Courtesy of Goodwood Road & Racing, here’s an excellent video biography of one of the most beloved figures in Formula 1: team owner Rob Walker.
To readers of Road & Track back in the day, Rob Walker (1917-2002) certainly requires no introduction. They already feel like they know him personally from the colorful Grand Prix race reports he wrote for the magazine from 1967 through the 1990s, directly from the Formula 1 scene in his intimate, gentlemanly style. Indeed, the term “gentleman” probably sums up Walker best. As heir to the Johnny Walker whiskey fortune, Walker was “comfortable,” as they say, with considerable time and money at his disposal. And he used them both with great style as a team owner in the golden years of the sport from 1953 to 1970.
As the last of the gentleman team owners, Walker became a beloved figure on the Grand Prix scene. To pay homage to Formula 1’s greatest sportsman, an exhibition of his former race cars—an impressive assortment, to say the least—was gathered up at the Goodwood Revival in September 2018, and the organizers produced this wonderful video tribute. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Rob Walker.
I adored Rob Walker’s Road & Track stories. They were visits to another time. Innes Ireland too.