National Records of Scotland

Preserving the past, Recording the present, Informing the future

Jim Clark (1936-1968)

Jim Clark (1936-1968)

World Champion racing driver, 1963 and 1965

Jim Clark was born in Fife but his family moved to Berwickshire in 1942. He began racing in local road rallies, then for the Borders Reiver team before his Formula One Grand Prix debut on 6 June 1960, aged 24. His successful career was cut short when he crashed during an event in Germany. He died at Hockenheim in 1968 aged 32. There is a small museum dedicated to him in Duns, Berwickshire.

Birth in 1936

Jim Clark was born on 4 March 1936, the son of James Clark, farmer and Helen Rorie Niven. The entry in the statutory register of births for Kilmany in the county of Fife gives the place of birth as Wester Kilmany (National Records of Scotland, 1936/437/2).