Masten Gregory

I took this photograph during practice for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1959.

Masten Gregory was born in Kansas City, Missouri and began his racing career in 1953 in SCCA racing in the USA. In 1954 he bought a Ferrari 375MM and brought it to Europe and had a promising season, including a win in the Daily Telegraph International race at Aintree. In 1957 he and Luigi Musso won the Buenos Aires 1000 Kilometre race in a Temple Buell Ferrari 290MM, and he also took part in Formula One racing for the first time in a Scuderia Centro Sud Maserati 250F. He actually finished in third position in his first race in that car, the Monaco Grand Prix, and ended the season in sixth place in the World Drivers Championship, and though he continued to race in Formula One till 1965 that turned out to be his best finishing position in the World Championship. He never won a World Championship Grand Prix and his best result was a second place in the 1960 Portuguese Grand Prix in a Scuderia Centro Sud Cooper T51 Maserati. He had more success in Sports Car racing with wins in the 1961 Nürburgring 1000 Kilometre race with Lucky Casner in a Camoradi Maserati Tipo 61, and the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour race with Jochen Rindt and Ed Hugus in a North American Racing Team Ferrari 250LM. That remains the last occasion on which the race was won by a Ferrari. Masten Gregory survived several crashes in he career as a racing driver, but died of a heart attack on 8 November 1985 when only 53 years old.