Stan Jones: an Australian Ace… a centenary on 

Racing great Stan Jones’ life was marked a century on from his birth on March 3, with AUTO ACTION’s Mark Bisset relating about a recent gathering in our latest magazine…

A group of devotees of Aussie 1950s Ace Stan Jones – father of 1980 World F1 Champion Alan – gathered at Melbourne’s Springvale Cemetery to celebrate the life of the 1958 Gold Star and 1959 Australian Grand Prix winner last week.

Born a century ago on March 3, 1923, Stan died 50 years ago in London on March 16, 1973, in the care of Alan and then wife Beverley.

Sadly, he missed Alan’s first British F3 Championship win at Silverstone two days later aboard a GRD 372 Ford, a tearful AJ had his garland placed inside Stan’s casket for the flight home.

Stan Jones’ memorial at Springvale Cemetery in Melbourne

A win-or-bust racer until late in his career, Stan is fondly remembered for his performances at the wheel of the Charlie Dean/Repco Research built Maybachs and a Maserati 250F.

Historian David Zeunert organised longtime friend and employee Lloyd Holyoak to regale the Stan-Fans with some anecdotes about a racer who lived and played hard, not the least of which was that Jones ‘dated’ not one, but three Miss Australias.

Tim Schenken drives Maybach 1 raced by Stan Jones in the 1953 Australian Grand Prix up the modern day Albert Park pit lane. Photo by Kelly Defina/Getty Images for AGPC

In AUTO ACTION’s latest issue, Mark Bisset also writes about the Australian Grand Prix 70 Years in from its first Albert Park running in 1953, which features alongside our extensive review of the 2023 APG, and the Aussie’s who are flying the flag 50 years on from Stan Jones’ passing.

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

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