Olivier Gendebien, the Belgian gentleman race driver whose successes at the wheel of Ferrari sports cars were an integral part of the Ferrari legend in the "good old days" of the fifties and sixties, died at his home in Baux de Provence, France, on October 2, 1998 at the age of 74. Born January 12, 1924, his family was part of Belgium's aristocracy. When World War II interrupted his engineering studies he joined the Belgian underground. Fluent in English (for which he credited his English nanny), he served as liaison with British agents parachuted into Belgium. Later he would escape to England and join a Belgian paratrooper unit in the British army.

When the war ended he changed his studies to agriculture. He later admitted that his plans were to emigrate to Argentina, buy a ranch and become a gaucho. To learn Spanish he took a job in Spain (he would eventually become fluent in over a half-dozen languages), and then found himself working in the Belgian Congo clearing forest land for development. there he developed a reputation for being able to drive large American cars with skill and speed over the primitive colonial roads.

In the Congo he became friends with Belgian rally driver Charles Fraiken, whose rally partner had retired. Gendebien volunteered his services as co-driver, and in 1952 the pair returned to Europe. However, his first competition was in racing, driving a Veritas at Chimay. The next year Gendebien would have the opportunity to race for the first time in a Ferrari, and he easily won the event, defeating much more powerful cars with the single-carburettor 2-liter car.

But most of his competition came in the form of rallies, usually partnered with Fraiken in a Jaguar. At one time they finished second in seven straight events, which earned them the nickname "eternal bridesmaids." He also drove such cars as Lancia and Alfa Romeo, and entered his first long distance race, Italy's Mille Miglia, using Fraiken's Jaguar.

In 1955, as his interest turned more to racing, he bought a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL. With this car he had considerable success, finishing second in the GT class in the Mille Miglia and finally winning the Liège-Rome-Liège Rally. It was with this car that he won the Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti, defeating the Ferrari factory-entered 500 Mondial of Eugenio Castellotti. This brought him to the attention of Enzo Ferrari, and within a week he had signed a contract to drive for the Maranello team. He would remain a member of the Ferrari team for the next seven years, until he retired from racing.

His first outing for Ferrari was a success, winning his class and taking second overall in a 2-liter 500 Mondial (beaten only by a 3-liter Maserati) in a hillclimb. But on his second venture, at the British Tourist Trophy, he crashed in practice, eliminating the car from the event and breaking his arm. Despite this, Ferrari invited him back for the full 1956 season.

Ignoring his lack of experience, Ferrari gave Gendebien a Formula One car for the first two races of the 1956 season in Argentina. He finished both races in the hybrid Super Squalo with D50 V-8 engine. But despite this early promise, he would never become a full time member of the Ferrari Formula One team. His only other F1 outing in 1956 was at the French Grand Prix, where he finished fifth.

It was in sports car racing, particularly the long distance and endurance events, that his true prowess lay. While he won no races for Ferrari in 1956 he scored a number of credible placings, often being the first Ferrari to finish as in the Buenos Aires and Nurburgring 1000 km races. He also took numerous class wins, most impressively the GT victories in two of Italy's toughest races, the Giro di Sicilia and the Mille Miglia. Both of these events consisted of just one long lap over public roads closed for the occasion, making it impossible to learn the course. Here his rally experience was put to good use.

Gendebien was well known not only for being able to "motor rapidly on unfamiliar courses" but also for being able to learn circuits quickly. These traits seemed somewhat at odds with his usually calm and impassive demeanor, slow and careful movements, and carefully chosen words.

He would improve on his successes in 1957, winning the Sicilian event outright--his first major victory for Ferrari--and placing third (first in GT) in the Mille Miglia while winning the Gran Premio Nuvolari for fastest time over the final stretch from Mantua to Brescia. He would later comment that his Mille Miglia drive was "the race I am proudest of . . . we made the best time on the fastest section of the course although the car was a good 25 mph slower than the pure racing cars taking part." In both events he was driving a 250 GT Ferrari, competing against all-out sports racing machinery not only from his team-mates at Ferrari but cross-town rivals Maserati, among others. That year he also scored the first of his three consecutive Tour de France victories. But he only got one Formula One drive, in the non-championship Reims Grand Prix. This would also be the year he married Marie-Claire.

