Steve O’Rourke the charismatic manager of Pink Floyd and a prolific gentleman racer, the former occupation enabling the latter along with a sublime collection of road and race cars from the 1950s to the 1990s.
Tall, well-built and lantern-jawed, O’Rourke combined irresistible charm with forcefulness as he negotiated with record company executives, publishers and promoters. He was described by one associate as “A streetfighter, a larger-than-life character who knew not only his own strengths and weaknesses but also the efficiency of baseball bats in office redecoration”. This unlocked fortunes for the members of Pink Floyd and a not inconsiderable income for himself.
His ambition to compete in the greatest sports car race of all – the Le Mans 24-Hours classic – was realised in 1979 when he drove a Ferrari 512 BB to a 12th place finish. Having bought the car he returned in 1980 and scored another finish in spite of a tyre exploding at nearly 200mph and destroying the rear bodywork.
Steve was to race a further ten times at Le Mans and his greatest racing success came while driving his somewhat outclassed McLaren F1 GTR in 1998 when he finished just shy of the podium in 4th place. Having saved money by refusing the costly update pack for the McLaren, he then typically spent double the amount on a huge party for all concerned in his EMKA team’s success.
For several years Steve raced in the International Sportscar Championship co-driving modern GT cars, Ferrari 512BB, the ex-Niki Lauda BMW M1 and Porsches co-driven by the likes of Derek Bell, David Hobbs, James Weaver, Nick Mason & Eddie Jordan. In 1982 he entered the British Formula One Championship with an ex-works Williams FW07 finishing 3rd in his first F1 race at the frighteningly fast Thruxton Circuit. He also set up his own Race Team – EMKA Racing who eventually built their own Aston Martin engined Group C cars that raced in the FIA International Sports Car Championship and the Le Mans 24H. Steve and EMKA also raced successfully in the European and British GT Championships winning the latter in the McLaren F1GTR in 1998.
“While driving his somewhat outclassed McLaren F1 GTR in 1998 when he finished just shy of the podium in 4th place at the Le Mans 24hr race”
Whilst doing that he also collected and raced a mouth-watering collection of historic race and road cars. These included Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, BRM, Lotus, Cooper, Lister Jaguar, both the Aston Martin DB4GT & Jaguar e-type of Tommy Sopwith’s Equipe Endeavour and a Jaguar C Type, in which he broke both his legs during the Carrera Panamericana in Mexico whilst sharing the car with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour.
Amongst the road cars was this elegant Bentley R-Type Continental Fastback, which he and his family owned for over 50 years. It’s said that he bought the car in 1973 on a whim whilst passing Jack Barclay’s in Berkeley Square after a particularly successful business lunch nearby involving a considerable amount of wine. Very Steve.
