Sir Stirling Moss, Auto Racing Legend, Dead at 90

Throughout his storied career, Formula One driver Sir Stirling Moss was an icon of British racing — and someone who drove some of the most legendary vehicles of his time. The Daily Mail reports that Moss died at home on Sunday morning at the age of 90, following a long illness.

RIP, Sir Stirling Moss. ❤️

The man who personified motorsport for generations.

Moss raced in Formula 1 in the sport's romantic age of the 1950s and early 1960s. He will always be remembered.

Read from @andrewbensonf1: https://t.co/QaslyJMmft pic.twitter.com/09KNkyLl24

— BBCF1 (@bbcf1) April 12, 2020

Writing at the BBC, Andrew Benson concisely summarized Moss’s career, and why his time in Formula One continues to be held in such high esteem:

In Moss’ case, there was never any doubt how good he was. From 1948 to his enforced retirement in 1962, Moss won 212 of the 529 races he entered across all motorsport categories. Of those who raced against him, only the greats Juan Manuel Fangio and Jim Clark were comparable, and the careers of Moss and Clark only briefly coincided.

Moss retired from Formula One following a crash at Goodwood in 1962. The aftermath of the accident left him in a coma for a month. Following his career racing cars, Moss continued to live a larger-than-life existence, as Douglas Martin of The New York Times notes:

After his racing career, Moss made a tidy living selling his name and making personal appearances. “Basically, I’m an international prostitute,” he said. He made successful real estate investments and returned to the track for vintage car meets.

Last year, the Goodwood Revival celebrated Moss’s 90th birthday with a gathering of internationally acclaimed drivers — a testament to Moss’s enduring reputation in the motor sports world.

A moment we’ll cherish forever 🙏 Sir Stirling Moss and @LewisHamilton at Monza in 2015, taking to the iconic banking in two Silver Arrows

🎥 x @BBCSport pic.twitter.com/1Hj7WGkvSH

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 12, 2020

Moss’s accomplishments when racing, as well as his larger-than-life persona, made him a legend in the auto racing world decades ago. That legend is likely to endure for a very long time.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…