Bill Wood

[grahamw48]

I don't know if anyone on here knew Bill, or if there has already been mention of him. He was well-known in the North Yorks area, a great pistonhead, brilliant guy, and a close friend of mine.

Sadly I've only just found out that he was killed in Canada, his new home since 1996.

Here's the newspaper report :

http://www.thepress.co.uk/search/3800223.Former_ra...

RIP mate.

[grahamw48]

gemini said:

Having read the story he sounds a lad!

Fishing story leaves doubts?

You have to love the newspaper reporter - "he had a turbo charged Porsche Turbo stolen" really!

Yes Richard, he was a bit of a lad....always great fun in a mischievous sort of way....careful to slow down going past Fulford nick.

He did (in)famously roll his Range Rover across several of his neighbours' gardens one night, after turning into his driveway at a somewhat optimistic speed... yes he'd had a few.

Apart from his 308 GTB, which was special in having the number plate '308GTB', and being Fibre-glass bodied,
some of the cars he owned which they didn't mention, were a Ferrari 246 Dino, a Maserati Bora, and a De Tomaso Pantera, not to mention the Daimler Dart that his dad bought him for his 17th birthday.
He owned the 308 from new, and sold it after 11 years of what he described as very reliable motoring. It was always serviced at Maranello, and Ferrari even had it resprayed for him as payment for their use of it in an advert.

Around 1989 he bought a pretty special Flatnose Porsche 911 turbo (possibly the one now at Malton). The one that was stolen during the test drive (remember it well ) was a silver 'standard' 911 turbo, which was recovered in Liverpool, I think about a day later.
Bill was more peed off about having to walk home.

Also there was a Formula 2 which he raced in Europe.

Some in York thought he was perhaps a bit of a jack the lad, but those of us who knew him properly saw the kind and compassionate man behind the jolly japes and flash cars, and knew that he could also be found getting his hands dirty in his garage.

The newspaper article also doesn't mention that his wife (my lodger at the time they met) was in fact studying for a degree at St.Johns College in York, and was only working as a barmaid to subsidise her grant.
Funny how the papers can put a different slant on things. However, I thought the article was generally positive and fairly accurate.

A pistonhead through and through, that is for sure.

Edited by grahamw48 on Monday 2nd February 22:13