Fast becoming a thing of the past - at least as far as the big-money leagues are concerned - the role of player/manager was once the logical next step for experienced professional footballers. The history of Formula One, too, is peppered with famous names who fancied moving up without letting go of the wheel. Some achieved great success - not least Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren, both of whom struck out on their own in the 1960s but get it wrong and there's no quicker way of tarnishing your hard-won reputation than trying to stay on the grid with a self-funded,self-run team. It's no coincidence that, of our chosen 10, only the McLaren outfit survives.
The more happy-go-lucky nature of the '60s helped, allowing enterprising independents an easier time to settle in before the sponsorsaturated 1970s came around, making running a team far more involving. Graham Hill touched on this 50 years ago in the 1974 documentary Graham Hill's Shadow, which followed the trials and tribulations of managing his own equipe, remarking that it wasn't easy trying to perform to 100% behind the wheel while worrying over the state of his (Embassy-liveried) mechanics' overalls. Here, then, is how and why those dreams were realised by 10 hopeful aces.
1 Graham Hill
This story is from the August 2024 edition of Classic & Sports Car.
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This story is from the August 2024 edition of Classic & Sports Car.
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