On this day in 1968, the world of auto racing lost one of its most beloved champions. Please enjoy this short video tribute to Jim Clark.  

This video contains no narration—the story of Jim Clark entirely is told entirely in film and pictures. It’s a familiar one to race fans: Born in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland in 1936, Clark announced his arrival on the British racing scene on Boxing Day, 1958. In a 10-lap GT race at Brands Hatch, he finished second to the man who would become his team owner, Colin Chapman.

Once they were teamed up, Clark and Chapman became the most formidable force in Formula One in the 1960s, winning 25 Grand Prix, 33 poles, 32 podiums, and earning the world driver’s championship twice, in 1963 and 1965. Quickly mastering every type of equipment he tried, Clark finished second at the Indy 500 in just his first attempt in 1963, then won the 500 going away in 1965 in a Lotus-Ford.

Victory at Indianapolis, and his quiet, unassuming charm, made Clark every bit as popular in the USA as he was in Europe. America simply adopted him, as did the rest of the racing world. It’s no exaggeration at all to recall that in those days, every fan was a Jim Clark fan. He was that beloved. When we lost him in a Formula 2 crash at Hockenheim, Germany on April 7,1968, we never quite got over it. We never will. Video follows.