In the February 2010 edition of Vintage Racecar, editor Casey Annis reported that a concours d’provenance had been held in Palos Verdes, a suburb of Los Angeles. When I read it, I thought many of you might wonder what in the world is a concours d’provenance.

We all know what a concours d’elegance is. The words mean a “competition of elegance,” a competitive car show as it were. Supposedly, the competition is to determine who can show the most elegant car. The winner is selected by a judge or, more often, a panel of judges. Originally, I think, winning cars were elegant designs. These days, the most meticulous restoration is likely to win. Cars displayed are likely to be in even better than new condition. I’m told that competitors even go to the extent of aligning the slots in a row of screw heads.

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In 1953, the Rootes Group in England, which had acquired the Sunbeam Company in 1935, produced a handsome sports car, the Sunbeam Alpine.

Its styling promised more than it could deliver. With a wheelbase of 97.5 inches and an overall length of 168 inches, it weighed in at almost 3,000 pounds. Sporting the 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine from the Humber Hawk sedan that produced only 80 bhp, it was sadly underpowered in comparison to other sports cars of the time.

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When I first talked with Vintage Racecar editor Casey Annis in 2005, the conversation revolved around the subject of me writing about the fifties, the fabulous fifties as it were. After all, this was what I was known for. I had written seven books about the decade. One of my first columns was titled “A Unique Era” (November 2005). (If you missed it, you can get a copy of the issue by calling 562-493-0737 or go online to sportscardigest.com.) In it, I discussed why that time was so different than those that came before and after.

I’m not running out of fifties things to write about yet, but recently I’ve been turning my attention to the sixties. Three of my 2009 columns were about my good and close friend, Carroll Shelby and his activities since he quit racing after 1960. Recently re-reading Sam Posey’s excellent Road & Track article (August 2002), “Racing’s Golden Age of Speed,” I was reminded that the sixties were as unique as the previous decade. Sam called it “fantastic.” But it’s more alliterative to name it sensational.

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By 1963, Cobras were doing very well in Sports Car Club of America races. Cars driven by Shelby American drivers won the SCCA A Production National Championship. In addition, they won the SCCA Production-Class U.S. Road Racing Championship.

Carroll Shelby, however, wanted to enter and win the unlimited USAC Sports Car Championship. This was a series contested by sports-racing cars that had few of the limitations imposed on so-called production cars that were raced. The problem was that the front-engined Cobras, essentially production cars, would not be competitive.

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My column in the October 2006 edition of Vintage Racecar was titled, “Shelby, the Early Years.” For the most part, it was about Carroll Shelby’s racing career that culminated in winning Le Mans in 1959. I followed up on the column with the publication of my book, Shelby, the Race Driver in 2008, but, of course, there’s a lot more about Shelby than just the fifties and his racing. Last month I wrote about Shelby’s early constructor attempts with the Lister and the Corvette.

Interestingly enough, Shelby’s life more or less has divided itself into decades. The forties were WWII and his Army Air Corps time, followed by the fifties and racing. In the sixties came the Cobras and Shelby Mustangs. The seventies were his Africa years and the eighties, the Dodge time. The nineties saw a revival of Cobras and Mustangs, while in the new millennium, he has developed his various enterprises into what amounts to a mini-conglomerate. Shelby, himself, has become a true icon.

The post The Shelby American Story appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

As everyone knows, after the 1960 racing season, Carroll Shelby retired as a driver and became even better known for creating Cobras and Shelby Mustangs. But perhaps fewer know that he ventured into car creation somewhat before.

During the fifties, Shelby, Jim Hall,  and Jim’s brother, Richard, had a dealership in Dallas—Carroll Shelby Sports Cars, Inc.—and were the Southwest Maserati distributors. In 1957, Brian Lister designed a chassis and body that incorporated a Jaguar engine and transmission. His cars enjoyed considerable success in the UK and on the continent at the hands of Archie Scott-Brown, Masten Gregory, and Stirling Moss among others.

The post Before the Cobra appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

It is well known that some great stock car road racing took place at the Riverside International Raceway. Dan Gurney enhanced his record as an all-around champion there. Some assume that post-WWII stock car road racing started at Riverside, but that’s not true. There were five stock car events on road courses in Southern California prior to the first one at Riverside that was held on December 1, 1957.

After the 1957 Riverside event, there wasn’t a stock car race there until January 20, 1963, which was won by Dan Gurney against top NASCAR talent. Dan won a total of five NASCAR races there, an astonishing feat considering the opposition.

