Duncan Hamilton

James Duncan Hamilton (30 April 1920 – 13 May 1994) was a British racing driver. He was known for his colourful and extroverted personality. After fighting in the Second World War, he took up motorsport. Although adept in single-seaters, he was more successful in sportscars, winning the 1953 24 Hours of Le 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 of lung cancer in 1994.

Early years

Born in County Cork, Hamilton was brought up in relative obscurity. During the Second World War, he flew Lysanders in the Fleet Air Arm. After the war ended, he opened a car garage. During the years between the war ending and the start of the 1950s, Hamilton started racing in local events. He began racing in such cars as the MG R-type and the Bugatti Type 35B. After racing a Maserati 6CM in 1948, Hamilton began driving a Talbot-Lago Grand Prix car.

Formula One career

Hamilton participated in five World Championship Grands Prix and 18 non-Championship Formula One races. His Grand Prix debut was at the 1948 Zandvoort Grand Prix, where he placed fourth with a Maserati 6CM. However, at his last race of 1948, the RAC International Grand Prix, the first official post-WW2 British Grand Prix, he retired with oil pressure problems.

Throughout the 1949 Grand Prix season, Hamilton only suffered one retirement, however he did not finish higher than ninth. He managed this feat twice, with both times being at Goodwood. The following season, he competed in fewer Grand Prix races, while he expanded his racing experience by racing sportscars. He won the Wakefield Trophy, a minor Formula Libre race, held at the Curragh in the Republic of Ireland.

Hamilton was known for his skilled driving in wet weather. At the BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone in 1951, he beat world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, finishing second to Reg Parnell.

24 Hours of Le Mans

Hamilton took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race nine times, most famously in partnership with Tony Rolt. The pair finished fourth at their first attempt in the 1950 race and sixth in 1951, both times in a special-bodied Nash-Healey coupe. Their Jaguar C-Type did not finish in 1952, but they returned with a C-Type to win in 1953. They were second with a Jaguar D-Type in 1954, losing to a much larger-engined V12 Ferrari. They came within two miles of victory, with Hamilton halving the lead of the Scuderia Ferrari of José Froilán González and Maurice Trintignant in the final stages of the race, as the track was awash following a cloudburst. As the track started to dry out, the Ferrari maintained the lead. He did not finish in 1955. In 1956, Hamilton partnered Alfonso de Portago in a Ferrari but again did not finish. In 1957 he reverted to a Jaguar D-Type and partnered with the American driver Masten Gregory to finish sixth. His last Le Mans appearance was in 1958, when the D-Type he shared with Ivor Bueb failed to finish.

Hamilton also won the 1956 Rheims 12-hour race for Jaguar with a D-Type co-driven by Ivor Bueb. Despite the win, the factory dropped him from their 1956 Le Mans roster for speeding up and passing team-mate Paul Frère's car at Rheims when Lofty England had ordered the entire team to slow down, hence his switch to a Ferrari that year.

1953 Le Mans Victory

Hamilton won the 1953 event in a Jaguar C-Type shared with Rolt. Initially, the pairing were disqualified for practising in a Jaguar that had the same racing number as another on the circuit at the same time, but they were reinstated. According to Hamilton's own account, when Jaguar team manager Lofty England persuaded the organisers to let them race, both drivers were already drunk in a local bar. England said: "Of course I would never have let them race under the influence. I had enough trouble when they were sober!"

Lucky escapes

On one occasion in 1947, Hamilton was transporting his MG R-type to the Brighton Speed Trials. While going down a hill near Guildford, he "saw the splendid honeycomb radiator of a Bugatti in the outside rear-view mirror", so he moved over and waved it past. However, the car hung back. Further down the hill, the Bugatti drew level with Hamilton, at which point he saw there was no one in it and realised it was his own car which he had forgotten he was towing.

A week after the 1953 Le Mans win, Hamilton drove to Oporto to prepare for the Portuguese Grand Prix at the Circuito da Boavista. He was leading into the first corner of the race when he crashed his Jaguar into an electricity pylon. He was thrown out of the car and into a tree, from which he fell down on the side of the circuit and was almost run over by a Ferrari. He was taken to hospital for an emergency operation. The accident cut off the power supply to Oporto for several hours.

