Sir Stirling Moss Is A Huge Nerd

Not only is Moss the greatest racing driver ever and the star of a Royal Mail stamp collection, he also puts many a young nerd to shame with his extra-geeky home in London built in 1962.

The house was constructed on a bombed-out plot in posh Mayfair in the year Moss retired from racing after his epic shunt in Goodwood, which left him paralyzed and in a coma. After recovering, he moved into his new home where he’s lived ever since. And even almost half a century after its completion, it is still seriously Bond:

1. Ceiling lowers from the kitchen to serve Sir Stirling his giant bowl of soup? Check.
2. Control panel by couch regulates water temperature and amount in master bath? Check.
3. Inbox descends from office ceiling with documents to sign? Check.

But the greatest detail is a later addition: the world’s only carbon fiber elevator, which serves his private office. It was custom-made for Moss by the Williams F1 team.

Even though he’s turning 80 in a few months, he’s planning furiously ahead. He is in the process of constructing a new home quite a distance from Mayfair—in Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

“I want to make the new house as ecofriendly as possible,” says Moss. The building, which will be situated on a 2,300 sq ft plot by a canal in Deerfield Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale, will use Greenblock technology, which involves pouring concrete between layers of polystyrene to create thick insulated walls with very low U-values (meaning they have excellent heat retention). The roof will have two big stretches of solar panels for converting the Sunshine State’s greatest resource into everyday electricity.

While he ensures his house is kind to the planet, Moss is also taking precautions against the planet being unkind to the house – so it will be hurricane-proof and tornado-resistant, with virtually indestructible glass in the windows and no overhanging sections to tempt high winds. In the event of a power cut, the generator will kick in automatically, “to keep the wine cold and the air conditioning going”.

Being a Moss residence, the two-storey house will also feature one or two innovations. “I want a breakfast trolley that will run, all by itself, from the kitchen to the patio when I press a button,” he says. This will effectively be a robot, he explains, possibly guided by a magnetic strip in the floor.

He’s driven the Mercedes-Benz 300SLR, he’s driven the Maserati Birdcage and now this. What a character. Also: check out his paint-can-patterned suspenders!

Source: The Sunday Times, The Independent. Photo Credit: Cate Gillon/Getty Images, The Independent

Send an email to Peter Orosz, the author of this post, at peter@jalopnik.com.

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