Peter Collins Biography, Wiki, Height, Weight, Wife, Net Worth, F1 Career

Peter Collins Biography: Peter John Collins was a British racing driver. He was killed in the 1958 German Grand Prix, only weeks after winning the RAC British Grand Prix.

Peter Collins Biography

Peter Collins Biography: Peter John Collins was born on 6 November 1931 in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. Collins, the son of a motor garage owner and haulage merchant, developed an early interest in cars. At age 16, he was expelled for attending a local fairground during school hours. After becoming an apprentice in his father’s garage, he began competition in local trial races. Collins began competing in the 500 cc category (adopted as Formula 3 at the end of 1950) when his parents purchased him a Cooper 500 from the fledgling Cooper Car Company. Collins’s success began in 1951 when he converted to the JBS-Norton. Propelled by Norton motorcycle engines, these small vehicles also served as a testing ground for some of Collins’s F1 contemporaries, including Stirling Moss.

Peter Collins Wiki

Also Read: Wolfgang von Trips Biography, Wiki, Height, Weight, Cause of Death, Net Worth, F1 Career

Peter Collins’s Net Worth

According to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider, Wolfgang Von Trips had a net worth of $1 million.

Peter Collins Career

Collins joined Ferrari after an outstanding performance in the previous year’s Targa Florio, in which he drove a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR alongside Moss to victory. With a respectable second-place finish behind Moss at the Monaco Grand Prix and wins at the Belgian and French Grands Prix, this proved to be a turning point. In those early days at Ferrari, Collins earned the lasting admiration of Enzo Ferrari, who was devastated by the untimely loss of his 24-year-old son, Dino, from muscular dystrophy, and who turned to Collins for support, treating him as a family member.

Collins was on the verge of becoming Britain’s first F1 World Champion when he handed over his Lancia-Ferrari D50 to team leader Juan Manuel Fangio during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza after Fangio’s steering arm failed. Collins ultimately finished second, but the advantage given to Moss and the additional points earned by Fangio’s finish demoted Collins to third in the championship. Collins’s charitable act earned him the admiration of Enzo Ferrari and the praise of Fangio: “I was almost moved to tears by the gesture… Peter was among the most excellent gentlemen I have ever met as a racer.

In sports cars, meanwhile, he finished 2nd in a Ferrari 860 Monza in the Mille Miglia & at the Swedish Car GP in a Ferrari 290MM with Wolfgang von Trips in 1956. In 1957, he finished second in the 1000km of Nürburgring with Olivier Gendebien and won the Venezuelan Grand Prix with Phil Hill, all in a Ferrari 335 S. In 1958, he and Phil Hill won the 1000 km Buenos Aires and 12 Hours of Sebring in a Ferrari 250 TR. These three happened consecutively. His last podium in the World Sports Car Championship was a second-place finish at the ‘Ring with Mike Hawthorn.

Peter Collins’s Personal Life

Collins married Louise King in 1957, one week after they met in Miami, after proposing two days earlier. Louise was an American, and her father served as the United States representative to the United Nations. Collins crashed at the Nürburgring in 1958, leaving her widowed. She was featured in the film Ferrari: Race to Immortality.