John Love was a formidable man!
John Love was born in December 1924 in Bulawayo, Southern
Rhodesia and educated at the town’s Technical High School. After leaving school
he was employed as an apprentice electrical fitter but was called him up for
service at the start of the war. As member of his country’s Armoured Car
Division, John served in the Middle East and Italy. It was also in Italy where
he got his first experiences as a driver of a tank.
Later while stationed near Monza with the 6th Armoured
Division he and some fellow servicemen found time to indulge in a few sorties
around the Grand Prix circuit on a Zundapp motorcycle. Soon afterwards he was
appointed as a dispatch driver between various Italian towns and the Swiss
border. After the end of the war Love returned to Bulawayo where he completed
his apprenticeship. He purchased a motorcycle when he returned to civilian life
and from 1947 to 1953 John raced on a variety of bikes that included a
TT-replica Rudge, Norton, AJS, Triumph and Velocette but Love had an urge to go
car racing and by 1954 he had enough money to purchase a Cooper Mk III JAP from
James Burgoyne. Part of the money for the car came from a transaction when John
sold his motorcycle to Jim Redman.
For the next three years Love was a regular competitor in
Southern Rhodesia in the Cooper, which later was fitted with a Norton engine.
After this car was written off in an accident, he purchased a Cooper Mk V
Norton. Races were mostly held on dirt circuits and during this time he scored
five victories at Umgusa Speedway and another five at Salisbury’s Coronation
Park.
After cutting his teeth against some of his countries best
drivers, like Jimmy Shields, Gordon MacPherson, Jimmy de Villiers, Sam Tingle
and Peter Wood, John moved south of the border for the first time to compete in
South African race meetings. In a move to widen his experience, he purchased
the Riley-Special of Bill Jennings, the three time South African Drivers’
Champion, in October 1957 for £500. Success came with a win at the Heany Summer
Handicap race meeting in October.
After cutting his teeth against some of his countries best
drivers, like Jimmy Shields, Gordon MacPherson, Jimmy de Villiers, Sam Tingle
and Peter Wood, John moved south of the border for the first time to compete in
South African race meetings. In a move to widen his experience, he purchased
the Riley-Special of Bill Jennings, the three time South African Drivers’
Champion, in October 1957 for £500. Success came with a win at the Heany Summer
Handicap race meeting in October.
1958 brought good results which included a second position
on scratch at the False Bay 100, Cape Town, a third at the Transvaal Autumn
Handicap (Johannesburg), a second on scratch at the 14th Coronation 100 (Roy
Hesketh, Pietermaritzburg) and more second places at the Union Day Handicap
(Grand Central) and in a Formula Libre handicap at the Belvedere Circuit,
Rhodesia. His finest achievement during 1958 was most probably the second place
at the 1st Nine Hour Endurance race at the Grand Central Circuit in November.
John and George Pfaff were late entries
in an Austin-Healey 100, they raced hard to cover a total distance of 544 miles
only 16 miles less than the winning Porsche Carrera of Ian Fraser-Jones and
Tony Fergusson. The race was not without incident, as Autosport’s race report
says: “John Love of Rhodesia lost his number plate part way down the straight,
halted, dashed across the track in front of an oncoming bunch to retrieve it,
and proceeded to the pits to replace it.”
In 1959, Love moved to England in an attempt to further his
career but could not find anyone to support them however he purchased an
ex-works Jaguar D-type which he brought back to Rhodesia and used it for the
second half of year achieving second place at the Grand Prix of Angola in
Luanda in September 1959. In January 1960, Love competed in the first South
African GP and finished seventh. After a handful of decent races in the Jaguar,
a friend arranged that John could meet Eric Broadley of Lola and he was offered
a place in the Fitzwilliam Formula Junior team, driving the Mk II. He was very
competitive, in spite of the Lola becoming quickly outclassed by the Lotus and
John managed to record some podium places. At the Copenhagen Cup and
Eifelrennen meetings he got second places and at Reims and Albi he came third
on each occasion.