The post Stock Car Road Racing appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

For two consecutive years—1969 and 1970—Porsche won the World Manufacturers Championship. Brian Redman was an important part of the teams, and his teammate was always Jo Siffert. In 1969, they drove 908/1s and 908/2s for the factory. In 1970, John Wyer’s Gulf team ran the Porsche effort in 917Ks and 908/3s. In the United States, Brian drove 935s for Dick Barbour, winning at Sebring and Daytona. In addition, he drove Porsches for Roger Penske, Vern Schuppan, and Vasek Polak.

Brian Redman has to be categorized as a road-racing champion in anyone’s book. He won three straight—1974, 1975, and 1976—Formula 5000 titles with Mario Andretti finishing runner-up for two years and Al Unser the third year. Brian won the IMSA GTP Championship in 1981. In addition to the two Porsche World Championship crowns, he was on two other World Manufacturers Championship teams: John Wyer’s Gulf Ford (GT40) with Jacky Ickx in 1968 and the Ferrari factory team with Clay Regazzoni and Arturo Merzario in 1972.

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Like many other sports during WWII, automobile racing experienced a hiatus. Soon thereafter, however, competition resumed. The Formula One World Championship series was initiated in 1950 and became the ultimate goal for both drivers and constructors.

At the same time, Southern California became a hotbed of the car craze. Road racing developed as well as U.S.-style oval-track. A few local drivers went on to challenge the world’s best, among them Phil Hill and Dan Gurney, both of whom became famous. Another much less known driver joined them, Richie Ginther. Richie is now remembered, perhaps, only by those of us who were there then, but like Hill and Gurney, he had world-class talent.

The post Remembering Richie appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

During the fifties, Aston Martin produced sports cars with the designation, DB, which, of course, stands for David Brown.

In addition to the 2-door hardtops—called saloons by the factory—a series of open sports cars, actually sports racers (later called sports racing cars), were constructed, raced by the factory and sold to private entrants.

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There is a man who is not only unknown to the general public but also to much of the racing community. He was, however, of vital importance to modern American road racing. With the exception of those who organize races, he is virtually anonymous. Jim Haynes, however, is my own personal hero. He tried to do three things significant for U.S. road racing and was successful at two of them. Here’s what happened.

Lime Rock Park in Connecticut is unique insofar as motor racing is concerned because it is relatively near the New York metropolitan area. Established in the late fifties, by the early sixties, it was near bankruptcy and about to close. Jim Haynes, along with John Fitch, who lives nearby and had designed the track, raised sufficient funds and came to the rescue. Jim managed the track from 1964 until 1986. He saved the track and made it profitable in spite of a serious obstacle: a local injunction prohibiting Sunday racing. He inaugurated the Labor Day–weekend Vintage Festival in 1982, combining racing and a Sunday concours that has become, arguably, the premier vintage event in the East.

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During the fifties on the West Coast, Peterson raced a light green 1954 XK120 roadster. His California Sports Car Club and SCCA-LA Region permanent number was 83. He won so many races that he was often referred to as the “Jag Master.”

I was racing a rather tired XK120 then, and most of us in the over-1500-cc production group got to know one another. Among others, the group included 300SL pilot Rudy Cleye, the visionary who conceived the idea of a raceway near Riverside. When initial financing dried up, Rudy convinced wealthy sportsman John Edgar to put up the necessary construction funds, and selected Jim Peterson as the general contractor.

In 1956, GM replaced the Corvette’s original six-cylinder engine with a V-8. Jim was selected to prepare and race the new model, the first time a Corvette had been in serious competition on the West Coast. There was much debugging to do, and Jim’s efforts helped in the car’s later success.

With two exceptions, Jim’s racing was confined to Southern California. Jim was a general contractor with offices and an equipment yard in Pasadena. Although he surely had the talent, his business kept him from spending any serious time on the sport.

After the 1956 season, Jim retired from racing at the insistence of his wife, Margie, and sold his Jaguar to me. He participated again in only one event, the 1957 Palm Springs SCCA National. Jim had been appointed race chairman and I was his assistant, so we went to set up the course  early in the week. Saturday was a short five-lapper to determine Sunday’s starting positions. I had entered his old XK120, and as we were lining up on the pre-grid, I called to Jim: “Why don’t you give it a go one last time. Margie will never know!” He agreed, put on my helmet, and got behind the wheel.

