Sir Stirling Moss, who opened a new car dealership site in Epsom at the weekend, was racing at the same time as the managing director’s father it has emerged.

Unlike Moss who won an astounding 212 races during his career, Tony Shelly only ever raced three times in the 60s in his own car as a privateer in New Zealand and Europe and never made it to the podium.

His son Andrew Shelly said: "He only raced a couple of times and he didn’t win.”

But since then the family has been friends with Moss which is why he opened the new car dealership site on Saturday.

Tony’s father Jack Shelly started a car dealership in Honolulu in the late 1950s and his son went on to build a significant dealership in the Hawaiian islands.

Andrew Shelly said: "I am incredibly proud of my family name above the door and I wish to continue my father’s legacy and founding principles of integrity, family and values."