Ken Tyrrell noticed John’s talent and offered him a test at
Goodwood, further convinced by the Rhodesian’s abilities, Ken asked Love to
drive for him in the Cooper T52. Back in Southern Africa he won the 9-hour
sports car race at the Grand Central circuit in October in a Porsche Spyder. In
future years Love would compete from time to time in sports car races in cars
like the Ferrari GTO, Ferrari F4, Lola T70 and Lola T212. In December 1960
there were also two races for Scuderia Lupini in South Africa in the Cape Grand
Prix and also the South African Grand Prix, after Gigi Lupini asked him to
drive his team’s new Cooper T51-Maserati. 1961 again saw him driving the same
car for Tyrrell in the European Formula Junior Championship, partnering Tony
Maggs from South Africa. The two of them, together with Jo Siffert, would
dominate Formula Junior in 1961. Love’s first victory in a Formula Junior race
came at Cesenatico in Italy where he won the first Heat and also set fastest
lap. His first outright victory came at the daunting Chimay circuit in Belgium
during the GP des Frontieres meeting in May. More victories followed at
Caserta, La Châtre, Nogaro, Roskildering and Monthléry. Returning to Africa at
the end of the European season, John again drove Scuderia Lupini’s Cooper
T51-Maserati at the Rand Spring Trophy race, finishing second.
In his third season for Ken Tyrrell, John drove a Formula
Junior Cooper T59 but the BMC engine lacked power and the season proved
challenging with wins only at at Roskildering, Magny Cours and Karlskoga. 1962
did, however bring great success at the wheel of of
Tyrrell's Mini-Cooper in the British Touring Car Championship. Out of
eight races he scored seven class wins taking the British Touring Car Championship.
In September 1962 during a Formula Junior race at Albi he had the biggest
accident of his career, when he crashed into a barrier while trying to avoid a
spinning Tony Maggs, breaking his left arm and had to have a bone graft from
his hip. From then on Love had to adopt a new driving style as he couldn’t bend
his arm properly. John would rest his left hand on the lip of the small wind
screen though corners while steering with one hand. He said that this was his
only option, since he had no wrist movement in his left hand, but soon got use
to the technique of driving with the right hand and checking with left.
Following the accident John decided to return to Rhodesia to focus on his
business interests in Bulawayo and to switch to more powerful racing cars. For
the latter, he got bought a Cooper T55-Climax Formula 1 which he debuted at the
Natal GP and South African GP in December 1962.
By mid-1963 John was making his mark again in the South
African Drivers’ Championship in his ex-works Cooper and so began an new era
for the garage proprietor from Bulawayo, one that would see him dominate
African racing for the rest of the decade. Love got off to an unimpressive
start in his newly acquired car, when mechanical gremlins prevented him from
finishing but, at the Rhodesian Grand Prix in December 1963, John led from
start to finish to score a popular win in front of his home crowd.
The following year proved better, after a third place at the
opening round of the 1964 for the Rand Autumn Trophy in February at Kyalami, he
would score four outright victories during the course of the season. Success
came at the Coronation 100 and the Royal Show Trophy race, at Roy Hesketh, East
London and the Rand Spring Trophy at Kyalami giving John his first South
African Drivers’ Championship title.
John was already 40 years old but dominated the 1965 season
in his Cooper, now fitted with a 2700cc Climax engine. A non-finish at he South
African GP was followed with a second place at the Cape South Easter Trophy
race at Killarney. After this, a series of five victories followed at the Rand
Autumn Trophy, the Coronation 100, Republic Day race, the Natal Winter Trophy
and the Border 100, now in a later ex
McLaren T79. 1966 proved similar, at the first race of the year, the non-championship
South African GP, he only achieved sixth place. After that John would clinch
seven victories during the course of the season.
In the South African GP in January 1967, against many of the
world's best, John led until fuel problems forced him to pit and hand the lead
to Pedro Rodriquez and he had to settle for second place, probably John's
greatest drive. He continued to compete right through to the early 70s in a
variety of machinery including a Brabham BT20, Lotus 49, March 701 and Surtees
TS 9. John’s last full season's racing was 1973, after three decades in the
sport, and nearing his fiftieth birthday, Love realized that he had to make way
for a younger generation of racing drivers.
After a long struggle with cancer, at the age of 80, John
Love, 6-times South African motor racing champion, passed away at his home in
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, on the 25th of April, 2005.