The Sports Car Journal reported: “Saturday’s over-1500 production race got off to a flashing start… The big surprise of this event was the return of old Jag-Master, Jim Peterson. Jim tooled Art Evans’s XK120 to a magnificent 3rd, in front of Mercedes, Corvettes (including Andy Porterfield), Ace Bristols, etc. In fact, he had a battle with Ron Ellico in his 300SL for his spot that may have been the high point of the afternoon.” Actually, Jim was gaining on the leaders and, had the race been longer than five laps, probably would have won.

Peterson built quite a number of structures during the fifties, mostly in the Pasadena area, and before starting construction at Riverside, spent several months in Europe touring various courses. During the trip, he visited the Jaguar factory at Coventry where he purchased an XKSS, one of the few that had been made before the fire at the factory destroyed the tooling.

When Jim and the car arrived back in California, he would occasionally drive it from his home to the Riverside site, a round trip of about 130 miles. As time allowed, I would accompany him. At the site, Jim drove a surplus Army Jeep around the property, planning the course layout. Although others have claimed credit, I know from personal experience that Jim not only built the track, but also designed it.

In those days, the raceway site was located near a highway (U.S. 395) that went from Riverside to San Diego. (It still does, but now it’s a freeway.) The property for the raceway was just north of March Air Force Base, where we had raced in 1953 and ’54, courtesy of General Curtis Le May. Just south of the base, 395 was long and straight.

One day Jim told me, “I want to see just how fast this thing will go.” So we started off down the highway. After we passed the base, he floored it. In the XKSS, the tachometer was in front of the driver and the speedo in front of the passenger. Soon the needle started to approach its limit, 180 mph. I was supposed to tell Jim when it reached 180. When I did, he backed off, turned around, and drove sedately back. Afterward, he said he didn’t believe the speedo was accurate because of tire expansion.

Occasionally, Jim would drive his XKSS around his quiet residential neighborhood. To put it mildly, this attracted some attention, often from a gendarme. When a patrol car would set off after Jim, he would speed away, but the problem was that the officers knew where he lived. A friend—Dr. John Valentine, an SCCA official—lived across town. Jim had an arrangement with Dr. Valentine to leave his garage door open with an empty space. When a patrol car got after him, Jim would get far enough ahead so the officer couldn’t see him, then drive into Valentine’s garage and close the door. This tactic caused great glee among local sports car aficionados. One night though, Jim had to stay over with the Valentines.

When Riverside was completed, Jim led a procession of cars around for the very first lap in his XKSS. This time I wasn’t in the passenger seat because I was taking pictures. The following year, he sold the car to Steve McQueen. The first race at Riverside was held by the California Sports Car Club on September 21–22, 1957. Sunday’s first race was for production cars under 1500-cc. A friend of ours lost his life in his MG on Turn 6. This put a pall on what should have been a great day. In the main event, my friend Carroll Shelby ran into a dirt bank and was ferried to the hospital with face cuts that required 70 stitches. After that first race, I was never very happy with Riverside.

Later in the decade, Peterson was elected Regional Executive of the SCCA Los Angeles Region. A bitter conflict in Southern California had developed between the Los Angeles Region and the then-independent California Sports Car Club.

Things started to come to a head in 1961. The chain that pulled the plug was an accident at an SCCA Pomona event on July 9, 1961, when one spectator was killed and 14 injured. Peterson, RE of the sponsoring L.A. Region, was also the race chairman. Numerous lawsuits ensued.

The L.A. Region of the SCCA had been having some serious differences with those who governed SCCA National in Westport, Connecticut, for some time. The Pomona incident was the last straw and finally, on November 24, 1961, SCCA National (undoubtedly hoping to extricate itself from lawsuits) revoked the L.A. Region charter and offered it to Cal Club. On November 25, the Cal Club board voted unanimously to accept the offer. This created a furor in both camps and a bitter conflict ensued.

Incensed, Peterson demanded a hearing before the SCCA National board as specified in the by-laws. Failing that, he threatened an injunction that would tie up racing in Southern California. Peterson and many L.A. Region members, determined to continue business as usual, scheduled races for 1962. SCCA National threatened legal action to require the L.A. Region to “Disassociate itself from SCCA and desist from using their name and insignia.”

Whereupon, the group, a California Corporation, associated itself with the professional United States Auto Club. The defunct Region changed its name to the United States Sports Car Club, a division of USAC, with Peterson its president. The battle continued between Cal Club and the USSCC for the few available Southern California courses, with each threatening to ban drivers who raced in the other’s events.