Retirement

Hamilton sustained injuries during the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans, while contesting the lead in his Jaguar D-Type, and then he was affected by the death of his friend Mike Hawthorn in early 1959. He retired from racing in 1959, and concentrated on his garage business in Byfleet. His love and passion for classic cars had led Hamilton to establish his own company back in 1948. Since then, Duncan Hamilton & Co Limited have become internationally recognised specialists in historic cars.

Hamilton co-wrote an autobiography called Touch Wood! He died in Sherborne, Dorset. His son Adrian Hamilton, a classic car dealer, ran his father's garage in another location until his own death in 2021. Hamilton's grandson Archie Hamilton is also a racing driver, who competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013 and 2014.

Maserati 6CM 1951 BRDC International Trophy

Duncan Hamilton Talbot-Lago T26C Richmond Trophy

ERA B-Type Wakefield Trophy

HWM HWM 1952 Richmond Trophy

Duncan Hamilton Talbot-Lago T26C 1953 Les 24 Heures du Mans

Jaguar Cars Ltd. Jaguar C-Type 1954 Coupes de Paris

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar C-Type Aintree International

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar C-Type Les 24 Heures du Mans

Jaguar Cars Ltd. Jaguar D-Type 12 heures internationals – Voiture Sport Reims

Jaguar Cars Ltd. Jaguar D-Type Hedemoraloppet

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar C-Type 1955 Johnson's Trophy

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar D-Type Coupes de Paris

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar D-Type Grand Prix de Dakar

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar D-Type Grande Prémio di Portugal

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar D-Type 1956 Prix de Paris

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar D-Type 12 heures internationals Reims

Jaguar Cars Jaguar D-Type GP des Frontières

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar D-Type Coupes des Salon

Duncan Hamilton Jaguar D-Type BRDC Daily Express International Trophy [TC]

Jaguar Cars Jaguar 2.4 Litre Sveriges Grand Prix

Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 860 Monza 1957 BRDC Daily Express International Trophy [TC]

Jaguar Cars Jaguar 2.4 Litre Aintree International

Jaguar D-Type 1958 Whitsun Trophy

Jaguar D-Type Sussex Trophy

Jaguar D-Type

Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 WDC Points 1951 Duncan Hamilton Talbot-Lago T26C Talbot-Lago S6 SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER ITA ESP NC 0 1952 HW Motors HWM 52 HWM S4 SUI 500 BEL FRA GBR GER NED ITA NC 0 1953 HW Motors HWM 53 HWM S4 ARG 500 NED BEL FRA GBR GER SUI ITA NC 0

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1950 Healey Motors Ltd. Tony Rolt Nash-Healey E S5.0 250 4th 3rd 1951 Healey Tony Rolt Nash-Healey Coupé S5.0 250 6th 4th 1952 Jaguar Ltd. Tony Rolt Jaguar C-Type S5.0 DNF(Head gasket) 1953 Jaguar Cars Ltd. Tony Rolt Jaguar C-Type S5.0 304 1st 1st 1954 Jaguar Cars Ltd. Tony Rolt Jaguar D-Type S5.0 301 2nd 2nd 1955 Jaguar Cars Ltd. Tony Rolt Jaguar D-Type S5.0 186DNF(Gearbox) 1956 Scuderia Ferrari Alfonso de Portago Ferrari 625 LM Touring S3.0 2DNF(Accident) 1957 D. Hamilton Masten Gregory Jaguar D-Type S5.0 299 6th 6th 1958 J. Duncan Hamilton Ivor Bueb Jaguar D-Type S3.0 251DNF(Accident)

Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1956 Jaguar of New York Distributors Inc. Ivor Bueb Jaguar D-Type S5.0 63DNF(Brakes)

Complete 12 Hours of Reims results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1954 Jaguar Cars Ltd. Tony Rolt Jaguar D-Type 214 2nd 2nd 1956 Jaguar Cars Ivor Bueb Jaguar D-Type S3.5 1st 1st

Complete 12 Hours of Pescara results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class 1953 Peter Whitehead Peter Whitehead Jaguar C-TypeS+2.0DNF(Steering)

Complete 12 Hours of Hyères results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class 1954 Peter Whitehead Peter Whitehead Cooper-Climax T33DNS