But racing was not always easy for Hill. According to Formula One's website, Hill was "profoundly intelligent and deeply sensitive," a driver "always fearful and throughout his career he struggled to find a balance between the perils and pleasures of his profession."
At one point in the early 1950s, he stopped racing for 10 months because of stomach ulcers, but then returned and "by the mid-1950s he had become America's best sports car racer," the website said.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, August 30, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 72 words Type of Material: Correction
Hill obituary: The obituary of race-car driver Phil Hill in Friday's California section quoted Shav Glick, the longtime motor sports writer for The Times, saying "Phil set the standard" for American drivers overseas and that he "also was a great representative of the sport." The comments were not written by Glick in 2006, as the obituary said, but were spoken by Glick when Times staff writer Jim Peltz interviewed him that year.
Philip Toll Hill was born in Miami on April 20, 1927, and was raised in Santa Monica.
His love of cars began at an early age and, when he was 12, his aunt bought him a Model T Ford that he would drive on private roads in Santa Monica Canyon.
He studied business administration at USC from 1945 to '47 but eventually dropped out because his passion was race cars.
Hill worked as a mechanic on other drivers' cars and, in the early to mid-1950s, drove in races in Santa Ana, Pebble Beach, Mexico and Europe and eventually joined the Ferrari team.
In September 1958, Hill finally got the ride he wanted in a Ferrari Formula One car, which would culminate with his world title.
The first of Hill's Le Mans victories also came in 1958, when he co-drove a Ferrari with Olivier Gendebien.
After retiring, Hill focused much of his attention on his lifelong love of classic automobiles, as well as his collection of player pianos and other antique musical instruments.
He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1991.
Hill is survived by his wife, Alma; a son, Derek, of Culver City; a daughter, Vanessa Rogers of Phoenix; a stepdaughter, Jennifer Delaney of Niwot, Colo.; and four grandchildren.
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james.peltz@latimes.com
