Encouraged by his stepfather to take up racing in 1964, Bell started in a Lotus Seven and quickly graduated to Formula 3 piloting a Lotus 31. He scored his very first race win in 1966 at Goodwood, England, driving a Lotus 41, and scored seven more wins the following season. In 1968, his skills caught the attention of Enzo Ferrari and he was signed to drive their Formula 2 entry. Later that year, Bell made his F1 debut at Monza in a Ferrari 312.

But it was in endurance racing where Bell excelled and LeMans and Daytona were where fans saw him at the top of his game. This form of racing is one of the most demanding because it requires the driver to be both consistently fast and easy on the equipment the entire race, and Bell was a master. He scored his first of five overall wins at the French classic in 1975 in the Gulf-liveried, Cosworth / Ford-powered Mirage, and followed that up with first places in ‘81, ‘82, ‘86, and ’87 all in the Porsche 936, 956 and 962 racers. He won back to back World Endurance Championships in 1985 and 1986.

Equally impressive were his victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1986 and ’87. This gave him a rare “double-double” – wins at both LeMans and Daytona in the same year in two different seasons. Bell added a third Daytona victory to his resume in 1989. Other accomplishments include the Gold Medal from the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) in 1985 “for outstanding achievement in motor racing by a British subject,” which, according to the Club, “is not an annual award but is given only when the Council of the BARC considers it is merited.” And, in perhaps his most crowning moment as a British citizen, Queen Elizabeth awarded Bell the title M.B.E. (Member of the British Empire) in 1986 for his services to motor racing. As recently as 2002, Bell drove in the 10-race SPEED GT season in an Audi S4 and scored seven top-ten finishes.