“Jim Clark: Grand Prix Legend”, by Andrew Tulloch

 

240 pages, Orion Publishing Group, ISBN-13: 978-0297854401

Jim Clark: Grand Prix Legend by Andrew Tulloch was another one of my father’s books, and no mystery there: Dad had been a Jim Clark fan after reading about him in the July 9^th, 1965 issue of Time Magazine, which featured Clark on the cover. This edition of Tulloch’s book was rather interesting in its own right for a number of reasons: first, there was an author’s autograph, made out “To Bob with best wishes” written on a “Scottish Borders Council” slip included with the book; a printed copy of Dad’s correspondence with someone named “gpmodeler” regarding some of Clark’s early races (and from which I got the above tale of Dad’s fandom); and a rare $2 bill, the one featuring Thomas Jefferson.

Clark was one of the most versatile drivers who ever raced on four wheels, racing in sports cars, touring cars, the Indianapolis 500 (which he won in 1965) and, of course, Formula 1 (winning the 1963 and 1965 World Championships). At the time of his death during a Formula Two race on April 7^th, 1968 in Hockenheim, West Germany (aged only 32), he had won 25 Grand Prix races and achieved 33 Grand Prix pole positions. The Times placed Clark at the top of a list of the greatest-ever Formula One drivers in 2009.

This particular book is crammed full of countless excellent photographs that make this more of a kind of photobiography than a definitive Jim Clark bio. Tulloch also spends the majority of his time covering Clark’s racing career in a results-focused manner, recording race after race in a monotonous, win-or-lose fashion that does precious little to delve into the mind of this most successful and driven of competitors. So there is precious little about Clark the person; just page after photographic page of Clark the racer – mind you, this is no bad thing, really, just so long as one goes into this book with the foreknowledge that they will learn precious little about Jimmy Clark (as he was universally known).

In short, if you are looking for an interesting look into the life of Jimmy Clark, and not just what he did on the track, this is not the book for you. No editor is mentioned, but the book could have benefited from one; one example will suffice: Tulloch refers again and again to the engine in Clark’s Lotuses 25 and 33 as a “Cosworth-Climax”, and not the properly-named “Coventry-Climax”. Still, a good introduction of the best open-wheel driver of the 1960’s and, in Dad’s opinion, of all time.