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Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance

2012 - Vic Elford

Born in London, Vic Elford was one of the fastest drivers of the Sixties and Seventies who became a Porsche hero. Nicknamed "Quick Vic" by his peers, legendary driver Vic Elford is one of the most versatile all round drivers of all time.

The 1968 season began with his win in the prestigious Monte Carlo Rally in a stock Porsche 911 followed by a win a week later in the Daytona 24 Hours racing a Porsche prototype. He was second at Sebring a month later, then in May scored an epic victory at the Targa Florio, which is considered the greatest win in Targa history. Two weeks after that Vic won the Nürburgring 1000 Kilometers. Then in his first F1 race in July Vic took an out-classed Cooper T86B to a stunning fourth-place finish in the soaking-wet French Grand Prix.

Vic was European Rally Champion in 1967. He then turned to sports car racing and F1. He was the last British driver to win the Monte Carlo Rally (1968) and the European Rally Championship. Vic also competed with outstanding results in Can Am, Trans-Am, Off-Road events in Africa, even NASCAR.

Vic Elford was one of the world's greatest sports car drivers being one of only four drivers ever to record six major victories at the classic Nurburgring Nordschleife (the other drivers being Rudolf Caracciolo in the 1920′s, John Surtees and Stirling Moss).... but he is also a Targa Florio, Sebring and Daytona 24 Hour winner to mention just a few.

He was the only driver to race every version of the Porsche 917. Although he raced five years for Porsche, Vic also raced for Ford Triumph, Lancia, Alfa-Romeo, Ferrari, Chaparral, Shadow, Cooper, Lola, Chevron and Subaru. He also raced for McLaren in F1 & Can-Am and Chevrolet in Trans-Am.

His lap records include the Targa Florio, Nurburgring, Daytona, Sebring, Norisring, Monza, Buenos Aires, Road Atlanta, Laguna Seca, Riverside... and Le Mans - where he was the first driver to lap at over 150mph in the Porsche long-tail 917 in 1970!

Vic was hired by Steve McQueen to do the high speed close-up action driving the 917 for Steve's film Le Mans.

In 1972, while driving for Alfa Romeo, Vic branched out into another extra-curricular activity – that of principal narrator for producer Michael Keyser's film The Speed Merchants.

During the 1972 24 hours of Le Mans, when a Ferrari crashed in front of him, Vic stopped in mid-race to extricate the driver from his burning car. TV cameras caught the action and Vic was named Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite by French President Georges Pompidou for his act of courage and heroism. Then Vic retired from racing.

After being away for a couple of years Vic came back to racing by becoming involved in the design and creation of the Inaltera Le Mans prototype in 1975 and managing the team in 1976 and '77. The role suited his talents well. Later, Vic managed the ATS F1 team.

Vic then moved to the United States to manage first Renault Jeep Sport, then the Porsche Owners Driving School and the Porsche Driving Experience.

Vic has authored two books; The Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook published by Motorsports and Reflections on a Golden Era in Motorsport (Foreword by Ferdinand Piëch) published by David Bull.

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