage owner and haulage merchant, Collins became interested in motor vehicles at a young age. He was expelled from school at 16 owing to spending time at a local fairground during school hours. He became an apprentice in his father's garage and began competing in local trials races.
In common with many British drivers of the time, Collins began racing in the 500 cc category (adopted as
Formula 3 at the end of 1950), when his parents bought him a Cooper 500 from the fledgling
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company is a British car manufacturer founded in December 1947 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles's small gara ...
.
Success for Collins started once he switched to the JBS-Norton in 1951. Those small vehicles, powered by
Norton motorcycle engines, were also the proving ground of many of Collins's F1 contemporaries, including
Stirling Moss.
His breakthrough came, away from the track, when at a party hosted by the great pre-war lady racer,
Kay Petre
Kathleen Coad Petre (' Defries; 10 May 1903 – 10 August 1994), known as Kay Petre, was an early motor racing star. She was born in York, Ontario, now part of Toronto.
Family
Kathleen Coad Defries was the daughter of Robert Leo Defries KC (di ...
, Collins managed to inveigle himself with
John Wyer
John Wyer (11 December 1909 in Kidderminster, England – 8 April 1989 in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States), was an English automobile racing engineer and team manager. He is mainly associated with cars running in the light blue and orange ...
, the team principal at
Aston Martin, earning his test drive at
Silverstone. During that test, Aston was joined by the
Formula 2
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name re ...
team,
HWM – and by the time the teams were preparing to leave, Collins had a contract with both.
At HWM Collins he became part of a three-car team with
Lance Macklin
Lance Noel Macklin (2 September 1919 – 29 August 2002) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 18 May 1952. He was infamously involved in the 1955 Le Mans disaste ...
and Moss, and they competed in most of the F2 races in Britain and in Europe. Collins showed in speed, but the underfinanced HWM-Alta rarely finished a race. His best result was second place in the Grand Prix des Sables d'Olonne.
Collins got his Formula One break in 1952, with HWM when he replaced Moss.
His best result in a World Championship event that year was sixth in the
French Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...
at
Rouen-Les-Essarts
Rouen-Les-Essarts was a motor racing circuit in Orival, near Rouen, France.
From its opening in 1950, Rouen-Les-Essarts was recognized as one of Europe's finest circuits, with modern pits, a wide track, and spectator grandstands. The street ci ...
.
Success did not come the team's way, and Collins left after the 1953 season. Not known for his technical knowledge, Collins was happy to have his mechanics set up his car, and he simply drove it with his consummate natural skill. This was evident in 1954, when
Tony Vandervell signed Collins to drive the fearsome "Thinwall Special". The potent machine was a crowd pleaser at
Formula Libre
Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppor ...
events. He was also amongst the first to handle the "
Vanwall Special" on the world stage, but he only finished seventh in the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
at
Monza.
After being a constant thorn in
BRM's side, he joined the team for the 1955 season. He raced a
Maserati 250F
The Maserati 250F was a racing car made by Maserati of Italy used in '2.5 litre' Formula One racing between January 1954 and November 1960. Twenty-six examples were made.
Mechanical details
The 250F principally used the SSG 220 bhp (@ 7400 rpm) ...
belonging to team owner,
Alfred Owen, winning the
BRDC International Trophy and the
London Trophy. These results led to a drive with the works Maserati in the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
.
Meanwhile, he had better success in sportscars. Throughout the first half of the 1950s, Collins was a stalwart performer for the Aston Martin team, scoring a sensational victory at the 1952
Goodwood Nine Hours race.
The following year he took the
Aston Martin DB3S
The Aston Martin DB3S is a sports racing car that was built by Aston Martin. Following the failure of the heavy and uncompetitive Aston Martin DB3 designed by Eberan Eberhorst; William Watson, employed as Eberhorst's assistant, presented an alt ...
he shared with
Pat Griffith
Pat Griffith (26 April 1926 – 28 January 1980) was an English racing driver, who raced for the works Aston Martin team during the early 1950s, winning the 1953 RAC Tourist Trophy. However, after a bad crash the 1954 12 Hours of Hyères, he re ...
to victory in the
RAC Tourist Trophy at
Dundrod
Dundrod () is a small village and townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 167 people. It is within the Lisburn City Council area.
Buildings
Sport
Dundrod Circuit is the location to Dundrod M ...
. Further successes included second places in an Aston Martin DB3S at Le Mans in
1955 and
1956 with
Paul Frère
Paul Frère (30 January 1917 – 23 February 2008) was a racing driver and journalist from Belgium. He participated in eleven World Championship Formula One Grands Prix debuting on 22 June 1952 and achieving one podium finish with a total of elev ...
and Moss respectively.
