Christopher Arthur Amon MBE died this morning at the age of 73 in Rotorua Hospital in New Zealand, having battled cancer the last few years. Amon will likely be remembered as the best driver never to win a Formula One Grand Prix, though he did take a pair of non-championship F1 victories, the Silverstone International Trophy in 1970 with a March 701-Cosworth, and the following year’s Argentinean GP with a Matra MS120. Perhaps his most notable victory came at Le Mans in 1966, when he teamed with fellow Kiwi Bruce McLaren in a GT40 MkII to claim overall honors for Ford.
Between 1963 and 1976 Amon raced in F1, initially driving a variety of privateer Lola and Lotus cars before hooking up with Ferrari for the 1967 season and continuing to wear red through 1969. At the Scuderia he was fast but simply could not get the results. Despite starting eight of the 1968 season’s 12 races from the front row — with three poles — his best finish was a 2nd in the British GP.
He did win the 1969 Tasman Series championship, taking four wins from seven series rounds with a Ferrari 246T/69, and also won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1000 Kilometers of Monza for Ferrari. He drove for McLaren in the inaugural Can-Am season of 1966, and later raced for both Ferrari and March, as well as Ford, in the unlimited big-bore series.
Back in F1, he moved to March when that new company was formed in 1970, but by ’71 had landed at Matra where in two seasons he scored two more poles and a pair of podium finishes. After that he drove for Tecno, Tyrrell, his own Amon team, BRM and Ensign before drifting out of F1 after 1976 — impacted by Niki Lauda’s Nürburgring crash — and quitting racing altogether a year later.
Returning to New Zealand he married Tish and went about agricultural pursuits on the family farm. He did maintain a consultancy with Toyota in recent years, so that the champion of New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series is recognized with the Chris Amon Trophy. He was awarded an MBE for his services to motorsport in 1993, and induction into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame followed in 1995.
To his wife Tish, twin sons James and Alex and daughter Georgie, and to all his many friends around the world, Vintage Racecar offers its sincerest sympathies.
Didn’t Mr. Amon also have a cameo appearance in the movie Grand Prix along with Rindt, Clark, Gurney, and both Hills…and there were others, I’m sure…
I remember seeing Mr. Amon at Sebring and so impressed with his skill and consistently on track…
May He rest in Peace…and my condolences to his family.
I can still picture the graphics on his helmet…
Cheers Chris…thanks for the memories!
CHRIS AMON: As a regular visitor to that wonderful time machine of a country, New Zealand, the name of Chris Amon had become familiar to me, but I wanted to know Amon the man.
At one very wet Ruapuna, South Island, even I struggled to keep my 1933 Maserati 8CM “3011” ahead of the field, resulting in Chris complimenting me on, in his opinion, my “drive of the meeting”.
Clearly, Amon had remained a racing fan, and was generously quick to reach out to a visiting enthusiast, particularly one driving his (just like Moss, Fangio, Phil Hill, Ross Jensen, and others) favorite marque of Maserati.
More recently, I was racing my Maserati 250F #2501/2523 at Hampton Downs on the North Island, and as the event honored Chris Amon, I could not wait to meet my Kiwi hero again.
Well, first of all, the somewhat reserved, self effacing (out of a race car) man was still generous with his compliments on my very amateur driving — no ego there!
Second of all, try as we might, we could not coax him to reacquaint himself with his first real race car and love … the Maserati 250F.
In fact, he had every excuse in the book, but finally agreed, albeit that we had to almost man handle him into the driver’s seat.
Then followed a cautionary lap or two, followed by an ever widening grin, as Amon proceeded to dance my Maserati around the track, at lap times ahead of mine, clearly there was no loss of touch or skill.
That weekend was very special, getting to know the real and so unassuming, Chris Amon.
Subsequently, the autographed book, and letter of thanks arrived … a gentleman to the core, but a deceptively fast and smooth driver behind the wheel.
Small wonder that Ferrari’s Technical Director, Mauro Roghieri, described him as “by far the best test driver I have ever worked with”.
R.I.P., Chris: how typical that so few of us even knew about your illness.