After leaving school at 17, Peter recognised that 9-5 wasn’t for him and accepted a job offer whilst on holiday in Palma Mallorca selling boat trip tickets for the infamous Boat and Beach parties. Peter would remain in Mallorca for the next 7 years eventually ending up running a night club in Palma.
In 1980 Peter travelled to the United States where he ran a gas station in Malibu California, a chain of ladies shoe shops in New Orleans and then was a sales manager of a huge Ford dealership in Pennsylvania. After separating from his American wife Peter moved to New York to work as customer sales Director for a new start up airline People Express who at that time were the main competitors to another start up called Virgin Atlantic.
Whilst having a coffee in the Plaza Hotel New York Peter was reading an article in a magazine which quoted someone as being a legend in time….this caught his attention and thought what a great name for a company.
Peter’s Father John passed away at the early age of just 58 and left Peter £10,000 which Peter used to buy 3 Jaguar E-Types in Los Angeles and exported them back to the U.K. He says ‘I was one of the first to bring home E-Types from an ailing American economy in 1987-89. In two years I bought home 86 cars and did well.
In 1988 Jaguar won the Lemans 24 Hrs race which was well celebrated. Being a Jaguar fan Peter searched for a collectible item for that event but to no avail.
He then met Alan Stammers a struggling artist who Peter spotted had immense potential. Peter requested that Alan draw him a picture of the 88 Lemans winning Jaguar.
When completed Peter contacted his local printer via Yellow pages and had 100 prints produced to gift to his Jaguar clients. Peter then thought it would be great if all 3 drivers could sign each copy. So Peter set about tracking them down at a test session.
A few weeks later Peter attended the Motor Show at the NEC. He asked the manager of the Jaguar stand if he could display a framed print on their stand in exchange for 5 copies. They agreed and Peter sold 34 copies in 3 days at £295 each……Legends In Time was born!
During the next 15 years, Peter would travel the World to sign up the Greatest drivers of all time, from Brazil to Australia, from Los Angeles to Monaco. Peter says ‘I was on the road and Grand Prix tour for 10 years to complete my mission…it was exhausting but huge fun meeting all of my heroes past and present, they were Wonderful days’.
Peter opened the first ever Formula One gallery in Eton in 1992 and three other galleries in Windsor. He held the first ever F1 auction in 1992 to raise money for Great Ormond Street. Hospital which raised £150,000 on the day.
Peter basically started F1 memorabilia and became the world’s expert featuring many times on TV. He also became Damon Hill’s first sponsor and mentor from 1992 until 1996. He became great friends with the late great Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell and many other drivers including his boyhood hero Sir Stirling Moss who became his closest friend for 30 plus years.
In 2001 Peter wanted a change and closed Legends In Time and moved to South Africa for six years to fulfil his goal of being a house designer and property entrepreneur.
2011, Peter set out to achieve another boyhood goal, and to produce the first ever watch hand signed by a celebrity, Stirling Moss. So, Legends in Time watches was born, creating 9 different models.
Ratcliffe is a complete Petrol Head having owned over 450 cars including the Queen’s private Daimler, Jackie Ickx’s Ferrari Daytona, Shah of Iran’s Rolls convertible, Ferrari F40, 2 Schumacher F1 cars and the ex Ayrton Senna 1986 JPS Lotus. Peter has also had a 200 plus race career all over the world from California to China from Silverstone to Cape Town and Le Mans, plus all over Europe.
Also working on TV as main dealer on Channel 4’s Four Rooms has kept him busy over the years plus as an actor appearing on Minder and working for 5 days with Burt Reynolds in London.
Now Ratcliffe feels is the time to slow up and smell the roses, spend time with his 5 Grandchildren, enjoy his boat and take some trips he never had time to.
So, the Legends In Time Retirement Sale is now on at 50% off the original prices.
Legends In Time is without a doubt the Greatest hand signed collection in the world of the real Icons of Formula One.
What a Journey! AMAZING!
