Stirling Moss scrapbook 1961

July 7, 2014

Stirling Moss and Philip Porter

The second of Porter’s Moss scrapbooks, this follows Moss’s 1961 month by month, expanding on his diary entries and setting the context with newspaper reports, photos, adverts, and asides on girls, shops, nightclubs and circuits. A respite from the purely racing histories, it gives a picture of just how big a news story Moss was – forever in the papers, being photographed at parties and featuring in gossip columns with yet another pretty girl. Little drop-in interview-ettes allow Moss to explain some of the stories, and while some of the clippings can be hard to read, the scrapbook format makes every spread look enticing. Porter’s commentary ties it together, but it’s the interplay between Moss’s diary and the news stories that fascinates. GC

Published by Porter Press, £34.95. ISBN 0 9550068 2 1

Gordon Cruickshank

Deputy editor

Bravely ignoring his degree in industrial design after discovering night rallies in a Renault 8, GC joined Motor Sport by accident, in the Teesdale days around 1982 when Jenks and WB were office regulars and Mr Tee ruled with a rod of cardboard. He took part in some of the early historic rallies, winning one of the Pirelli Marathons, and regularly runs his Mk2 Jaguar in road events.

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