Later career
For the 1956 season, Collins joined Ferrari on the strength of a superb drive in the previous year's
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...
, in which he partnered Moss to victory in a
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR (W 196 S) was a 2-seat sports racing car that took part in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship before a catastrophic crash and fire at Le Mans later that year ended its domination prematurely. The car ...
.
This proved to be a turning point, with a solid second-place finish behind Moss at the
Monaco Grand Prix, and wins at the
Belgian
Belgian may refer to:
* Something of, or related to, Belgium
* Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent
* Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German
*Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...
and
French Grands Prix. In those early days at Ferrari, Collins earned the unstinting admiration of
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...
, devastated by the untimely death from muscular dystrophy at age 24 of his son,
Dino, and who turned to Collins for solace, treating him as a member of the family.
Collins was on the verge of becoming Britain's first F1 World Champion when he handed his
Lancia-Ferrari D50 over to team leader
Juan Manuel Fangio after the latter suffered a steering-arm failure toward the end of the
Italian Grand Prix
The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...
at Monza. Collins eventually finished second, but the advantage handed to Moss, and the extra points gained by Fangio's finish, demoted Collins to third place in the championship. Collins's selfless act gained him respect from Enzo Ferrari and high praise from Fangio: ''"I was moved almost to tears by the gesture... Peter was one of the finest and greatest gentlemen I ever met in my racing career." ''
Meanwhile, in sports cars, he finished second in a
Ferrari 860 Monza in the
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...
and at the Swedish Sports Car GP in a Ferrari 290MM with
Wolfgang von Trips
Wolfgang Alexander Albert Eduard Maximilian Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips (; 4 May 1928 – 10 September 1961), also known simply as Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips and nicknamed 'Taffy' by friends and fellow racers, was a German racing driver. He ...
in 1956; and then in 1957 finished second in the
1000km of Nürburgring with
Olivier Gendebien
Olivier Jean Marie Fernand Gendebien (12 January 1924 – 2 October 1998) was a Belgian racing driver who was called "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time".
Rally racer
Gendebien spent some years in the Belgian Congo. On his return ...
and won the
Venezuelan Grand Prix with
Phil Hill, all in a
Ferrari 335 S
The Ferrari 335 S was a sports racing car produced by Italian manufacturer Ferrari in 1957. The car was a direct response to the Maserati 450S which with its 4.5-litre engine was threatening to overpower the 3.8-litre 315 S and 3.5-litre 290 ...
. Finally, in 1958 he won the
1000 km Buenos Aires and the
12 Hours of Sebring in a
Ferrari 250 TR with Phil Hill. These three were back-to-back. His last World Sports Car Championship podium was another second place at the 'Ring with
Mike Hawthorn
John Michael Hawthorn (10 April 1929 – 22 January 1959) was a British racing driver. He became the United Kingdom's first Formula One World Champion driver in 1958, whereupon he announced his retirement, having been profoundly affected by the ...
.
Also in 1956, Collins moved to
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
to avoid
compulsory military service in the British Army and thus continue his racing career.
In January 1957, Collins married American actress Louise King, daughter of the executive assistant to UN Secretary General
Dag Hammarskjöld
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...
, and the couple took up residence on a yacht in Monaco harbour. In the same year, Collins was joined at Ferrari by Hawthorn.
The two became very close friends, even arranging to split their winnings between each other, and together engaged in a fierce rivalry with fellow Ferrari driver
Luigi Musso.
[Williams, Richard, ''Richard Williams Talks to Fiamma Breschi, the Woman Behind Enzo Ferrari'', The Guardian, 22 January 2004] However, despite a third-place finish at the
German Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in Rh ...
, Ferrari were disadvantaged for much of the season as the
801
__NOTOC__
Year 801 ( DCCCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* Emperor Charlemagne formally cedes Nordalbian territory (modern-day Schleswig-H ...
model (an evolution of the 1954 Lancia D50) was overweight and underpowered. However, Collins did score some wins that season, taking victory in the non-championship
Syracuse and
Naples Grands Prix.
1958 saw the introduction of the new, improved
Ferrari Dino 246 and results started to improve for Scuderia Ferrari. Although achieving few results in the first half of the season, Collins improved and won the non-championship
BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, then finished third at the
Monaco Grand Prix. However, Enzo Ferrari felt Collins was distracted by his supposed playboy lifestyle. The Monaco yacht where he lived was considered a perpetual party by Ferrari, who thought Collins was distracted and no longer focused on driving and developing sports cars.
