John Surtees, son of a motorcycle shop owner and three-time sidecar champion, began riding at 11. He left school at 16, became a motorcycle engineer for Vincent Motorcycles, and won his first race. Transitioning to F1, he impressed with Ferrari, winning the 1964 world championship. He's the only person to win titles on two and four wheels. He also competed in the US, surviving a crash, and later started his own F1 team, which struggled financially. He retired from motorsport and pursued a successful career in property development. Tragically, his son Henry died in a racing accident in 2009.