1958 was even more successful for the Belgian. Paired with Luigi Musso he was a DNF at Buenos Aires, followed by a strong second place at Sebring and then a victory in Sicily's other great race, the Targa Florio. But the high point of the season had to be his victory, partnered with American Phil Hill, in the most pestigious sports car race--the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This was only the second time the two had been paired, but they soon were to form a regular, and formidable, duo. Their philosophies of long distance racing matched. They both followed Fangio's dictum that "to finish first, first you have to finish." While others would start long races as if they were short sprints, setting fantastic lap times but wearing out their equipment, the Belgo-American team would proceed at an efficiently rapid but steady pace. When the dust would settle, they would usually be up among the leaders. In addition, the two drivers usually got along well with each other, something that could not be said for many of the "prima donnas" in racing. He had other successes that year, including his second consecutive victory in the Reims 12 Hour race with his fellow Belgian Paul Frere, and his second Tour de France win, again partnered by Lucien Bianchi. But success in Formula One still eluded him, despite three starts with the Ferrari team. In all fairness, his lack of success was due more to bad luck than anything. At Monza another car ran into his on the starting grid, damaging the rear axle. Then at Casablanca two cars collided just in front of him, causing him to have only the second serious accident of his career. He recognized the dangers of racing, stating that "only 10 percent or so of auto racing accidents are caused by mechanical failure. The rest can be put down to human failure."

His activities were slightly scaled back in 1959 as he limited himself to only the major races. He helped with the team victory at Sebring, won the GT Paris GP at Montlhery and with Bianchi took his third Tour de France. Ferrari gave him only two Formula One rides, and while he finished in the points in both races there seemed little prospect for more Ferrari Formula One drives.

As a result Gendebien drove very little for Ferrari in 1960, while undertaking a serious assault on Formula One in the Yeoman Credit Racing Team's Cooper-Climax. He knew that to develop the different skills needed to succeed in Formula One he needed to compete in more races. He scored his best results ever, taking third in his home Belgian Grand Prix and second in the French Grand Prix. He also competed in some Formula Two races and drove sports cars for Porsche. Teamed with Hans Hermann he won Sebring and took third in the Targa Florio; and with Joakim Bonnier he took second at the Nurburgring.

Ferrari had to win at Le Mans in 1960 or the sports car championship would go to Porsche. So Gendebien was hired back for this all-important race--which wasn't a difficult decision for him as he was convinced the German marque had no chance of a victory. Paired with Paul Frere he won his second Le Mans, but it took a bit of luck. Two of the four team Ferraris ran out of gas before the first pit stop! It was only because of Gendebien's conservative driving style that his car didn't share the same fate.

Gendebien was back full time with the Ferrari Sports Car team in 1961 and contributed to three of Ferrari's four victories in the five championship races. First he won at Sebring with Hill. Then at the Targa Florio he and Hill had a disagreement over who would start the race. This was usually Gendebien's role, but at the last minute he decided that he would not take the start. He believed the car assigned to them would not last long, and the driver would then be stranded out on the 45-mile-long course. As if to fulfill his prediction the nervous and unprepared Hill drove like a madman and proceeded to crash the car. This left Gendebien in the pits, free to take a seat in the von Trips/Ginther car which eventually won. After driving with other partners at the Nurburgring, where Ferrari was beaten by Maserati, Gendebien and Hill were back together at Le Mans, where they scored their second (Gendebien's third) victory. His one outing for Ferrari in Formula One was in Belgium, where his yellow-painted car came in fourth in Ferrari's sweep of the first four places.

By 1962 Gendebien had been under some pressure from his wife to give up racing. By now they had three children. He voiced an unusual insight into his motivation that year. "I do not consider myself a professional because I have an income from other businesses and am not only out for money in racing. I am not, as you say, dependent on the prize money. . . . I think they [professional race drivers] love racing maybe just as much but when you race more for fun, I do not think you are a professional."

He would run only a handful of sports car races for Ferrari that year. With a second at Sebring (1st in GT) in the 250 GTO's first outing, followed by three straight victories in the Targa Florio, Nurburgring 1000 km and a then unprecedented fourth win at Le Mans (his third with Phil Hill) he decided it was time to retire. "Racing" he said "didn't amuse me so much any more." Although he was still competing at the top level in sports car racing he would later comment that at this point in his career "there seemed only two choices, one to die, the other one to lose. I decided on a third one. To stay alive." He would also note that at least two dozen men who had raced against him had died at the wheel. He did not want his children to become fatherless.

He never looked back, and spent the rest of his life involved in his various business interests. In the 1980's he was a regular participant as a co-driver in the Mille Miglia Storica but by then his deteriorating health made it impossible for him to drive. Earlier this year King Albert II of Belgium awarded him the Order of the Crown. In referring to Gendebien and his kind, his compatriot Paul Frere commented "the race of gentlemen racing drivers is almost extinct." One of the best of the breed left us when Olivier Gendebien passed away.