A reader, Sam Gage, objected to the use of the term “Yellow Peril” to caption a picture of an Alfa Romeo GTA. He is right, but for the wrong reasons. “Yellow Peril” should be reserved for the Lotus that Graham Hill raced in 1956. Hill and his car became the first stars of the 750 MC’s 1172 Championship and opened an extraordinary spell in British club racing, the aftershock of which is still felt today.
Hill had charmed his way into Lotus when Colin Chapman appointed him the transmission expert. A student who worked under Hill during college vacations soon realized that Graham was all bull and no knowledge. That student’s name was Keith Duckworth.
