Celebrities & Famous people who have raced
Discussion
Drumroll said:
Now why doesn't it surprise me that your dad's favorite was Joanna Lumley.
She was lovely 
ChevronB19 said:
I’m guessing your dad was Gerry? I raced against him a few times. And lost, massively.
We were good mates with Tony Lanfranchi who often entertained us with stories both of himself and Gerry. Both lovely guys, as was the third musketeer, Barrie.
Spot on. Tony is sorely missed, great guy.We were good mates with Tony Lanfranchi who often entertained us with stories both of himself and Gerry. Both lovely guys, as was the third musketeer, Barrie.
Pflanzgarten said:
Has to be.
Yep 
Eric Mc said:
Lord Brockett?
A bit of a cad, if I recall.
It was a real shame, as he was a lovely bloke and he never actually submitted an insurance claim, but it;s the thought that counts and destroying classic cars is pretty poor form anyway A bit of a cad, if I recall.
Milkyway said:
Ooh....I can just remember watching Gerry throwing ‘Big Bertha’ around.
I had his autobiography ‘Only here for the beer’.
Still got a VHS tape... In car prod saloons, You can imagine the GM & TL commentaries.
GM in a Opel Monza.
TL: Vauxhall Nova
BW: Escort Turbo...
& 
x3.
I've put loads of videos on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/GregorMarshall96 and I did a new biography about 10 years ago I had his autobiography ‘Only here for the beer’.
Still got a VHS tape... In car prod saloons, You can imagine the GM & TL commentaries.
GM in a Opel Monza.
TL: Vauxhall Nova
BW: Escort Turbo...
& x3.Edited by Milkyway on Tuesday 19th July 21:48
Milkyway said:
That’s me sorted for a few evenings. I was speaking to Tony Sugden a while back about "the three musketeers" definitely a different time of racing. Half their antics on and off the track just wouldn't be allowed now.
Gregor Marshall said:
It was a real shame, as he was a lovely bloke and he never actually submitted an insurance claim, but it;s the thought that counts and destroying classic cars is pretty poor form anyway
He certainly did submit a fraudulent claim and was sent down for 5 years for it! He had 2 employees help him cut up and bury a number of classic cars ( some irreplaceable) and claimed they had been stolen.Not racing per se but an excuse for my Dr Who story . I was a startline marshal at Harewood Hillclimb in the early Seventies and at on event there was some daft publicity stunt involving Dr Who driving a faux vintage car up the hill . Sure enough, a very theatrical and be-caped figure appeared , consuming Benson and Hedges at pace - Jon Pertwee , a man who seemed permanently on the edge of losing his rag . He was friendly enough , if a little gruff.
But I only had eyes for (the now sadly late )Katy Manning . Sigh ... she was bloody gorgeous
But I only had eyes for (the now sadly late )Katy Manning . Sigh ... she was bloody gorgeous
coppice said:
Not racing per se but an excuse for my Dr Who story . I was a startline marshal at Harewood Hillclimb in the early Seventies and at on event there was some daft publicity stunt involving Dr Who driving a faux vintage car up the hill . Sure enough, a very theatrical and be-caped figure appeared , consuming Benson and Hedges at pace - Jon Pertwee , a man who seemed permanently on the edge of losing his rag . He was friendly enough , if a little gruff.
But I only had eyes for (the now sadly late )Katy Manning . Sigh ... she was bloody gorgeous
But I only had eyes for (the now sadly late )Katy Manning . Sigh ... she was bloody gorgeous
mode: It was probably "Bessie" which was a 50s-Ford-based kit car.coppice said:
Not racing per se but an excuse for my Dr Who story . I was a startline marshal at Harewood Hillclimb in the early Seventies and at on event there was some daft publicity stunt involving Dr Who driving a faux vintage car up the hill . Sure enough, a very theatrical and be-caped figure appeared , consuming Benson and Hedges at pace - Jon Pertwee , a man who seemed permanently on the edge of losing his rag . He was friendly enough , if a little gruff.
But I only had eyes for (the now sadly late )Katy Manning . Sigh ... she was bloody gorgeous
if she's dead, her wiki page needs updating.But I only had eyes for (the now sadly late )Katy Manning . Sigh ... she was bloody gorgeous
Dynion Araf Uchaf said:
coppice said:
Not racing per se but an excuse for my Dr Who story . I was a startline marshal at Harewood Hillclimb in the early Seventies and at on event there was some daft publicity stunt involving Dr Who driving a faux vintage car up the hill . Sure enough, a very theatrical and be-caped figure appeared , consuming Benson and Hedges at pace - Jon Pertwee , a man who seemed permanently on the edge of losing his rag . He was friendly enough , if a little gruff.
But I only had eyes for (the now sadly late )Katy Manning . Sigh ... she was bloody gorgeous
if she's dead, her wiki page needs updating.But I only had eyes for (the now sadly late )Katy Manning . Sigh ... she was bloody gorgeous
Milkyway said:
That’s me sorted for a few evenings. Drumroll said:
The beauty of being retired I can start watching now.
I was speaking to Tony Sugden a while back about "the three musketeers" definitely a different time of racing. Half their antics on and off the track just wouldn't be allowed now.
I don't know Tony unfrotunately, but a very good driver and has raced some great creations.I was speaking to Tony Sugden a while back about "the three musketeers" definitely a different time of racing. Half their antics on and off the track just wouldn't be allowed now.
