Another highlight of the year was when he was awarded Springbok national colours from the South African motorsport authorities.
There was also some disappointment install for the champion during the year when he was hastily drafted into the works Cooper team to contest the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. In an ill prepared car he could only do four practice laps before a quill-shaft broke, thus preventing him from qualifying for this prestigious race.
John kicked off the season in his faithful Cooper T55, which was now fitted with a cc Climax engine. After that a remarkable series of five straight victories followed. It was at the Border that Love first raced a Cooper T John wanted to stay ahead of the opposition and after his strongest rivals purchased new machines, he was soon shopping around for something new. The Climax engine he bought from Ireland.
Love and the Cooper T79 were a potent combination right from the word go and they blew away the opposition. After that it was very much plain sailing again and John would clinch seven victories during the course of the season.
John Love, by now, had become a household name and he was treated as a celebrity not only in his country of birth, but also in South Africa where he was very much seen as an honorary South African. Spectators would flock to the races to see the remarkable Rhodesian super-hero in action. Not only would John win his third title, but his compatriot Sam Tingle would also finish second overall in the championship.
Due to the fact that the race was run over 80 laps, extra fuel tanks were fitted to the car. This deed of generosity stood between him and a victory in the end. He brought two pumps to the race and the one that was suppose to go into his race car, John lend to Walker, thinking nothing of it at the time. Love was off to a slow start and dropped a couple of places on the first lap. He then gradually gained a few positions. A mixture of excellent driving and the retirements of other drivers saw John moving up to second place behind Denis Hulme at the halfway mark.
Then, 20 laps later, John took over the lead on lap 61 when Hulme had to pit. He looked set for victory when the engine began to misfire. John said that he could distinctly hear the slight misfire. In the pits there was concern amongst his team that John was running out of fuel and so they brought him in for fuel.
What was heartbreaking was the fact that there were only seven laps left in the race. John stormed into the pits only to find that the refueling took much to slow.
Then Doug Serrurier ran up with a screwdriver piercing the petrol cans to increase the fuel flow. They put some two gallons of fuel into the tank, but by the time Love rejoined the race, he had lost his lead to Pedro Rodriquez and had to settle for second place. After the race they discovered that the car had enough fuel in its tanks, but that is was the fuel pump that caused the misfire.
I suppose, in all fairness, you could say it was a bit of an inheritance because a lot of cars packed up in the race. Love would win this race and follow it up with a second place at the Rand Autumn Trophy. More wins at the Coronation and the Bulawayo completed the first half of the season. With the Cooper T79 now being very old and the competition catching up, John decided that his new mount would be a Brabham-Repco BT20 that he had purchased earlier from Jack Brabham.
This was also the time that John changed the color scheme of his car from the traditional green and white to red and yellow. The sponsorship that he received from the Shell oil company was the main reason for the change. Love had no problems with converting to the new car and made a clean sweep in the remaining races. It was only at the Rand Spring Trophy that he had a slight mishap with a jammed throttle. This lead to a pitstop that cost him two laps in the end.
On 73 points he finished well clear of Sam Tingle 42 points and Dave Charlton 28 points. It was also Love and Tingle that made a bit of history at the South African Grand Prix on 1 January that would be recorded in the annals of F1 racing.
This opened the doors for other tobacco companies to follow what would become the mainstay of F1 sponsorship for more than three decades until countries began to place a ban on cigarette advertising. The Love-Tingle-Team Gunston outfit would eventually run from to in the end. Tingle retired with overheating and John was way off the pace. Although he finished in ninth position, he was running more than 5 laps behind the winner. Love would compete in one further race in the Brabham-Climax BT At Killarney he failed to finish in the Cape South Easter race, due to engine failure.
Another first for Love was the fact that he was the first privateer that used the potent Cosworth DFV engine in his car. The only hiccups were at Bulawayo where he finished second after a faulty spark plug caused him on run on seven cylinders, at the Natal Winter Trophy a broken brake pipe lead to retirement and at the Rand Spring Trophy a broken ball joint had the same end result. In Love still would have superior horsepower to his rivals, but the Lotus had become outdated and he would experience some stiff opposition in the domestic series.
The Rodesian made a slow start to the season with a non-finish in Cape Town due to a broken universal joint. At the South African GP early in March he qualified in a creditable 10th position, but in the race he was no more than a mid-field runner until ignition problems forced him out of the race.
At the Coronation Love again realized that was not going to be a cakewalk, since Basil van Rooyen again won with Love in second place. A slump in mid-season saw him under pressure once again and during this time it was John McNicol that came to the fore. At the Rand Winter Trophy there was drama again for the man from Bulawayo. McNicol took full advantage to clinch victory, thereby increasing his stakes for the championship title.
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Social media follow us on Facebook follow us on Twitter or share this page on your social media. Quicklinks Formula 1 circuits Formula 1 constructors Formula 1 drivers Formula 1 seasons Formula 1 rankings. Circuits Constructors Drivers Seasons Rankings. John Love scored six World Championship points, finishing 11th in the final standings that year, for his single Grand Prix outing. The car was painted in a red and yellow livery and Love won at his first start in the new car at Pietermaritzburg.
At the end of the season he won his fourth title, from Sam Tingle , once again second and Dave Charlton , third. Love built up a strong relationship with the make, his car was painted in the Gunston orange livery. Unfortunately Basil van Rooyen who had won two races at Killarney and at Pietermaritzburg, crashed heavily into barriers during practice for the Republic Trophy Races at Kyalami, suffering injuries which sidelined him for the rest of the season.
John Love and other drivers asked the organizators to postpone the race and helped McNicol to repair his car during the night. But the following day he lost a wheel during the race and crashed. Charlton who had a long-term association with Lucky Strike, went on to win his first of six in a row South African National title in Back to the March cockpit, John Love won at Killarney and at Bulawayo home track, finishing third in the series.
He scored two wins at Pietermaritzburg and Bulawayo. John Love had been also an accomplished sportscar driver, participating in several editions of the Kyalami 9 Hours Endurance classic. In the duo finished third at the wheel of a more powerful Gunston supported Ferrari P Spyder.
Later in the season he won in the same car the Bulawayo 3 Hours in Rhodesia and the 3 Hours of Pietermaritzburg. Charlton went on to win his fourth title scoring ten wins of the 12 races during the year.
Despite nearing 50 years of age, Love finished 6th in the final standings with his season best placing of third. By the end of the season he decided to retire from active participation in motorsport. After three decades in the sport, Love realized that he eventually had to make way for a younger generation of racing drivers.
He competed for the last time as a Rhodesian national. On 18 April his country assumed independence and became known as Zimbabwe.
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