Louis Alexandre Chiron was, and still is, Monte Carlo’s very own hero. He was born in the little principality’s capital in 1899, when his father was the maitre d’ at the Hotel de Paris. Louis won the Monaco Grand Prix twice and even drove a Lancia to victory in the 1954 Monte Carlo Rally. When he retired from the sport, he became the GP’s leading organizer and Clerk of the Course. Chiron died at his Monaco home in 1979, but…

Louis Chiron at the wheel of a Talbot Lago, during the 1951 French Grand Prix at Reims. Chiron went on to finish 6th.
Photo: Ed McDonough Collection