Porsche and the entire motorsport world mourn the loss of one of the most successful and versatile works racing drivers ever to compete for the Stuttgart-based sports car manufacturer: Victor Henry Elford died on March 13, 2022 in his adopted home of Florida at the age of 86. The smart Englishman dominated rally and circuit racing worldwide, particularly at the end of the 1960s. "We are deeply saddened by the news of his death. Our thoughts are with his family," says Michael Steiner, Member of the Executive Board for Research and Development at Porsche AG. "We would like to thank Vic Elford for his passion and extraordinary commitment. He was one of the most versatile and successful racing drivers to have competed for and with Porsche."
Elford was born on June 10, 1935 in the London district of Peckham. After completing a technical apprenticeship, he gained his first experience in the World Sports Car Championship in 1964. In 1966, he came third in the Corsica Rally in a Porsche 911, and a year later he won the Stuttgart-Lyon-Charbonnières Rally. Also in 1967, he won the first rallycross race in history at the Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent in a Porsche 911 R from the British importer AFN. In the same year, the great talent became European Rally Champion - Porsche promptly signed him as a works driver.
What a 1968!
He had an almost unbelievable and unique year in 1968 - it earned him the nickname "Quick Vic", which his fans bestowed on him. He won the Monte Carlo Rally in January, the 24 Hours of Daytona in February, the Targa Florio in May and the 1000-kilometer race at the Nürburgring. Elford - the man with the photographic memory - was able to report on all his successes in detail until the end of his life.
He never forgot his most exciting moments at the Monte Carlo Rally. Back in 1967, he started here in a 911 S and secured Porsche a class victory and third place overall. In January 1968, his sports car was a Porsche 911 T, 170 hp and not a ton in weight. He chose Warsaw as the start of the rally to Monaco. On the ramp in front of the casino in Monte Carlo, Frenchman Gérard Larrousse started first in the Alpine with a 14-second lead - followed immediately by Elford and his co-driver David Stone.
Their chase is legendary: "Before the start of the Col de la Couillole, my co-driver said: 'Relax. Last night we checked the roads for ice and snow. We know there could be less, but definitely not more. So trust me, trust our notes. You know you're the fastest in the mountains, so just drive." Elford relaxed and drove - even if the assumption about the snow wasn't entirely correct: some spectators who were looking for a spectacle had covered the asphalt with snow - on which Larrousse slipped, however, and not the Porsche team. Elford: "When we had recovered after the special stage, I asked David: 'How many corners could I have taken faster? I thought it would have been three." He continued: "I decided to go for racing tires. Blindly trusting David, I took many an icy surface at full throttle and 200 km/h in fifth gear. I was smoking like a chimney then, but after that ride it took me two or three attempts to light a cigarette - I was so exhausted from the 26 kilometers."
Just as he never gave up smoking, he was convinced of the qualities of a Porsche 911 throughout his life: "It's the only car that you can actually set up for use in all conceivable conditions. Snow, ice, asphalt, uphill, downhill, fast or slow - the 911 can do it all." Even though Elford remained modest throughout his life, he knew what he was capable of. He once said: "Could a Porsche 911 have won the Monte Carlo Rally without me? Yes - but not in 1968. I don't think anyone else could drive a 911 back then like I could."
Always fast, no matter which model
But Elford was also exceptionally fast on other Stuttgart models. Just one month after the Monte, he won the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 907 LH. At the beginning of May, Elford and Porsche were celebrating again: the Briton won an incredible Targa Florio in the Porsche 907 KH. "The Targa Florio was always my favorite race," Elford often said. He drove it six times in a row between 1967 and 1972. Although he only won in 1968, he secured the fastest lap in each of the following races. To the very end, Elford raved about the helpful Sicilians who made one of his greatest triumphs possible. Because: "Shortly after the start, I lost a wheel here between Cefalu and Cerda. The spectators jumped off the wall, lifted my light car and I was able to fit the spare wheel. You have to imagine that: A Brit in a German car being helped to victory in Italy."
This didn't bother the crowd a few corners later: "That's when I lost the next wheel. People lifted the car again, and because I no longer had a spare wheel, a fan unscrewed the wheel from his private car and left it to me." Until the very end, "Quick Vic" was particularly proud of a poster hanging in his home in Florida: it shows his likeness with "Classifica Assoluta" above it and "1st Elford Maglioli 907" below it. Porsche lettering can only be seen in the margins - and that is unusual: for once, Porsche celebrated the driver and not the brand with this winning poster.
