This Olympian of speed was the amateur beau ideal: John Cobb competed for the love of it and so that others might benefit from innovations force-fed by his appetite for endeavour. He spent much of his own money realising these ambitions and asked for nought in return. Indeed, uncomfortable with publicity and the resultant adulation, he was happiest when left to his methodical logic and logical methods, preferably with Bonneville’s otherworldly curving horizon for a backdrop, and with trusted, focused colleagues for support.
A bear of a man with a lugubrious countenance, he cut a formidable public figure who commanded respect. In private, however, he was good value: a loyal and honest friend who adhered to a strict moral code and doted on his mother, but who had a penchant for US-style Martinis and Manhattans.
