Thomas Alastair Sutherland Ogilvie ('Taso') Mathieson (25 July 1908,

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

– 12 October 1991,

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

), stylised as T.A.S.O. Mathieson and sometimes referred to as Donald Mathieson, was a British racing driver and author of automotive history books.

Racing career and personal life

'Taso' was the son of Thomas Ogilvie Mathieson. His family owned the Scottish hand tool manufacturing company Alexander Mathieson & Sons. 'Taso' Mathieson started racing in 1930, when he entered a race at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfie ...

restricted to

Lagonda Lagonda is a British luxury car brand established in 1906, which has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. The trade-name has not had a continuous commercial existence, being dormant several times, most recently from 1995 to 2008 and 2010 to 2 ...

s. He established his first victory during an Easter Bank-Holiday BARC Open Meeting on 28 March 1932, driving a supercharged

Officine Meccaniche Officine Meccaniche or OM was an Italian car and truck manufacturing company. It was founded in 1899 in Milan as Società Anonima Officine Meccaniche to manufacture railway rolling stock and car production began in 1918. It disappeared as s ...

. Over the next two years, he won three races in his Bugatti and broke the lap record for 2-litre cars at Snaefell Mountain Course on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, with an average speed of 72.15 mph (116.11 km/h). Bugatti Type 57 Atalante 1936

Because of health problems, Mathieson was unable to enter any races from 1934 to 1937, so his Bugatti was driven a few times by Chris Staniland. In 1938 and 1939 he entered the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

, but both times retired before the finish. Mathieson was one of the first, if not the first, Briton to race again in Continental Europe after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, racing an ex-

Henry Birkin Sir Henry Ralph Stanley "Tim" Birkin, 3rd Baronet (26 July 1896 – 22 June 1933) was a British racing driver, one of the " Bentley Boys" of the 1920s. Background and family Birkin was born into a wealthy Nottingham family in 1896, the son of ...

3-litre Maserati in 1946. On 30 May, he raced in the Coupe de la Résistance and retired with an oil leak. He entered the Grand Prix des Frontières on 9 June, but instead raced at the René le Bègue Cup held on the same day, finishing fifth. On 16 June, he attended the

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of ...

in Brussels, but did not start. He placed sixth in the Roussillon Grand Prix on 30 June, and on 28 July he raced in the Nantes Grand Prix, retiring with engine troubles. Mathieson entered an

ERA E-Type An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

with Leslie Johnson as driver, for 1949 Richmond Trophy, Jersey Road Race and British Empire Trophy, as well as the

1950 British Grand Prix The 1950 British Grand Prix, formally known as The Royal Automobile Club Grand Prix d'Europe Incorporating The British Grand Prix, was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 1950 at the Silverstone Circuit in Silverstone, England. It was the fi ...

. Some sources attribute these as official ERA entries because Johnson had purchased the car manufacturer three years before. Mathieson bought a 2-litre

Frazer Nash Frazer Nash was a brand of British sports car manufactured from 1922 first by Frazer Nash Limited founded by engineer Archibald Frazer-Nash. On its financial collapse in 1927 a new company, AFN Limited, was incorporated. Control of AFN passed t ...

Le Mans in which he scored a class victory in the

1950 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1950 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 18th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 24 and 25 June 1950. It was won by the French father-and-son pairing of Louis and Jean-Louis Rosier driving a privately entered Talbot-Lago. Regulations The re ...

together with Richard "Dickie" Stoop. He continued racing until 1955, mostly entering Grands Prix in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. When he was injured in a traffic or racing accident, he was forced to retire. After 25 years of racing, Mathieson concentrated on his writing and his collection of photographs, together with his wife Mila Parély, a French actress he had married in 1947. He wrote various authoritative books, including ''Grand Prix Racing 1906-1914'', and wrote several articles in the French magazine ''Le Fanauto'' in 1979 and 1980.

Racing results

* Mathieson was the team owner, not a driver. † Pierre Maréchal was killed in an accident.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Targa Florio results

Bibliography

* *

External links

T.A.S.O. Mathieson
at ''racingsportscars.com''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathieson, Taso 1908 births 1991 deaths Scottish racing drivers Sportspeople from Glasgow Scottish sports journalists Scottish expatriates in France Grand Prix drivers