Collins was sacked by Ferrari after deliberately damaging the clutch in his car, which he shared with Mike Hawthorn during the
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...
rather than race in a rainstorm, and was found drinking in a pub in England before the end of the race. Ferrari relented and allowed Collins to drive an F2 car until the end of the season. At the
French Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...
at
Reims, Hawthorn refused to start unless Collins was allowed to start in a F1 car. He did, and finished fifth. Ferrari immediately sacked Collins again. Hawthorn responded by flying to Italy and storming the Ferrari headquarters in
Modena. Having smashed down locked doors, Hawthorn told Enzo Ferrari he would not drive for him again unless Collins was given his Formula One seat again; Ferrari relented.
Following Musso's death at Reims, Ferrari was left without one of his top drivers, and so Collins's position was for now safe. At the
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...
at Silverstone, Collins achieved perhaps his greatest drive. Under team orders and desiring to help his friend Hawthorn win the Championship, Collins led from the start, running flat out in an effort to beat the
Vanwall of Moss. Although in an inferior car to the main contenders, by driving at the limit for 45 laps Collins gradually pulled away from Moss until his Vanwall expired and Collins won.
The Ferrari team management decided not to slow Collins down and flag Hawthorn through to the win after Collins's great drive. Moss's future patron,
Rob Walker, told Collins after the race that he found Collins's driving frightening and he should never drive like that again. It was his third and final career victory.
Death
During the
1958 German Grand Prix at the
Nürburgring, whilst chasing
Tony Brooks's Vanwall, Collins had a fatal crash. After pushing hard to keep pace, Collins went into the Pflanzgarten section of the circuit too quickly causing his Ferrari to run wide, encountering a ditch. Collins lost control of his car, it flipped into the air and landed upside down. Collins was thrown from the car and struck a tree, sustaining critical head injuries.
Despite treatment Collins died later in the afternoon at a hospital in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
.
His death was almost identical to the fate which his Ferrari teammate
Luigi Musso suffered. Teammate Mike Hawthorn was so disturbed by Collins's death that he retired from racing immediately after winning the 1958 Drivers' Championship. Hawthorn himself died during the following year after an automobile accident on the
A3 bypass near
Guildford,
Surrey, England. In Tony Brooks's autobiography, he recalled that he drove harder in that race, in the duel with Collins and Hawthorn, than at any other time in his life but, as in earlier duels with Fangio, the Ferrari pair were passing and repassing only on the safer North and South curves.
Rivalry with Luigi Musso
Many years after the death of Peter Collins, Fiamma Breschi, Luigi Musso's girlfriend at the time of his death, revealed in a television documentary entitled ''The Secret Life of Enzo Ferrari'' the rivalry between teammates Collins, Hawthorn and Musso. Breschi recalled that the antagonism between Musso and the two English drivers encouraged all three to take risks: "The Englishmen (Hawthorn and Collins) had an agreement," she says. "Whichever of them won, they would share the winnings equally. It was the two of them against Luigi, who was not part of the agreement. Strength comes in numbers, and they were united against him. This antagonism was actually favourable rather than damaging to Ferrari. The faster the drivers went, the more likely it was that a Ferrari would win."
Personal life
Collins married Louise King in 1957, one week after they met in Miami, having proposed after two days. Louise was American, and her father was a US representative to the United Nations. She would be widowed in 1958 when Collins crashed at the Nürburgring.
She was interviewed in the movie ''Ferrari: Race to Immortality''.
[The Guardian, 29 August 2021, Louise King Obituary](_blank)
/ref>
Racing record
Career highlights
Complete World Drivers' Championship results
( key)
* Shared drive
Non-Championship results
( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
(Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results
Complete Mille Miglia results
References
Further reading
*Ed McDonough ''Peter Collins: All About the Boy''. Merican Manuals Ltd.
External links
Peter Collins profile at The 500 Owners Association
This Charming Man
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Peter
1931 births
1958 deaths
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Brighton Speed Trials people
English expatriate sportspeople in Germany
English expatriate sportspeople in Monaco
English Formula One drivers
English racing drivers
Ferrari Formula One drivers
Formula One race winners
Hersham and Walton Motors Formula One drivers
Vanwall Formula One drivers
Maserati Formula One drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Mille Miglia drivers
12 Hours of Sebring drivers
People educated at Bromsgrove School
Sportspeople from Kidderminster
Racing drivers who died while racing
Sport deaths in Germany