Tommy Wisdom

Background

Wisdom was born in Brighton.

Career

He was also a racing driver who took part in numerous races and rallies. Tommy Wisdom, died in Birmingham, aged 66. Wisdom specialised in endurance events and entered 52 sports car races in 33 years, including 12 Le Mans 24-hour races, 10 Mille Miglias and 4 Targa Florios.

In 1950 he lent his Jaguar XK120 to Stirling Moss for the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy, which brought Moss his first major international race victory.

Cars that Wisdom raced included Singer, Riley, MG, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Bristol, Nash-Healey, Jowett and Bentley, and among his co-drivers were Jack Fairman, Leslie Johnson, and Graham Whitehead. An experienced rally driver, he competed in the Monte Carlo Rally 23 times.

The car averaged 138.75 mph (22330 km/h) for 12 hours.

Achievements

• He was a class winner in the Mille Miglia in 1949 and 1952, and at Le Mans in 1950 and 1952.

Membership

In 1959 he was a member of the three-driver Business Service Management team whose EX-219 streamliner, a purpose-built experimental Austin-Healey Sprite, broke 12 speed records at Bonneville Salt Flats.