Peterson, along with the Pomona Elks Club, scheduled a race at Pomona for July 21 and 22. In an unexpected move, while under threat of a drivers’ boycott (which would have been a financial disaster for both), the USSCC and Cal Club decided to merge. While the details were being worked out, Cal Club threw its weight behind the Pomona event. Before racing started, the two club presidents, Peterson and D. D. Michelmore, paraded around the track together in the course car to the cheers of the drivers. After the race, both men stepped down and the merger became final.

I know that the conflict, as well as the lawsuits, took a heavy toll on Jim. Perhaps as a result, he became an alcoholic, in and out of rehab for years. Eventually, his wife left him and he became estranged from his two sons. In 1977, he died of cirrhosis of the liver. He used to call now and then, and a few weeks before his death, he called my office. I asked how he spent his days. He’d lost his driving license and didn’t even have a car, living by himself in a very small apartment in Altadena, a few blocks from the palatial mansion where his family once lived. He said he’d get up in the morning, walk a few blocks to the liquor store, buy a quart of vodka, take it home and drink it.

Jim and I were best friends. For some time during the fifties, I was single and would have dinner several evenings a week at the Peterson home. His family—Jim, his wife Margie, and their two boys—were my surrogate family. We socialized and went on trips together. Even after all these years, I tear up when I think about Jim.

The post The Father of Riverside appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

During the early fifties, one of the biggest sports stars in the United States was Sam Hanks. Notice I said “sports,” not motor sports. He was one of the best-loved sports figures to come out of Southern California. For many of us enthralled with racing, he was our hero.

Sam was born in Ohio, but the Hanks family moved to Alhambra, California, when he was 6 years old. At Alhambra High School, Sam was so good in shop and auto mechanics that he was appointed a student instructor. He was one of the few championship-level racing drivers who also excelled as a mechanic and engineer.

The post Remembering Sam appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

I remember that the Reader’s Digest used to have a series of articles titled some-thing like “The Most Unforgettable Character I’ve Ever Met.” High on my own list of such characters is my close friend, Andy Porterfield. Andy is amazing for a number of reasons. Among other accomplishments, Andy has won more than 400 SCCA races. (He says, “I don’t know the exact number; I didn’t keep track; I just wanted to race.”)

I met Andy in 1957 when we raced against each other at that long-abandoned course in Southern California’s Agoura Hills, Paramount Ranch. In those days, Andy was racing a 1957 Corvette and I was in my 1954 XK120 Jaguar. Most of us in the over-1500-cc production group knew one another or were at least acquainted. Andy and I struck up a friendship that has lasted our lifetimes. After all of these years, we still get together for lunch every month or so.

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One of the most successful relationships in motor sports during the sixties was between Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles. It resulted in transforming Cobras into world-class automobiles, not only on tracks, but also on roads.

The relationship between the two was not just a business one, it was also very personal. Ken, as is well known, lost his life in 1966. Not too many years ago, Carroll told me that “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about Ken.”

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There were a number of outstanding road-race weekends during the fifties. Phil Hill’s win at the first Pebble Beach comes to mind as well as Carroll Shelby’s at the last. In Southern California, one of the best-loved venues was Palm Springs. It had everything: a famous resort, wonderful winter weather, famous movie stars, and a lot of accommodations at various price ranges. Yes, the course was at an airport and not a real road, but the plusses outweighed this drawback. At least, it was relatively safe.

The first Southern California road race was staged at Palm Springs by the California Sports Car Club in 1950 and continued through 1955. But in 1956, the rival Los Angeles Region of the Sports Car Club of America took over. From the start, Race Coordinator (read promoter) George Cary, Jr., had the necessary connections with the Palm Springs city fathers. By the middle of the decade, however, Cary and the Cal Club had a falling out, so George changed his allegiance to the SCCA. (I detailed the club rivalry in my column in the April 2008 edition of Vintage Racecar. To get a copy, call 562-493-0737 or log on to www.sportscardigest.com.)

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On August 28, we lost our great and good champion, Phil Hill. The entire world of motor sports is saddened. He was a wonderful and honorable friend who will be sorely missed.

After hearing of Phil’s passing, it was inevitable that many of us were on the phone with one another. Carroll Shelby said, “Phil and I had a 60-year friendship. He could take anything apart and put it back together. He could even tune pianos. I talked with Derek three times the day before Phil passed on, and I was able to communicate to Phil that I loved him.”

