Lunch with BILL GAVIN
When my wife refers to Bill Gavin, she invariably adds, for context: “The man with the interesting life”. In his 82 years so far, he has trained to be a doctor (this was first), then planned to be a car stylist, spent the ’60s following motor racing across the planet, lived in the Playboy mansion, married a fashion model, and managed a works Ferrari campaign. The ’60s was a fun-filled decade. Then we get to the ’70s, and Bill’s involvement in the world of pop music, as manager of groups at opposite ends of the spectrum. After that came his motion-picture career. I think my wife sums Bill Gavin up perfectly — and that’s before we even mention Bill writing a best-selling book on one of the world’s most popular drivers of all time, who happened to be one of his closest friends. Of course, it was a time when becoming friendly with racing drivers meant the prospect of pain and sadness, as fatalities were not uncommon, and Bill had more than his fair share of that pain too.
Feeling good
We meet for lunch straight after Bill has been to see his doctor. He reports: “I’m feeling better than I have for two to three years.”
To begin, I ask how his life in motor sport started.
“I was building boats with my friend John Draffin; his brother Roy held the water-speed record at the time and was contacted by the Grand Prix [GP]
