Tim Schenken: My life in cars
The ‘70s sports car ace looks back on his life in four wheels
Grand Prix Photo
My family car as a child…
The first family car I remember was my Father’s DeSoto in the 1940s, an American car. In the war years they had a bag tank on the roof, running on gas, but I wasn’t interested in cars as a small child, that came later when we moved to Melbourne when I was 12-years old.
My first road car…
A Standard Vanguard. I needed a car to tow my Lotus 18. I was working for a BMC dealer and this old lady came in with this car, the paintwork was all faded, but it had low mileage, so I bought it for next to nothing.
I was hooked on motor racing when…
When I got the racing bug it was like a light bulb coming on. The father of a friend of mine had a hillclimb car, when I saw it a light came on and all I wanted to do was be a grand prix driver. I’d never been to a race but something clicked and I started buying all the magazines from England.
My first ever race was…
My first ever race? I don’t remember precisely but I’d built a go-kart from drawings in an American magazine when I was 13-years old, and I was racing my mother’s car when I was 18. She didn’t know about that.
My first ever win was…
In my Lotus 18. I won the Victoria Formula 2 Championship. It was called AF2, and at the same time I was doing hillclimbs and won the Australian Hillclimb Championship in 1965, just before I went to England.
Sprint Race…
Lewis or Max?
Senna or Prost?
Oversteer or understeer?
Balance
Brands Hatch or Silverstone?
The win I remember the most was…
All of them! They’re all good, Formulas Ford, 3 and 2, and later with Ferrari, and Porsche. Winning in F3 at Crystal Palace in ’69 was special, beating Ronnie Peterson, Reine Wisell, Roy Pike. That was a really incredible race.
If I could race in any era…
The 1970s, because I was successful and I’m still here today to tell the story. Thank goodness I wasn’t racing in the ’60s, that was so dangerous.
The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given was…
From the Australian journalist and team owner David MacKay. In 1965 I was racing F2 at Warwick Farm and he told me, “If you want to be a grand prix driver, you have to go to England.” I already had a deposit on a ticket so when I got home I paid the rest and took a ship from Melbourne to Southampton.
My favourite racing car is…
The Maserati 250F (below left). I saw Stirling Moss racing one at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park. I got to drive one on a media day at Albert Park many years later. That was really something special. Such a beautiful car.
When driving I listen to…
I’m waiting to hear the police siren… otherwise it’s 1980s music on Fox FM.
If could take part in one more big race it would be…
A Maserati 250F at one of the great circuits like Phillip Island, or one of the early F1 Coopers at Albert Park. I’d love the opportunity but you can never be as fast as you used to be.
