Louis Alexandre Chiron (3 August 1899 – 22 June 1979) was a Monégasque racing driver who competed in rallies, sports car races, and Grands Prix. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
A long post so it’s been done in 2 parts. Although certainly not a forgotten driver and he won countless GPs, they were all in the years before the World Championship started.
Louis Chiron was Monaco’s first F1 driver and is best known for his pre-war racing, winning 21 Grands Prix before the World Championship began in 1950. He recorded 19 entries (15 starts) in the World Championship, taking a podium at Monaco in 1950, plus also won the Spa 24 Hours in 1933 and Monte-Carlo Rally in 1954 and competed at Le Mans nine times. When the first World Championship race took place, he was by then 50 years old and became the oldest person to enter a grand prix (aged 55 at Monaco in 1955) plus aged 58 at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix (though did not qualify). He was known for his stylish appearance, wearing a light blue racing suit and a polka-dot neckerchief and became known as ‘Le Vieux Renard’ (The Old Fox).
The son of the maitre d’ at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco, Louis Alexandre Chiron was born in the Principality in 1899 and also would work at the hotel as as bellboy and clerk. During World War 1, as a citizen of Monaco he did not have to join the French Army but he volunteered in 1918 and served in an Artillery regiment. Eventually he was transferred to become a driver for high ranking generals (including Marshal Foch, Commander of the Western Front)and stayed on with the Army for three years. At that time the army sold their surplus cars and after becoming acquainted with Captain William Grover (who later became a racing driver) they began trading surplus cars in Nice. After the War he worked at the Hotel de Paris as a dancing partner for rich ladies and then became involved with Ernest Friderich, who had established a Bugatti dealership in Nice. Through him, the Bugatti factory employed Louis as driver to transfer cars on road from Molsheim to Nice and he eventually bought a 1500cc Bugatti Brescia from Ernest Friderich. He participated in several mountain climbs and his first win came at the Barbonnet Mountain Climb in 1924. Then came a change to a Bugatti Type 35 and from being a privateer he drove for the Bugatti factory from 1927 until the end of 1932, taking many victories during this time. In 1926 he met Alfred Hoffman, heir to the Hoffman La Roche pharmaceutical company, who was interested in racing and he sponsored a Bugatti, with Louis as driver. His Grand Prix debut came in Spain in 1927, where he was running second before retiring then went on to finish fourth at the British GP at Brooklands. As well as buying one of Malcolm Campbell’s GP Delages, he raced for both Hoffman and the Bugatti works team and his first victory came at the Gran Premio de San Sebastian, followed by wins at the Spanish, Antibes, Marne and Rome Grands Prix. June saw his debut at Le Mans in a Chrysler 72 with Cyrilde Vere though they retired due to a clutch problem and he later took victory ahead of A.Varzi, Campari and T.Nuvolari at the European GP at Monza.
In 1929, along with victory in the German and Spanish Grands Prix, he and Anthony Nogues had been instrumental in establishing the Monaco GP, backed by Prince Louis. However, he was unable to enter the race as he was competing in the Indianapolis 500, which took place on the same day, where he completed all 200 laps and finished seventh with a Delage. In 1930, there was victory in Belgium plus he and Bouriat co-drove a Bugatti T43 in the Spa 24 Hours race plus he took second place at Monaco and in the Targa Florio. Racing a Bugatti T51 in 1931 he added the Monaco, French (sharing with A.Varzi) and Czech GPs to his victories. He had shared with Varzi in the Belgian GP but after leading, suffered a sheared magneto and sprinted 2 1/2 miles to the pits and back, in an unsuccessful attempt to fix it. At Le Mans he was one of the team driving 4.9-litre Type 50 Bugattis, but after a burst tyre resulted in a crash which killed a spectator they were withdrawn.
During this time, Alfred Hoffman’s wife Alice (who was fluent in several languages) had been involved as an interpreter and timekeeper with the Mercedes-Benz team. Eventually she and Louis became romantically involved, with the result that Hoffman sacked Chiron; she divorced her husband and joined L.Chiron on his trips across Europe. At the end of 1932 he was fired by Bugatti after team manager Meo Constantini had had enough of his orders being ignored so he and R.Caracciola formed their own team. Their cars (Alfa Romeo P3s and Bugattis) were painted white with a blue stripe (for Caracciola) and blue with a white stripe for Chiron and their debut came at Monaco but during practice Caracciola had a serious accident and was out of racing for over a year. Sadly, his wife also died in a ski accident and he became seriously depressed and it was only due to the support of Louis and Alice that he eventually recovered and returned to racing. L.Chiron continued with a private Alfa-Romeo until accepting an offer to join the works Alfa Romeo team mid-season. A highlight of the year was victory with Luigi Chinetti in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 at the 24 Hours of Spa plus he raced at Le Mans, with Franco Cortese, though they retired after 177 laps.
