Jenkinson first became interested in motorsport in the mid-1930s, recalling seeing a racing car at a schoolboys’ Exhibition in 1936. During the Second World War, as a conscientious objector, he worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, where he met Bill Boddy, editor of Motor Sport. In 1943, Motor Sport reported on Jenkinson’s construction of a motorcycle from Norton parts.
After the war, Jenkinson competed in sidecar racing, becoming World Champion in 1949 with Eric Oliver. He continued as a passenger with Marcel Masuy for two further seasons, funded by a BMW factory-provided motorcycle which he also used for travelling to report on races across Europe. He later abandoned front-line competition to become Continental Correspondent for Motor Sport, a role he maintained for many years. He became known for his conversational writing style and enduring passion for the sport, earning the title of ‘elder statesman’ of British racing journalists.
Jenkinson was a keen driver and coined the term “wischening” to describe cornering technique in Porsche 356 cars. He used an E-Type Jaguar as his work transport, but maintained a collection of older vehicles at his home, which notably lacked basic amenities like electricity and running water.
His most celebrated competitive outing was navigating for Stirling Moss in the 1955 Mille Miglia. His account of the race, “With Moss In The Mille Miglia,” is considered a classic of motorsport journalism. He later authored The Racing Driver, a book based on his navigation experience, which became a standard work in motorsports literature.
Jenkinson also contributed to the development of driver assessment, classifying effort into “tenths,” with 10/10ths representing the highest level of performance. He believed the ability to ‘Tiger’ – to consistently drive at ten-tenths – was essential for a champion. He also actively promoted drag racing in Motor Sport magazine, competing in events on a NorBSA motorcycle in 1963 and driving an Allard Dragon dragster in 1965. He continued to compete in hillclimbs and sprints on a Tribsa hybrid motorcycle well into his seventies, and contributed regularly to Motorcycle Sport.
In later life, Jenkinson became involved with Brooklands Museum, participating in explorations of sealed underground air raid shelters. He suffered a series of strokes in 1996 and died on 29 November 1996, after moving to a home administered by the motor industry benevolent fund (BEN). He authored several books on motorsport, including titles dedicated to Porsche, Frazer Nash, the Jaguar E-type, the 2.5-litre Formula One, Juan Manuel Fangio), the Schlumpf Collection, and Maserati, with a compilation of his work published posthumously as Jenks: A Passion For Motorsport.
This article is based on the single source: Motor Sport magazine and related publications as referenced within the corpus. Primary archives, autobiographies, period programmes, and specialist publications were not consulted.