Just two weeks after his Targa triumph, he sat in a Porsche 908 KH at the 1000-kilometer race on the Nürburgring and outclassed the competition together with Jo Siffert. He was able to repeat his victory in the Eifel in 1970 and 1971. Vic Elford always remained a fair gentleman, as was demonstrated in Bastia in November 1968, for example. Shortly before the start of the Corsica Rally, chief race car developer Peter Falk grabbed his top driver for a one-on-one interview. "We need a French driver for rallies like this. Who would you choose?" Elford pondered. He would have liked to recommend his good friend Jean-Francois Piot, but he knew an even better driver: "Take Gérard Larrousse." Falk took the advice. And Porsche never regretted this decision: Larrousse not only won the Tour de Corse in 1969 alone in a Porsche 911 R, but also the Neige de Glace rally and the Tour de France d'Automobile stage race.
Vic Elford was not only enthusiastic about the 911 throughout his life, but also about the Porsche 917, which was not always easy. He drove six different 917 types in 16 races from 1969 to 1971, for example at Le Mans. However, he never managed to win in six outings there. In 1971, however, he only just missed out on triumph when he led for 21 hours in the Porsche 917 Langheck together with Gérard Larrousse until the technology failed. "It was a 'nasty beast' because the engine was very heavy," Elford recalled. "The gearbox was flange-mounted behind the machine. Twisting made shifting more and more problematic as the race progressed, and we had to retire in the Mulhouse corner with gearbox damage."
1973 was the last time he drove a 917: "We borrowed a 917/30 from the factory for the inter-series race in Hockenheim. I'd never driven a turbo racing car before, so I had to show in tests in Weissach that I could drive something like that. I broke the lap record straight away and then went on to win races. I just loved the car." He also raced the 917 at Sebring, where he secured the top spot on the podium in 1971. He was inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame in 2014.
Closely connected to motorsport even after his career
Because Vic Elford was reliable and fast, Steve McQueen hired him in 1970 for high-speed shots in his film "Le Mans". Almost "on the side", Elford competed in 13 Formula 1 races from 1968 to 1971, climbed into cars in the CanAm and Trans-Am series, took the wheel at off-road events in Africa and ventured into Nascar ovals. He drove successfully in rallies and circuit races for a total of twelve years. In 1972, he was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honor for stopping to rescue a driver from his burning car during the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
He retired from active racing in 1974. He returned in 1975 with the Inaltera racing car project and later managed the ATS team. After moving to the USA in 1984, he ran the Porsche Owners Driving School and the Porsche Driving Experience. He recorded his experiences in two books: "The Porsche High Performance Driving Handbook" and "Reflections on a Golden Era in Motorsport". Even in his old age, Elford was still delighted when he was able to drive a 911 at the Tour de Corse Historique, as he did in 2017, or to drive through Monte Carlo special stages with other Porsche heroes such as Herbert Linge, Gérard Larrousse and Jean-Pierre Nicolas on a nostalgic trip in 2018.
Throughout his life, the smart pilot with the broad smile was also a special friend of the French and their way of life. "France is probably the only country - apart from the USA - with such a variety of geography, topography, climate and weather conditions for every type of rally," he said enthusiastically. "Then there's the welcoming culture in Savoie, the Alps, the Pyrenees - the whole 'Camaraderie Française' that doesn't exist anywhere else in the world."
Vic Elford leaves behind his French wife Anita and a huge fan base. Porsche AG bids farewell to one of the most likeable and successful racing drivers of all time.
Highlights of his racing career
1967: European Rally Champion in a Porsche 911 S
1967: First race at Le Mans in a Porsche 906K Carrera 6, class victory and 7th place overall
1967: Winner of the first rallycross race in history in a Porsche 911 R
1968: Winner of the 1000-kilometer race Nürburgring in a Porsche 908
1968: Winner of the Monte Carlo Rally in a Porsche 911 T
1968: Targa Florio winner in a Porsche 907 KH
1968: Winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona in a Porsche 907 KH
1968 - 1971: 13 starts in Formula 1 races
1969: Winner of the Nürburgring 1000-kilometer race in a Porsche 908
1970: Winner of the Nürburgring 1000-kilometer race in a Porsche 908
