Inside the 1970s motorsport PR world: how Marriott shaped Hunt and Sheene’s fame

Andrew Marriott recalls how his management and PR work helped James Hunt and Barry Sheene become household names in the 1970s

April 1, 2026

Barry Sheene’s nickname for me was ‘Moriarty’, James Hunt simply called me ‘Arm’ based on the initials I wrote under for this magazine and the sister publication Motoring News. As a founding director of the sports PR, marketing and personality management company CSS Promotions, I was closely involved with this duo of implausible mates. Although from contrasting backgrounds the pair were drawn together by circumstance, personality and a competitive common aim, be it winning on the race track or chasing what Stirling Moss referred to as ‘crumpet’.

But let’s go back – March 1973 to be exact and I was in my BOAC VC10 seat on the way home from the South African Grand Prix. I’d already finished the MN report telling of Jackie Stewart’s victory and I was contemplating a conversation I’d had with Mike Jacklin, then promotions manager of Johannesburg-based Lucky Strike but soon to join Philip Morris/Marlboro in a similar capacity, who was looking for promotional ideas.

My VC10 idea for Mike was a give-away promotional newspaper, the Marlboro Sports Special, as an insert to Motoring News to be distributed to grand prix crowds. Less than two months later, I’d handed in my notice at Standard House – but Mr Tee got the printing contract and the first Special was being distributed at the Spanish GP at Jarama.

Black-and-white billboard of a racing driver holding Texaco Havoline motor oil.

Hunt’s friendly visage was everywhere in the mid-70s – including this billboard at Monza on the weekend of the ’76 Italian Grand Prix

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On the back of this, Ford marketing manager and BBC Wheelbase presenter Barrie Gill and I set up our own business with help from Michael (son of Wesley) Tee and soon we produced other similar publications, which is where James Hunt and his accountant brother stepped in. Could we manage James’s commercial affairs, diary, fan requests, etc? Of course we could. I’d known James since his Formula Ford days and we’d always had a good relationship. We inked a couple of lucrative deals on the back of his win in the Hesketh at the BRDC International Trophy meeting in ’74.

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Our business, CSS Promotions, had really taken off and we brokered deals with Marlboro UK for them to sponsor a portfolio of events, from the British Grands Prix for cars and bikes to a darts tournament at Wembley. By the mid-70s Barry was a big name and captain of the British team in the Marlboro Anglo-American Easter motorcycle series. “I hear you are doing a good job for James,” he said. “Will you take me on?” So, another client, later joined on our roster by boxer Alan Minter, cricketers Mike Brearley and Bob Willis, snooker star TerryGriffiths and others.

Fifty years ago if you were managing sports stars you had three primary aims: get their pictures on the front as well as the back pages of the newspapers, have them appear on TV show Parkinson, and on the back of it pull off a lucrative endorsement deal, preferably with an associated TV commercial.

Such was their profile after winning their 1976 world titles, we achieved those aims. James was in a humorous Texaco TV ad with comedians Morecambe & Wise, while Barry was in the Fabergé ’splash it all over’ adverts with boxer Henry Cooper. They both had slots on Parky’s show watched by 12 million viewers. Barry played a blinder for sponsor Marlboro. A couple of days before the show he asked if he could wear a team shirt. “No, of course not,” was my answer and he just said, “Don’t worry, Moriarty.” On the night he walks to the sofa, wearing lightweight white shirt and jeans. The shirt has a pocket. Strong TV lights and the clear outline of a packet of Marlboros is just visible. Actually in the pack were his favoured Gitanes!

We also got him on This is Your Life and the popular radio show Desert Island Discs. Meanwhile with James we pulled off an unlikely deal for him to be an ambassador for Vauxhall. Not bad for a guy who had won his title with a Ford-powered McLaren. Both of them were instantly recognised not only at the tracks but in the high street.

Of course, 1976 was a great year when they both won their world championships and it certainly gave me the chance to contrast and compare. A dozen years ago I conceived a film about them for ITV Sport (you can find it on YouTube) and although it wasn’t my choice the title of this documentary was When Playboys Ruled the World.

“They had slots on Parky’s show watched by 12 million viewers”

Were they playboys? They both knew how to party, have fun and enjoyed the many pleasures of life but actually I found them hugely professional, both as competitors but also as personalities. They were masters at handling fans and the media. They both had good looks, charm, chat and charisma.

I remember James coming to our motor racing flat in Baker Street to judge some newspaper competition or other and taking a long time to deliberate on the winner and taking it really seriously. Likewise, Barry was brilliant with the very down-market winners of a Co-op footwear competition.

Two racing drivers joking around while sharing cigarettes in a paddock area.

Smoking hot – our heroes in Fuji: Sheene died in 2003 aged 52; Hunt was 45 when he died in 1993

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James, having benefited no doubt from an excellent education at Wellington, wrote superbly well and for a year or so I transcribed his handwritten words for a column and didn’t have to even change an apostrophe. Barry preferred to dictate his columns. Such was Sheene’s Sun road test of a Morris Marina. I parked it next to his Rolls-Royce at Charlwood, his palatial home near Gatwick. When he saw it, his response was “I’m not even sitting in that piece of shit, Moriarty.” And he didn’t. Surprisingly Barry was the better linguist – speaking fluent Spanish, good French and workshop Japanese. Plus, he was an accomplished helicopter pilot.

But there was a difference. With Barry you knew what you would get at, say, a sponsor function. I knew what he would wear and that he would turn up five minutes late. With James it was a lottery. Perhaps the nadir was at the black-tie Park Lane Tarmac Award, which he’d won. Linda Patterson, who brilliantly ran our personality management division, had fully briefed James. On the day he was very late and arrived in sandals, jeans and a tie-dyed T-shirt. The Tarmac managing director considered it an affront and never sponsored the award again. Yet on other occasions he would arrive early, immaculately dressed and with an eloquent speech prepared.

Vintage photo of spectators watching a British Grand Prix, with handwritten note.

Andrew Marriott with ‘Baza’

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Their backgrounds were so different: James the public-school son of a stockbroker, while Barry’s father was a London hospital caretaker and his secondary school education was punctuated by truancy and cheekiness. Yet both were determined, astute, smart and quick-witted in equal measure. They came from different directions but were bonded by common desires and direction. For me it was a privilege to have worked with them.

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