Definitely a different time and I'm very glad they lived in the time they did
Also reminded me Dad knew Stuart Hall, as he owned 1 of the 204 Droop Snoot Firenzas, but probably the least said about thim the better!!
I do also remember Richard Branson racing a Morgan at Silverstone, he flew in by helicopter and we had a good chat with him. It was late '80s.
CanAm said:
He certainly did submit a fraudulent claim and was sent down for 5 years for it! He had 2 employees help him cut up and bury a number of classic cars ( some irreplaceable) and claimed they had been stolen.
Sorry, I shold have been more clear - he withdrew the insurance claim and was never actually paid out any monies on any of the cars. I know what he did and do not agree with it at all. My late Mum and I had only visited and had dinner with him, his wife and his children a couple of months before and had been shown round the collection (much to my late Dad's dismay, as he wanted to have a look, but as my Mum and I lived in St. Albans we were nice and close) and als the incredible security system, so I could not understand how it happened...
Eric Mc said:
It was a pretty shocking thing to do.
Agreed, pretty desperate. Just glad the cars were recovered and rebuilt.Hi Gregor,
Pity you didn't get to know Suggy and his lovely wife Rose, I was lucky enough to spend plenty of time with them in the paddock when helping my friend compete against john's last creation (Skoda coupe) with an Esprit Silhouette.
There is a recent book about Tony worth a read.
https://mikeallenbooks.com/
Pity you didn't get to know Suggy and his lovely wife Rose, I was lucky enough to spend plenty of time with them in the paddock when helping my friend compete against john's last creation (Skoda coupe) with an Esprit Silhouette.
There is a recent book about Tony worth a read.
https://mikeallenbooks.com/
Gregor Marshall said:
Drumroll said:
Now why doesn't it surprise me that your dad's favorite was Joanna Lumley.
She was lovely ChevronB19 said:
I’m guessing your dad was Gerry? I raced against him a few times. And lost, massively.
We were good mates with Tony Lanfranchi who often entertained us with stories both of himself and Gerry. Both lovely guys, as was the third musketeer, Barrie.
Spot on. Tony is sorely missed, great guy.We were good mates with Tony Lanfranchi who often entertained us with stories both of himself and Gerry. Both lovely guys, as was the third musketeer, Barrie.
Pflanzgarten said:
Has to be.
Yep Eric Mc said:
Lord Brockett?
A bit of a cad, if I recall.
It was a real shame, as he was a lovely bloke and he never actually submitted an insurance claim, but it;s the thought that counts and destroying classic cars is pretty poor form anyway A bit of a cad, if I recall.
Milkyway said:
Ooh....I can just remember watching Gerry throwing ‘Big Bertha’ around.
I had his autobiography ‘Only here for the beer’.
Still got a VHS tape... In car prod saloons, You can imagine the GM & TL commentaries.
GM in a Opel Monza.
TL: Vauxhall Nova
BW: Escort Turbo...
& x3.
I've put loads of videos on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/GregorMarshall96 and I did a new biography about 10 years ago I had his autobiography ‘Only here for the beer’.
Still got a VHS tape... In car prod saloons, You can imagine the GM & TL commentaries.
GM in a Opel Monza.
TL: Vauxhall Nova
BW: Escort Turbo...
& x3.Edited by Milkyway on Tuesday 19th July 21:48
covboy said:
If you watch the video Vintage G&T (I think) with the Production Car race at Mallory Park with Gerry and Tony dicing down Stebbe Straight completely ignoring the Flags for an incident at the Esses you will se the Rescue Unit making a sharp move away from the track to avoid the cars -The legs you see dangling out the back of the Unit is me frantically holding on to anything at hand to make sure I didn't get left behind
It's just the in-car from Dad's Opel Monza, after Mike Smith and Bob Sands had gone off in their Escort RS Turbos and there are two static black flags you can see on the left from the in-car, that are actually very difficult to see unless you look for them and Dad would never ignore flags on purpose and to be fair all the following drivers missed them too. You and the rescue unit certainly moved bloody quickly and it was an incredibly close shave and I think helped lead to the change to waved red and yellow flags, with the black flag saved for the start/finish line.
mfmman said:
LukeBrown66 said:
One I forgot about was Matt Aitken, one of the awful threesome that was Stock Aitken and Waterman, he did a few seasons of very well funded FF1600 I think, remember seeing him at Cadwell in a very smart car, a Swift maybe?
I remember him racing in Prosport 3000, some of the comments online suggest he was pretty decent as well. I alos found some interesting comments about him in a team with some of Dire Straits in the link below at the Birkett 6hrhttps://www.750mc.co.uk/ugc-1/1/92/0/1993_snettert...
Google search shows he owned and raced chassis 001 - that's how desperate he was to own a TWR Jag having missed out on a IMSA GTP TWR Jag!
https://supercarnostalgia.com/blog/jaguar-xjr-15-c...
Emmerdale actress Glenda McKay did at least a few rounds in the Beetle series , driving a Herbie look alike.
I think she got lapped in every race .
She seemed very young and a bit out of her comfort zone with the public attention and headed for any group of marshalls when out of the car between race sessions.
I think she got lapped in every race .
She seemed very young and a bit out of her comfort zone with the public attention and headed for any group of marshalls when out of the car between race sessions.
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