Wyllie, Jesse "Doc"

[ElvaMKII]

Jesse Wyllie died this month at age 90. What a life he led. Professionally he was at the head of the class in the Petroleum industry. But his passions included sports car racing. He ran one of the first Lotus MK 9's (an ex-factory car) from 1955 to 1959 in SCCA racing, the car sometimes being entered by his wife Peg. He entered a factory Elva MK III with Climax FPF motor at Sebring in 1958. While I was researching the history of my car, I wrote Mr. Wyllie a letter, addressing it to "Jesse", thinking it must be his son. My surprise when I got back a letter from "Doc" saying he was very much alive, thank you very much, and remembered the MK III very well. He had crashed it in practice, spinning between a telephone pole and a guide wire, with the result that the front and rear of the car was chopped off. He was OK, he said. In 1962 he won the GM National Championship in a Lola. RIP, "Doc," you were a personality I read about in R & T when I was a kid, and you link me to those old days ever in your passing.