To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.

The cartoon drawn by Willie Rushton showed him continually crashing having his driving licence revoked and finally "hosting television programmes on subjects he knows nothing about". Also in 1957 he won on the longest circuit ever to hold a World Championship Grand Prix the daunting 25 km (16 mi) Pescara Circuit again demonstrating his skills at high speed long distance driving. His 80th birthday on 17 September 2009 fell on the eve of the Goodwood Revival.

His success in a variety of categories placed him among the world's elite—he is often called "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship".