Here’s an excellent video biography of Phil Hill, America’s first Formula 1 champion, narrated by another automotive legend, Brock Yates. 

Phill Hill (1997-2008) was not only a world-class race driver, with three victories at Le Mans and the 1961 Formula 1 driver title to his name. He was the complete car enthusiast, with a passion for Packard and Pierce-Arrow and a scholar’s appreciation of vintage and classic-era automobiles.

As the co-proprietor of Hill & Vaughn, a leading restoration company, Hill was known and respected throughout the collector car community, where his career as a Ferrari factory contract driver—hand-picked by il Commendatore himself–was considered a colorful footnote. Modest and gracious, Hill always had time for enthusiasts who happened by to talk cars, and  those who never met him personally came to know him well through his vintage car reports in Road & Track.

In this wonderful old ’70s video documentary presented by British Leyland—a carmaker that no longer exists—we are treated to a casual but comprehensive biography of Hill narrated by another American automotive legend, journalist Brock Yates (1933-2016). Here the focus is on his racing career, naturally, including his later work with the Ford GT and Chaparral teams, but all along we have the sense of Phil Hill as the consummate car guy. Video follows.