major part of his life. In 1955 he had been invited to join the Aston Martin team at Le Mans, co-driving a DB3 S in a race marred by the catastrophic crash of Levegh’s Mercedes. Mechanical problems resulted in his retirement after 83 laps, but the terrible scenes on the circuit did not put him off racing. Later in the year Tony joined the Connaught team based in Send, near Ripley, and began preparing for his Formula One début in the Syracuse Grand Prix. In the race his streamlined Connaught passed the Maseratis of Musso and Villoresi to win at 99.05mph, making him the first winner of an international race in a British car since Sir Henry Segrave back in 1923. However, although the Connaught had excellent road-holding, its engine was somewhat erratic, and success in F1 depended on reliability. In 1956 Tony spent time driving the 2½-litre
BRM, achieving a second place in the Aintree 200. He was still not happy and the following year joined Moss and Lewis-Evans driving Vanwalls in competition against the Italians who dominated F1 at the time. In 1957 and 58 he achieved a second place at Monaco, together with wins at the Belgian, German and Italian GPs, finishing third in the World Championship behind Hawthorn and Moss. Tony had not neglected sports car racing and secured a win for Aston Martin in the 1,000-kilometre race at the Nurburgring. At the end of 1958 Tony Vandervell, the owner of Vanwall, pulled out of motor racing, leaving Brooks without a drive. Soon however he was signed up with Ferrari and in 1959 won both the
Eventually it was decided that Tony Brooks Ltd had run out of space in the Brooklands Road. New dealerships were established elsewhere and the site was redeveloped – with the origi- nal garage demolished the Vickers buildings behind were clear to see (Brooks Family Archive).
French and German GPs, finally coming second in the World Championship. The early 1960s saw Tony Brooks as part of the Yeoman Credit team, driving two-litre Coopers. He retired at the age of 29 in 1961. Two years
previously, in December 1959, Tony purchased the garage on the Brooklands Road. ‘Racing drivers once again travelled along Brooklands Road, Weybridge on 2nd March not, alas, to race at the old motor course, which is defunct, but to attend the opening of Tony Brooks’ new show- room and Shell service station. Stirling Moss, Innes Ireland, Graham Hill, Reg Parnell, Sir James Scott-Douglas Bt and many other racing drivers and, of course, the motoring press came along to wish Tony well in his new venture, Raymond Mays performing the opening ceremony.’ Motor Sport April 1961. His business began with a franchise in BMC
cars, then Rover and finally Ford. In 1980 he opened another dealership in Woking, as an agent for Fiat and Lancia. During this period Tony and his wife Pina lived in a large house on St George’s
The site became home to the Tony Brooks Used Car Centre and has subsequently been used by a car hire company, with petrol sales continuing (Brooks Family Archive).
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