The final lap has been run and the chequered flag has fallen on the life and time of a man who was unambiguously born to be a racing driver, indeed he was known the world over as ‘Mr Motor Racing’. To give him his proper title, Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE, was born in 1929 to parents who had a penchant for racing cars. Father Alfred, a dentist by trade, took part in the 1924 Indy 500 in a Fronty Ford, he finished 14th (some sources say 16th). His mother, Aileen, drove ambulances during WW1 and became a British trials champion, so racing was truly in the blood. Incidentally, as a true Scot, Aileen wanted her son to be named Hamish, but Alfred thought Stirling the place of Aileen’s birth sounded much better – Craufurd was Aileen’s maiden name. Sister Pat, 5 years Stirling’s junior, was a very accomplished rally driver winning the European Ladies’ Rally Championship five times in 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964–65.
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