The post Remembering Phil appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

I have included a few remembrances about Lance in some previous Vintage Racecar columns, but because he was such a fascinating character, I thought a column explicitly about him would be appropriate in order to wrap up the theme.

I wrote what was hopefully an amusing story about a party at Lance’s home in the September 2005 edition. Then I wrote about him in Chuck Daigh’s obituary in the July 2008 edition and recently about Lance’s Scarabs in the September 2008 edition. If you missed any of these, you might want to log on to www.sportscardigest.com for copies of those issues. Most who remember Lance associate him with Scarab cars, but before that, he drove as an amateur in Southern California events.

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I don’t remember when I first met Lance Reventlow, but it must have been through my buddy, Bruce Kessler, who was Lance’s best friend. Lance became a significant figure in fifties-era racing because of his creation of  the Scarabs. I knew him, but not well, so recently I talked with some mutual friends to get a perspective for this remembrance.

Through his relationship with Bruce, Lance became involved in Southern California sports car racing in 1955 when he raced his 300SL and then a Cooper Bobtail. Bruce was working at Warren Olson’s repair shop in Los Angeles and Lance started to hang around there. One thing led to another and Lance decided he wanted to have his own all-American sports car.

The post Lance and His Scarabs appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

On this, the thirty-fifth anniversary of the Monterey Historics, I thought it would be interesting to look back and see how it all started. The date was August 10, 1974.

August 10 that year fell on a Saturday. There was no Sunday racing even though California has no “blue laws” like those that restrict Lime Rock. The reason was that it was expected most everyone would want to go to the concours at Pebble Beach on Sunday. There was no practice on the Friday, so the first Historics was a one-day event.

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Carroll Shelby once remarked, “There are only two people I can think of who could sit down, take a welding torch, build their own chassis, go out to test it, and then win races with it. They are Jack Brabham and Chuck Daigh. I put Chuck in the same category as Jack.”

Except for the war years, Chuck Daigh has been associated in one way or another with internal combustion engines. At age 15, while still in high school, he ran a Union Oil gas station in Long Beach, California, where he grew up. In his eighth decade, he was busy at work preparing a car for a record run at Bonneville. Between those times, he had a legendary career both behind the wheel and wielding a wrench. Bruce Kessler told me recently that he thinks Chuck was the most underappreciated racing driver of his time. According to his Sebring teammate, Dan Gurney, “Chuck was not only an excellent engineer, but he could also drive the wheels off a car.” Dan went on to say, “When I got into racing, I soon found out who the real heavyweights were. In those days, Chuck was like a god to us.”

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During the early fifties, road racing in the United States took place, for the most part, at airports. While airports have a number of advantages, they lack the interest and drama of actual roads. Without the authority to utilize public highways, venues were hard to come by.

As road racing developed on the West Coast, two sites for real road courses were established: Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines. Both were in spectacular seaside locations. Pebble Beach was laid out on the private roads of a land development, the Del Monte Properties on the Monterey Peninsula. Torrey Pines used the roads of an abandoned Army base. Only a few miles from metropolitan San Diego, it attracted large numbers of spectators.

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Jack was born on April 2, 1926, and I think it’s appropriate that we all wish him a happy birthday. (I realize you are reading the May edition of Vintage Racecar, but subscribers usually get it in April.) On this occasion, I thought you might be interested in some of Brabham’s earlier experiences.

I feel fortunate to have the honor of knowing Sir Jack, personally. We have even celebrated two of his previous birthdays together at my home. In spite of his worldwide acclaim, there is nothing forbidding about Sir Jack. I find it difficult to avoid comparing his personality to Fangio: modest, quiet, and seemingly without ego.

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Southern California has always been a hotbed of car aficionados. The hot rod craze started there and, after WWII, it became a focal point for sports car enthusiasm. During the late forties, sports car owners began forming clubs so they could organize events. The Sports Car Club of America grew out of the pre-war Automobile Racing Club of America. The SCCA franchised branches—called Regions—throughout the U.S. and they began to stage races. At the same time, a separate club started in Southern California: the California Sports Car Club (CSCC or Cal Club).

During the late forties, both the Los Angeles Region of the SCCA and the CSCC organized single-car speed events such as hillclimbs and trials. The first actual road race west of the Mississippi took place at Buchanan Field in Northern California on November 20, 1949. Organized by the San Francisco Region of the SCCA, it was a rather casual and haphazard affair. The first in Southern California, organized by the CSCC, was at Palm Springs on April 16, 1950. (For readers interested in those early years, I highly recommend Joel Finn’s new book, American Road Racing: 1948 – 1950.)

