JANUARY 1, 2000
Sir Stirling Moss
STIRLING MOSS, the most successful Grand Prix driver never to win the Formula 1 World Championship, has been knighted for his services to the motor racing industry.
Moss was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1959 and has had to wait 40 years for further recognition of his status as a motor racing "legend".
The annual New Year's Day Honours List also included John Cooper, who was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Cooper began building racing cars in 1946, using Fiat Topolino components. Success in Formula 3 was followed by competitive Formula 2 and sportscar programs. Cooper pioneered the rear-engined revolution in F1 and won the World Championship in 1959 and 1960 with Jack Brabham driving. The company then turned its attention to tuning the Mini. Mini Cooper models enjoyed enormous success in saloon car racing and in rallying in the 1960s, including three MonteÊCarloÊRally victories. The company sold 150,000 Mini Coopers before production stopped in 1971. In the late 1980s John Cooper Garages began supplying conversion kits to a new generation of Mini enthusiasts, notably in Japan.
Moss joins Brabham and Frank Williams as motor racing's only knights while Cooper joins March's Robin Herd as a CBE.