James Duncan Hamilton (30 April 1920 in Cork, County Cork, Ireland – 13 May 1994 in Sherborne, Dorset, England).
His colourful and extrovert personality often overshadowed his genuine talent. After fighting in, and surviving the Second World War, he vowed to live life to the full and took up motor sport.
Although adept in single-seaters, sportscars was where he enjoyed most success, winning the 1953 24 Heures du Mans, two Coupe de Paris events, and the 12 heures internationals Reims race in 1956. He retired in 1958 and ran a garage in Bagshot, Surrey for many years. He died from lung cancer in 1994. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
A boisterous, larger-than-life, character, Duncan Hamilton flew Lysanders for the Fleet Air Arm (part of the Royal Navy responsible for naval aircraft) during the Second World War and after it vowed to live life to the full. After taking up motor racing he proved a more than useful racer, shining in F2 and took a seventh place finish in the 1952 Dutch Grand Prix though he enjoyed most success in sportscars, winning Le Mans in 1953, two Coupe de Paris events and a 12 hour international Reims race in 1956.
After racing Austin Sevens at Brooklands he would move on to sprints and hillclimbs, with an ex-Malcolm Campbell MG R-type, a Bugatti T35 and an ex Prince Bira ERA R5B (which Bira named ‘Remus’).
On one occasion he was transporting the MG in a lorry and as he was coming down a hill he saw the radiator of a Bugatti in his rear-view mirror. Thinking it was a competitor also going to the Brighton Speed Trials he moved over and waved it past but the car didn’t overtake. Eventually he noted that it was identical to his own Bugatti, and even the same colour, and intrigued to see who the driver was, he was horrified to see that the driving seat was empty. The awful truth dawned on him that it was his own car that had passed him-and now gaining speed! He had forgotten he was also towing his Bugatti behind the lorry and it ended up demolishing a lamp post! When he pulled over, there were high voltage wires sticking out of the broken power pole and his wife was insistent that they get in touch with the local power company before leaving. But Duncan was anxious to get to Brighton and try to fix the Bugatti and argued that a notice tied to the stump saying ‘Danger’ would suffice and they could sort the problem on the return journey. However, a man had been watching everything, and busily taking notes, so Duncan approached asked if he knew where the power company’s offices were. The man turned out to be the manager so after paying for a new power pole they went on their way!
On another occasion, newspapers wrongly reported he had been killed in a road accident and his wife received letters of condolence, to which he replied ‘looking forward to seeing you soon’.
He drove a Maserati 6CM in the British GP in 1948 and 1949 and continued in single-seaters during the early 1950s. 1951’s International Trophy race at Silverstone saw him race his Talbot Lago against a field including Fangio and Farina in Alfa Romeos, Reg Parnell in the Thin-wall special and Toulo de Graffenried in a Maserati. It was run in monsoon conditions but the Talbot, being a heavy car, handled reasonably well in the wet and he drove brilliantly to finish second behind Reg Parnell and 49 seconds ahead of Fangio. Financial problems would force him to leave the Talbot in a cellar in Belgium rather than ship it home after continental races. But when he was eventually able to return to collect it, he discovered that the cellar’s owner had moved without telling the new owner of the car’s existence and the car had been buried under tons of coal.
He also started 1951’s British and German GPs then drove an HWM in three GPs during 1952 and 1953, with seventh in 1952’s Dutch GP his best result from those starts.
1950 saw his Le Mans debut (with Tony Rolt) and their works Healey finished fourth and the following year sixth. It was with Jaguar that he is best remembered though, especially for victory at the 1953 Le Mans. At that year’s race, he and Tony Rolt believed that they had failed to gain entry, for being on track during a practice session bearing the same car number as another competitor. They headed into town to drown their sorrows but after a night of drinking they discovered Jaguar team boss ‘Lofty’ England had fought successfully to get them back in and they would now be starting the race. It was 10am on race day, with the race a few hours away, so much black coffee was drunk to get them ready for it. Reports said that coffee was served at every pit stop to try to help but they came through an eventful race to take the chequered flag and win; at one point in the race a bird struck him in the face, at 130mph, and broke his nose.
Although it was a surprise they managed to even drive, let alone win, they recorded the first 100mph average speed at Le Mans and had won at a record pace! There was only one way to celebrate and they continued by staying up all of Sunday night. ‘Lofty’ England and Tony Rolt vehemently denied that were drunk and England stated “I would never have let them race under the influence. I had enough trouble when they were sober!”.
Duncan was later racing a C-Type Jaguar in Oporto but he crashed heavily, being thrown out of the car and into a tree, where he hung for a minute or so before falling down onto the side of the track! But in the crash he had wrecked an electricity pylon which cut off the power to the Portuguese city for several hours. Taken to hospital for an emergency operation, he awoke in an operating theatre with two nuns and a surgeon, who smoked a cigar over his open chest cavity during the operation. He asked why it was so dark in the theatre and the surgeon told him the pylon he hit fed the hospital’s electricity. Upon asking why he wasn’t anaesthetised it turned out that the anaesthetist had gone to watch the race he had been in! The surgeon also told him the nuns were present as “they are to give you as much port as it takes to numb your pain. Or the last rites. Whichever comes first.”
He and Tony Rolt finished second in 1954 and their D-type was less than 2 minutes behind Maurice Trintignant and José Froilán González’s Ferrari. The race ended in a thunderstorm and his daring pursuit prompted González to later describe him as ‘the world’s fastest driver in the wet.’ Following was the Rheims 12 Hour, but despite leading all the way they sustained rear axle damage and were beaten by a works Jaguar 15 minutes from the finish. After this Duncan raced in a sports car Grand Prix at Dakar, North Africa, followed by victories in the Coupe de Paris, the Coupe du Salon at Montlhery and the Johnson Trophy at Goodwood.
He won the 1956 Reims 12 Hours but had disobeyed team orders and was fired by Jaguar but was then hired by Ferrari, finishing third in a championship race at Kristianstad in Sweden. He entered his own Jaguar D-type at Le Mans in 1957 and finished sixth (with Masten Gregory).
At Le Mans race in 1958, he had been running in a strong 2nd place all morning but was suddenly confronted with a stationary Panhard in the road. He lost control in taking avoiding action and the Jaguar rolled and ended upside down, straddling a water-soaked ditch. Fortunately two spectators came to his rescue and pulled out an unconscious Duncan before he drowned and he then was taken to hospital.
After the death of close friend Mike Hawthorn, he decided to retire from racing and then concentrated on businesses, including the classic car company that still operates today plus his autobiography ‘Touch Wood’ was published in 1960.
