Richard Attwood: My life in cars

My family car as a boy was…

Well, my favourites were always the Aston Martins, the DB2 especially, and I’m still restoring my own DB2/4 Mark I. My father had a big car dealership so lots of different cars would come and go. He let me steer his car from an early age and I learnt to drive, on a farm, when I was 10.

My first ever road car was…

A Standard Ten. It was my pride and joy. I loved that car and we souped it up a bit with twin carburettors and a noisy exhaust. I used to drive it like it was a racing car on the road which was pretty stupid.

I was first hooked on racing when…

It was my father’s influence. He raced a supercharged MG before the war and he wanted to see one of his sons racing. My second car was a Triumph TR3A. I raced that for a year, and then my father said he’d get me a Formula Junior to see if I was any good. So, in a way, he pushed me towards being a racing driver.

My first ever race was…

Goodwood in my Standard Ten in 1959. I’d done a proficiency test there which involved driving lots of laps without any silly mistakes to prove that you were able to come back as a competent competitor. I did that test in the Standard 10. I drove down to Goodwood from Wolverhampton and back, all in a day.

Sprint Race

Lewis or Max?

Neither.

Senna or Prost?

Senna.

Oversteer or understeer?

Oversteer.

Brands Hatch or Silverstone?

Brands Hatch.

My first ever win was…

In 1960 at Oulton Park in the TR3A in the wet, up against a TVR and other cars faster than me. I had some Dunlop rain tyres. They weren’t much use, but somehow I managed to win.

The win I remember most was…

The Formula 3 race in Monaco, 1963. It was a big win. This is the victory that put me on the map and led to a test drive with BRM in ’64, and a Ford contract, and now I was a professional racing driver.

If I could race in any era…

I’ll choose my era, the 1960s, although it was terribly dangerous. So many drivers were killed. It has to be the ’60s – the cars were simpler but it was good racing and I guess that’s why so many drivers today like to do a historic event like the Goodwood Revival.

The best piece of advice I’ve had…

I don’t remember anyone giving me any advice that was of significant value to my racing career. I was always a loner when I started racing. I didn’t have a manager, so I was on my own.

My favourite racing car is…

The one that is faster than all the others around me. As soon as you have that advantage the whole game changes. I only had three of those, four at most. Aside from that I’ve always lusted after driving one of the Silver Arrows cars like the Auto Union. That would be quite something. Those cars looked almost unmanageable.

What I listen to while driving is…

I like music. I have some cassettes but it’s mainly BBC Radio 4 for the news and Radio 2. Sadly, however, I think the BBC has come off the boil in recent years.

If I could drive in one more grand prix…

It would have to be Montlhéry or Monaco. Both are really wonderful circuits, but I’ll choose Monaco because I always went well there. I love the precision the circuit demands, the proximity of everything. You simply cannot make a mistake. You must be precise so it’s a good challenge.