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Tom Cole

Not who you're looking for? Others named Tom Cole: Australian rules footballer · Australian labourer, stockman and author · American playwright and screenwriter (1933-2009) · English rower

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Tom Cole across IJR

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Tom ColeHeadline energy, small-talk hours.Tom ColeStrictly off the record: snacks, hobbies, weather.Tom ColeAsk the Australian labourer everything the interviews skip.

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Overview

Thomas Lionel Howard Cole, Jr. (11 June 1922 – 14 June 1953), also known as Tom Cole or Tommy Cole, was a British-American racing driver and co-creator of the Cadillac-Allard sports car. Afflicted by childhood polio, he served in non-combat roles in World War II, and then took up rallying, hillclimbing, and sports car racing full-time after the war. He died, aged 31, in a crash while driving in the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans. Early life Cole was born in Llandaff, in South Glamorgan, Wales, U.K. on 11 June 1922. He contracted polio in childhood, and largely recovered, but the illness left him with minor disabilities, for the rest of his life. His family emigrated to America when he was seventeen arriving in New York City on 28 August 1939. He attended Harvard University for a year, served in the U.S. Merchant Marine and then drove an ambulance for the American Field Service. Upon returning from the war, he began to volunteer for Bill Frick and Phil Walters' famed Frick-Tappett circle-track racing team. In Frick's words, "Tommy Cole would meet us at the gate at races all around the East. He’d get on the running board of the tow car and we'd tell the man at the gate that he was with us. At first, he didn’t know which end of the screwdriver to use, but after awhile he became quite helpful. In the parlance of the circle-track racing scene, we called these people 'pit stooges.' They were just fellows who wanted to be around the racing scene and did not have a car." Racing career First hillclimbs and sportscar races Cole split his time between the US and the UK after the war. In 1947, Cole took part in the Bugatti Owner's Club (B.O.C.) Opening Rally in Bisley, Surrey, driving a "very transatlantic" Buick. He was noted as being a new member. Following this, he tuned his 3 litre Jaguar SS100 for hillclimbs and sportscar races. In July, he raced the car at Gransden Lodge Airfield but it blew up on the first lap. In September, he drove it to second in class in the Brighton Speed Trials and made his first appearance in the Prescott Speed Hill Climb.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Thomas Lionel Howard Cole, Jr. (11 June 1922 – 14 June 1953), also known as Tom Cole or Tommy Cole, was a British-American racing driver and co-creator of the Cadillac-Allard sports car. Afflicted by childhood polio, he served in non-combat roles in World War II, and then took up rallying, hillclimbing, and sports car racing full-time after the war. He died, aged 31, in a crash while driving in the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Overview

Thomas Lionel Howard Cole, Jr. (11 June 1922 – 14 June 1953), also known as Tom Cole or Tommy Cole, was a British-American racing driver and co-creator of the Cadillac-Allard sports car. Afflicted by childhood polio, he served in non-combat roles in World War II, and then took up rallying, hillclimbing, and sports car racing full-time after the war. He died, aged 31, in a crash while driving in the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans. Early life Cole was born in Llandaff, in South Glamorgan, Wales, U.K. on 11 June 1922. He contracted polio in childhood, and largely recovered, but the illness left him with minor disabilities, for the rest of his life. His family emigrated to America when he was seventeen arriving in New York City on 28 August 1939. He attended Harvard University for a year, served in the U.S. Merchant Marine and then drove an ambulance for the American Field Service. Upon returning from the war, he began to volunteer for Bill Frick and Phil Walters' famed Frick-Tappett circle-track racing team. In Frick's words, "Tommy Cole would meet us at the gate at races all around the East. He’d get on the running board of the tow car and we'd tell the man at the gate that he was with us. At first, he didn’t know which end of the screwdriver to use, but after awhile he became quite helpful. In the parlance of the circle-track racing scene, we called these people 'pit stooges.' They were just fellows who wanted to be around the racing scene and did not have a car." Racing career First hillclimbs and sportscar races Cole split his time between the US and the UK after the war. In 1947, Cole took part in the Bugatti Owner's Club (B.O.C.) Opening Rally in Bisley, Surrey, driving a "very transatlantic" Buick. He was noted as being a new member. Following this, he tuned his 3 litre Jaguar SS100 for hillclimbs and sportscar races. In July, he raced the car at Gransden Lodge Airfield but it blew up on the first lap. In September, he drove it to second in class in the Brighton Speed Trials and made his first appearance in the Prescott Speed Hill Climb.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Not who you're looking for? Others named Tom Cole: Australian rules footballer · Australian labourer, stockman and author · American playwright and screenwriter (1933-2009) · English rower

Tom Cole across IJR

Studio characters

Tom ColeHeadline energy, small-talk hours.Tom ColeStrictly off the record: snacks, hobbies, weather.Tom ColeAsk the Australian labourer everything the interviews skip.

Ask IJR about Tom Cole Create in Studio Build a game Watch videos