1934 was his best season and in the first race at Monaco he had a strong lead with just two laps to go when he ran into the sandbags at the Station hairpin, and eventually finished second. He was second at the Bordino GP, then third at Tripoli but finally took his first victory of the year at Casablanca. There was probably his greatest victory at the French GP at Montlhéry, which saw the international debut for the new Mercedes and Auto Union cars plus Caracciola’s return, after a 14-month absence. The grid positions were drawn by ballot and he found himself starting on the third row but when the flag dropped he took the lead and would go on to take the flag, in a popular victory. He also won the Marne GP and was third in Germany while in sports car he took third in the Mille Miglia with Archimede Rosa in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300. In 1935 the Ferrari Alfa Romeos were no match for the German cars and his only victory came in a non-championship race at Nancy and he then joined Caracciola at Mercedes-Benz the following year. He took pole at Monaco in his first race, though retired from it, but was taken to hospital after a high-speed crash at the Nurburgring, luckily escaping without serious injury, and decided to retire from GP racing. However after Alice married Caracciola, leaving Chiron furious, he was tempted back into racing, returning to Le Mans in a Talbot-Lago T150C with Luigi Chinetti and late in the year won the French GP. 1938 saw his seventh entry at Le Mans, with Rene Dreyfus in a Delahaye 145 and with the outbreak of World War II motor racing was put on hold. It was said that during the War he helped many downed pilots travel back from neutral Switzerland, driving them through occupied France and the Pyrenees back to England.
After the War he raced for Talbot from 1946-1949 and Maserati from 1950-1951. He won the Comminges Grand Prix in 1947 and went on to take victory in two French Grands Prix, taking a surprise win against the faster opposition in 1949’s race. This would be his fifth victory there and was the most successful driver in the history of the French GP until Alain Prost surpassed him in 1993 with his sixth win. Sadly, during practice for the Swiss GP in 1948, his great rival Achille Varzi’s Alfa slid off the damp track, clipped a wooden barrier and somersaulted, and he was thrown out on to the road. Chiron stopped to help but he had been killed instantly. Norma Varzi insisted Alfa Romeo did not withdraw from the race and honour him by winning the race for Italy; Felice Trossi did so.
The F1 World Championship was established in 1950 and he competed as a Maserati factory driver, racing a 4CLT in five championship events. After retiring at Silverstone, he scored a podium at Monaco (behind Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari), was ninth in Switzerland though retired in France and Italy. He contested seven of 1951’s eight races (missing the Indianapolis 500), racing Enrico Plate’s Maserati 4CLT in Switzerland and the remaining rounds with Ecurie Rosier’s Talbot-Lago T26C, with his best result being sixth in France.
In sports cars, he returned to Le Mans in a Ferrari 340 America with Luigi Chinetti but they were disqualified after a mechanic delivered fuel to them on track while in other events he was third at the Coppa Inter-Europa and retired from the Carrera Panamericana.
After 1951 he only raced occasionally, in 1953 driving an OSCA in France (15th) and Italy (10th) plus a Scuderia Lancia D20 with Robert Manzon at Le Mans. He had contested the Monte Carlo Rally on several occasions, finishing ninth in 1932 with Bugatti and eighteenth with Lancia in 1953 but he took victory in 1954, against 360 teams, co-driving a Lancia Aurelia with Ciro Basadonna. His next F1 start came in 1955 at Monaco, finishing sixth in the Lancia D50 with his start making him the oldest driver to start a GP, as he was 55 years and 292 days old. He failed to start at Monaco in 1956 (due to an engine failure on his Maserati 250F) though took a class win in 1956’s Mille Miglia and at Monaco in 1958 became the oldest person to enter a GP, at 58, though did not qualify. On a side note, the 1958 race saw Bernie Ecclestone fail to qualify plus Graham Hill make his Grand Prix debut.
As mentioned, Anthony Nogues and Louis Chiron had been instrumental in establishing the Monaco GP, backed by Prince Louis, and after retiring, he concentrated his efforts as Commissaire General in organising the race plus the Monte Carlo Rally. He made a guest appearance in 1971 as the starter to that year’s race, to celebrate his victory from 1931, and remained as Commissaire until 1979’s race, a month before he died. A corner at Monaco’s circuit would be named after him and Bugatti honoured him by naming their 2016 supercar the Bugatti Chiron.
Louis Chiron – The wily old Monegasque – from 
Gallery Grand Prix
