Description
Jonathan Williams was born in Cairo in 1942 where his father James, a non-career officer in the RAF, was stationed. He grew up at Endsleigh School in Colchester which his father owned and ran as headmaster, before being “sentenced” to four years at Cheltenham College, followed by a brief tenure at the Chelsea College of Engineering, an establishment attended briefly by the likes of Mike Hawthorn and Stirling Moss. Having had his fill of education, Jonathan struck out on his own to become a racing driver, climbing the ranks of the cut-and-thrust world of Formula 3 in the early 60s to employment by the Italian De Sanctis team from Rome, then Ferrari for the 1967 season. From Ferrari, Jonathan moved to Abarth, Serenissima then de Tomaso, rounding out his racing career driving the Solar Productions Porsche 908 camera car at Le Mans in 1970, then doing a stint as a stunt driver on Steve McQueen’s classic film. Retiring from racing in 1971, he flew corporate jets for twenty years before trading that life in for one in a VW camper, then a small motorhome, drifting through Europe for two decades, visiting friends and enjoying life. In his own words, Shooting Star On A Prancing Horse tells Jonathan’s story, on and off the track, until his untimely death in 2014.
