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Old 22nd January 2022, 16:12   #1
FLYING BANANA
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Cool On this day…………

…………………… 63 years ago today (22 January 1959) Mike Hawthorn, only months into his retirement after becoming Britain’s first World Drivers Champion, was tragically killed at the age of 29 in a car crash on the A3 Guildford bypass in Surrey, England.

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Old 22nd January 2022, 19:19   #2
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As a motor racing fan I remember it well.--I was 22 years old at the time.---I lived not too far from the A3.
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Old 22nd January 2022, 19:32   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FLYING BANANA View Post
…………………… 63 years ago today (22 January 1959) Mike Hawthorn, only months into his retirement after becoming Britain’s first World Drivers Champion, was tragically killed at the age of 29 in a car crash on the A3 Guildford bypass in Surrey, England.

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Known as the Hogs Back. Alegdly he was racing someone in his Jag
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Old 22nd January 2022, 20:37   #4
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I vaguely remember a pic of his car and a tree.

I don't remember it being an accident with another car.---
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Old 22nd January 2022, 20:39   #5
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I vaguely remember a pic of his car and a tree.

I don't remember it being an accident with another car.---
It was not an accident with another car but he was racing another car
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Old 22nd January 2022, 21:41   #6
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On 22 January 1959, only three months into his retirement, Hawthorn died in a car accident on the A3 Guildford bypass while driving his comprehensively modified 1958 Jaguar 3.4-litre saloon (now known as the 3.4 Mk 1) VDU 881 to London. While the circumstances of the accident are well documented, the precise cause remains unknown.

The accident occurred on a notoriously dangerous section of the road, the scene of 15 serious accidents (two fatal) in the previous two years; the road was also wet at the time. Driving at speed (one witness estimated 80 m.p.h.), Hawthorn overtook a Mercedes-Benz 300SL 'gull-wing' sports car driven by an acquaintance, the motor racing team manager Rob Walker. On entering a right-hand bend shortly after passing the Mercedes, Hawthorn clipped a 'Keep Left' bollard dividing the two carriageways, causing him to lose control. The Jaguar glanced an oncoming Bedford lorry before careering back across the eastbound carriageway sideways into a roadside tree, uprooting it. The impact caused Hawthorn fatal head injuries and propelled him onto the rear seat.

Hawthorn's grave in West Street Cemetery in Farnham
There was inevitable speculation that Hawthorn and Walker had been racing each other, fuelled by Walker's persistent refusal at the coroner's inquest to estimate the speed of his own car at the time In an interview with motor racing journalist Eoin Young and writer Eric Dymock in 1988, Walker admitted he had indeed been racing Hawthorn, but had been advised by a police officer investigating the accident to make no further mention of it lest he incriminate himself.
Possible causes of the accident include driver error, a blackout, or mechanical failure, although examination of the wreck revealed no obvious fault. There is evidence that Hawthorn had recently suffered blackouts, perhaps because of kidney failure.By 1955, Hawthorn had already lost one kidney to infection, and had begun suffering problems with the other; he was expected at the time to live only three more years.

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Old 23rd January 2022, 21:27   #7
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It was not an accident with another car but he was racing another car
Exactly what I remembered.
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Old 23rd January 2022, 22:09   #8
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I well remember the news breaking. As a child, he was my favourite driver, and I loved Jags then (and still do - I still have a number, along with the 75s/ZTs of course!)
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Old 24th January 2022, 07:26   #9
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I was 12 at the time, already well into bikes and cars (riding and driving around a small holding)

I remember talking about this at school dinner, with others who followed motor racing.

At the time his bow tie was not quite out of the ordinary. I was taken to Crystal Palace for race meetings from around 1954, and recall Reg Parnell, Roy Salvadori etc. as regulars, and Stirling making odd appearances.
Strangely, I don't recall Hawthorn there, but feel that he must have been.

Thanks Bob for these memories, and I certainly didn't know that MH was on limited time.

Mike

I've just google it, and he certainly did drive at the palace, that's proof I'm getting old !!
Mike
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Old 24th January 2022, 12:12   #10
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In Chris Nixon's book Mon Ami Mate, he suggests the accident might have been partly due to a hand throttle fitted to the car by Hawthorn just days earlier.
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