Interview: Mike Pilbeam

It’s amazing how some of the names forged into the history of motorsport were first introduced to it. Some have a family background associated with it, while others have their personal “road to Damascus” moment. This was the case with Mike Pilbeam, the designer and engineer who first worked with BRM, then Lotus and Surtees before returning to Bourne. Following the demise of BRM, he “did his own thing” working with Tom Wheatcroft and the LEC F1 team. He eventually formed Pilbeam Racing, gaining a name for producing some of the best hillclimb cars in the business and locking out the British championship for a good number of years. VR’s European Editor, Mike Jiggle, spoke to Pilbeam about his life, his career and his continued desire to be part of the motor racing world. In this first installment of the interview we start and finish with Silverstone and the British GP—starting in 1958 and ending in 1977.

Looking back, didn’t you first became aware of motor racing while an undergraduate at Bristol University, when you went to see the 1958 British GP?