Stirling Moss

Born in London in 1929, Stirling Moss' love of auto racing ran in the family - his father, a dentist, had been a race car driver and had, in fact, raced at Indianapolis in 1924 and again in 1925. Interested in cars virtually from childhood, Moss began racing in earnest at 17. Two years later he took fourth overall and first in his class driving a Cooper Formula 3 at the prestigious Bugatti Owner's Club Hill Climb. By year's end he had won six more races. He soon switched to sports car racing, where he earned his greatest fame.

In the 1950s he won every important auto race there was, with the exception of LeMans.

In 1950 the World Driving Championship circuit was created, and Moss was considered a shoo-in to take it, but Argentine driver Juan Manuel Fangio wound up capturing the title.

In Formula 1, Stirling Moss is often known as 'the greatest driver never to win the world championship', having come second in the championship in 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958. He was also third in the championship in 1959, 1960 and 1961, before retiring after entering a coma due to an accident in 1962.

He was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 1959 and Knighthood of the British Empire in the 2000 Queen's Millennium Honors List for his services to the motor-racing industry.

However, Moss consoled himself by winning the British, New Zealand, Monaco, Moroccan and Italian GPs, and the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix race is generally considered to be his greatest accomplishment. He drove a Lotus-Climax - a car vastly underpowered compared to the snarling Ferraris it was competing against - but through sheer skill and technique managed to overtake the field and crossed the finish line, taking the race by an incredibly tight 3. 6 seconds.

In 1962 Moss was badly injured in a horrific crash while driving in Goodwood, England. He lay in a coma for some time, and when he finally came out of it, his left side was partially paralyzed and his reaction times were vastly slower. However, after several months, he had recovered sufficiently to where he wanted to drive again.