June 2013 Auction Ends Thursday, June 27th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/27/2013
British race car legend & OBE 1969 inductee, Graham Hill's official 1969 Gold Leaf Team Formula One racing suit, first offered as a lottery prize by Club Lotus 40+ years ago. Hill remains the only race car driver ever to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport -- the holy trilogy of racing honors -- the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Indianapolis 500 and Formula One World Championship. Formula One cars are the fastest multi-turn circuit-racing cars in the world, racing speeds up to 220 mph. As one of the two official suits worn by Hill as the reigning 1969 season F1 World Champion, Hill became team leader of Team Lotus, the motorsport sister company of the British Lotus Cars and helped to develop the "Lotus 49" version of the car he raced with the newly-developed "Cosworth-V8" engine. The Lotus cars of this era were considered quite dangerous with extreme aerodynamic embellishments and Hill himself first survived a violent 150 mph crash at the Spanish GP in 1969 when one of his Lotus 49B rear wing struts collapsed, though presumably he went on to compete in this uniform in that the suit, and went on to finish 7th in both the Dutch and British GPs. He then suffered a second crash at the 1969 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen broke his legs, debilitating his career before dying tragically in a plane crash in 1975 at the young age of 46. This particular custom-made "Hinchman of Indianapolis" brand uniform is a one-piece cream suit with elasticized cuffs, body-length zip, Velcro belt and collar, and has original label to inseam. This is one of two similar uniforms worn in 1969 and is distinct because it featured a transposition of the Shell patch to right shoulder and STP logos to the left shoulder. The famed Hinchman uniform is made in "nomex", the flame-retardant polyform and Hinchman suits were donned by many of the Indy and F1 champions, including Hill. With "Graham Hill" embroidered in red silk above the zip pocket above the right breast, a Ford patch embroidered beneath his name, and a Gold Leaf Team Lotus embroidered sponsor's patch later stitched above hims name. With a Firestone patch stitched to the left breast. Verso of uniform has a large Firestone logo embroidered across the back; legs and sleeves enhanced by a striped red piping. Measures 18.5" shoulder-to-shoulder and 60" in length. Minor wear, else near fine. A one-of-a-kind piece.
Race Car Legend Graham Hill's 1969 Formula One Official Uniform -- Worn at the Apex of His Career, the Same Year He Suffered a Career-Debilitating Injury
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