Leopoldo Alfonso Villa was the long-serving mechanic of Sir Malcolm Campbell and Donald Campbell.
10 Facts About Leo Villa
1.
2.
Leo Villa was born in London, of Italian and Scottish parents.
3.
Not so long after Leo Villa had an offer that would set the path of his career for the rest of his life.
4.
The then Captain Malcolm Campbell owned the franchise for Ballot in England and raced one of its models at Brooklands and was considering buying a new model for a Grand Prix campaign so Foresti and Leo Villa were despatched with the car that French star Jules Goux had driven in the Grand Prix Leo Villa had missed.
5.
Not long after Sir Malcolm's death on New Year's Eve 1948, Leo Villa was approached by Sir Malcolm's son Donald Campbell with a proposition: the junior Campbell had heard that the Americans were planning an attempt on his father's world water speed record, and the fiercely patriotic Campbell wanted to push it out of their reach before they even got started.
6.
The headstrong young Campbell was not to be dissuaded, and so Leo Villa found himself again playing chief mechanic to a Campbell's many record attempts.
7.
Campbell proved to be as adept at record breaking as his father and he went on to set no fewer than 7 world water speed records and 1 world land speed record, with Leo Villa being instrumental in every one.
8.
Leo Villa received an OBE in June 1976 for services to land and water speed records.
9.
Leo Villa was granted the Freedom of the City of London and he went on to write three books about his record-breaking career, two of them written with Kevin Desmond.
10.
Leo Villa died in January 1979 from lung cancer eight months after the death of his wife Joan.