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Although there were a number of pre-WWII cars that can be described as sports cars, the craze in the U.S. began following the war with the invasion of MGs and then Jaguars. Some aficionados credit Chevrolet’s Corvette as the first American sports car. Others feel that the original Thunderbird fits the category. But, in fact, the Crosley preceded both. The Crosley is truly an American car with all of the components made in the U.S.

Crosley sports cars, an inspiration of industrialist Powell Crosley, Jr., were made between 1946 and 1952. By the time production came to a halt, a total of 2,498 had been built. There were two models. The first was the Hot Shot and then the second, the Super Sports, was introduced in 1950. The Hot Shot was truly a bare-bones car. It didn’t even have doors. But to qualify, the SCCA started requiring two functioning doors; so, along came the Super Sports.

The post The First All-American Sports Car appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

During the Fifties, a number of women were involved in the sports car craze. This was during a time when a female wasn’t allowed in the paddock of a U.S. professional circle-track race, much less behind the wheel. Mary Davis, Ruth Levy, Denise McCluggage, Linda Scott and Ginny Sims come to mind.

For the most part, all are, or were, attractive as well as strong-willed and talented. One even gave her name to a sports car: Dorothy Deen. It is the Doretti, an Italianized version of Deen’s first name. The story of how the car was created and Dorothy’s involvement is the stuff of legend.

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During the fifties, everyone’s hero was Juan Manuel Fangio. He won the World Driving Championship five times, an achievement that would not be equaled for almost 50 years. The race that put the fifth crown on his head was at the world’s most challenging circuit, the old Nürburgring. At the wheel of an outdated and underpowered Maserati, he beat the best there was at the time.

My wife, Alicia, remembers Fangio from when she was a small girl. Early in his career, Fangio, an Argentinean, competed in South American open road races. The longest and most difficult started at Buenos Aires—at sea level on the Atlantic coast—climbed over the Andes through a 14,000-foot pass, down to Chile on the Pacific coast, north through the Atacama Desert and finished at Lima, capitol of Peru. Alicia was born in and grew up in Lima. She remembers seeing Fangio during the wild celebrations that took place as the cars crossed the finish line.

The post Remembering Fangio appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

Those looking for vintage photographs frequently contact me. During the fifties, my partner, Dick Sherwin, and I published a short-lived magazine called the Sports Car Journal. To cover events, we took many photographs. I have ended up with an archive of hundreds of negatives and have used a number of the images in this column as well as the books I put together. Knowing this, various individuals sometimes contact me asking for photos of certain cars. Some are collectors researching the provenance of a car they have acquired. Others are period drivers, owners and their descendants, or just enthusiasts.

Although I have a modest archive, I’m not in the business of selling photos, nor do I want to be. Writing this column and my books takes all my spare time and energy. So please do not contact me for this purpose.

The post Photo Archives appeared first on Sports Car Digest.

On August 4, 2007, an icon of American racing and my dear friend, John Fitch, turned 90 years old! In this day and age of medical advances plus many of us watching our diets and exercising, 90 is not nearly as unusual as in previous times. John, however has lived a life of achievement and adventure…and still does. At some 15 years younger, I don’t really enjoy walking very far with John because he tires me out. When I called a few weeks ago, he had just finished mowing his lawn.

On August 6, it was my great honor to host his birthday party at my home in Redondo Beach, California. I wish I could have invited all of you, our faithful readers, but as it was, my family was almost in revolt due to the numbers who did come, among them Phil Hill. Davey Jordan’s wife, Norma, brought the cake. Davey was John’s teammate at the 1966 Sebring in Briggs Cunningham’s Porsche 904. Bob Bondurant flew over from Phoenix to give John a copy of his just-published biography, Bob Bondurant, by Phil Henny.

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When Porsche introduced the 4-cam racing engine, it was a sensation. Porsche Spyders with this engine soon dominated their class. The problem was that this power plant was complex and difficult to work on. In the U.S., one man emerged who was acknowledged as a genius with the 4-cam. He was Vasek Polak.

But Polak was a lot more than a mechanic. He built a life that a boy who grew up in Czechoslovakia, ravaged by WWI and then worldwide depression couldn’t have imagined. It turned out to be the American dream.

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