Vic Elford
in association with
THE ROOM IS a blur of industry and denim. We’re in a restaurant halfway up the Alps, the other diners having long since left. Tables are being cleared and chairs stacked, but we’re being left alone. Vic Elford is royalty here, clearly. It was in these environs that he stormed to victory in the Monte Carlo Rally in January 1968. The reigning Group 3 European Rally Champion famously demolished the opposition on the icy mountain sections to claim outright honours for Porsche. Nine days later, he was part of the line-up that bagged the Daytona 24 Hours – by five laps. Three months after that, he recorded a remarkable win on the Targa Florio despite a first-lap puncture. Later that season, he finished fourth in the French Grand Prix. It was his first-ever race in Formula 1 and only his third start aboard a single-seater.
It is little wonder that he’s known both as ‘Quick Vic’ and as ‘Versatile Vic’ – few wheelmen have ever excelled as much in so many different disciplines. All of which seems a world away as he sips on his coffee, recalling the pivotal moment when he realised what he wanted to do in life. ‘My dad took me to see
