Mosley's past highlighted by claims

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Max Mosley may be wishing his parents were not such prominent figures in Britain during and after World War II.

The FIA president is the second son of British aristocrat Sir Oswald Mosley, a government minister in the 1920s who, along with his second wife Diana, was interned for fascist beliefs during WWII.

It is the whiff of the Mosley family's Nazi past that has added extra piquancy to allegations about his sex life printed Sunday in the UK's News of the World tabloid.

The newspaper ran an expose on Max alleging he took part in an orgy with Nazi overtones.

The 67-year-old has rejected calls to step down, initially writing a letter to FIA officials saying he was embarrassed by what the newspaper reported but said there was no "Nazi connotation to the matter."

A video, posted Sunday on the newspaper's Web site, showed a man identified as Mosley arriving at an apartment and then engaging in various sex acts with several women, at least one in a prisoner's uniform, while also speaking German. The video can no longer be found on the Web site.

Max Mosley was born in London and spent the first years of his life separated from his interned parents.

Sir Oswald was already notorious for his leadership of the British Union of Fascists and he and Diana were married at the family home of the Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels in Berlin in 1936, with Hitler as guest.

Max was handed over to relatives when his parents were detained for belonging to an organization "subject to foreign influence or control" just 11 weeks after his birth in 1940.

Later, he was refused entry to several schools because of his family's reputation and, after a childhood spent traveling round Europe (including a stint in Germany where he learnt to speak the language fluently), he ended up at Oxford University.

As a young man Max took part in political activities associated with his father's party, meeting his future wife Joan, a policeman's daughter, at a rally.

In 1961, Max campaigned under the slogan "Free Speech for Fascists" after his father's invitation to speak at the Oxford Union was opposed. He graduated with a physics degree in the same year and went on to become a successful barrister.

It was Joan who introduced him to motor racing, taking him to see the British driver Stirling Moss.

The sport became Max's passion and he competed in more than 40 national races in the UK during 1966 and 1967, winning 12.

He enjoyed the acceptance he received in motor racing: "There was always a certain amount of trouble being the son of Sir Oswald," he has said.

"I thought: 'I've found a world where they don't know about Oswald Mosley.' And it has always been a bit like that in motor racing: nobody gives a darn."

Max retired from driving in 1969, after two serious accidents, but set up March Engineering, a racing car manufacturer, with several colleagues.

March placed five cars in the 1970 Formula One season, and finished third in that year's constructors' championship. The team continued as a minor player until 1977.

Mosley's position with March led to an invite to meetings of the Grand Prix Constructors' Association.

In 1974 he helped create the new Formula One Constructors' Association along with Bernie Ecclestone and other leading lights.

Mosley continued his involvement through the 1980s, becoming president of the FISA Manufacturer's Commission -- part of motor sport's governing body. He also founded Simtek, a firm specializing in technical advice for racing.

In 1993 Mosley challenged the incumbent Jean-Marie Balestre for the presidency of FISA (now known as FIA). He was successful and is serving his fourth consecutive term.

Mosley has called an emergency meeting of FIA to try and draw a line under the News of the World's allegations and shore up his support. Legal action is also forthcoming.

However, after criticism from leading teams, his future looks as complicated as his past. E-mail to a friend

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