Mister E in his works

Long before he, so successfully, managed the promotion and development of the Formula 1, Bernard Charles Ecclestone was a racing driver. In the beginning of the 50s, Bernie was seen in F3 races in a Cooper Jap 500cc at Brands Hatch (picture-above) and elsewhere. He would never really shine at the wheel, but thrived instead in trading second-hand spare parts and race cars, a business that will make his (first) fortune.

Ecclestone bought the English make Connaught end of 1957, when the marque went into liquidation, and entered two Type B’s in Monaco (picture below) and at Silverstone in 1958, where himself and his drivers tried their luck, but all failed to qualify.

The tragic death of his friend Stuart Lewis Evans in Casablanca at the end of the season was such a blow that Bernie was not seen on the circuits for 10 years, when he came back as Jochen Rindt’s manager and then as the owner of Brabham. History of F1 was in the making…