
Ferrari
Although John's period with Ferrari started and ended with disagreements over the way the team was run, he was, and still is revered by the Italian tifosi.
"On one of the last occasions I met the Old Man [Enzo Ferrari], he virtually admitted that our splitting up had been an opportunity lost," says John. "But, as he said, we should not dwell on the bad times in the past, only the good."
Clearly the current Ferrari management feels the same way. On the occasion of Ferrari's 50th year in F1, John paraded one of the marque's fabulous scarlet cars through the streets of Rome.
And when it came to the Scuderia's 600th Grand Prix at Monza, John and his old mechanics were invited to join in the celebrations. John showed off the immaculate Bernie Ecclestone-owned Ferrari 4.5-litre V12 375 in which the Argentinian José Froilan González broke Alfa Romeo's long run of victories with a win at Silverstone in 1951.
In the past John has also been asked by Maranello to assess modern day road and track Ferraris. He has also demonstrated a fully restored Ferrari 158 which forms the centrepiece of a dedicated Surtees display in the Barber Viintage Motorsports Museum in Alabama in the USA. It was the 158 in which he won the F1 World Championship in 1964.
Picture: Back behind the wheel of a Ferrari 158 at the Barber Motorsports Park
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