For one magical day, the venerable Petersen Automotive Museum felt like a frat house on Homecoming Weekend. A bunch of the old brothers came back to swap tales of the Glory Days. Guys with names like Bondurant, Guldstrand, Jeffords and Fitch. Hard-core, old school racers who took an ill handling, underpowered two-seater and developed it into an American racing icon.
That transformation didn’t come easily. GM management in the mid-fifties and early sixties was typified by strong-willed men with independant agendas. For every Big Wig who championed racing, there was one eager to squelch it. To make matters worse, in 1957 GM joined the other major manufacturers to ban factory racing support. Although the ban was erratically enforced — and arguably facilitated racing development programs through secret, “back door” efforts — the fact remains that the early days of Corvette racing were frustrating and difficult.
Testimony to those difficulties was given by John Fitch. At 91, Fitch is one of the few remaining elder statesmen of the entire sport, let alone Corvette racing. In early 1956, recently returned from his stint with the fabled Mercedes-Benz factory team, Fitch was tapped by Chevrolet Chief Engineer Ed Cole to prep a field of four Corvettes for the 12 Hours of Sebring. By the time Fitch signed on, race day was just 5 weeks away. Corvette “Godfather” Zora Arkus-Duntov had already turned down the assignment, claiming it couldn’t be done that quickly.
“To give you an idea of what we were up against,” said Fitch, “the cars had stock wheels which literally broke away from their hubs and flew off the cars at high speeds. And we had to compete with Ferraris, Jaguars, Aston Martins … cars with years of racing development. Looking back, it’s a miracle we finished at all.” Yet two of Fitch’s Corvettes not only finished, but took first in class. Plus, they were awarded the overall team prize. And with that, Corvette’s racing dynasty was officially under way.
Under the able orchestration of moderator Tim Considine, the drivers shared both memories and secrets. Bob Bondurant, who won 18 out of 20 races in 1959, recalled that aggressive driving and crowded fields caused so much fiberglass carnage that the only way he could afford to race a Corvette was by having a body shop sponsor him, noting with a wink that “every time a panel was replaced, it was somehow lighter than the one I started the race with.”
Corvette Hall of Famer Dick Guldstrand revealed Duntov’s tip about nursing brakes at LeMans. “At the end of the Mulsanne Straight, there’s a bump. Zora told me that after I hit it, I should lift long enough to say ‘Tondelea Schwartzkopf’ before braking. I’m still not sure who Tondelea was, but that little pause was enough to make the brakes last longer.” Gulstrand also related what it was like to drive the Red, White and Blue 7 liter beast from Orly airport to the track through the cheering crowds, exhaust belching from the open side pipe headers. Tony DeLorenzo, Bill Krause, Andy Porterfield, and Doug Hooper were among the others who contributed similar memories.
Some of the stories had little to do with racing per se, but lots to do with the colorful race scene of the time. Jim Jeffords told a tale involving vacationing nurses, Zora Arkus-Duntov and the back seat of a VW bug. There was also something about hookers in Cuba and statuesque trophy girls. And someone finally set the record straight about how Bondurant earned the nickname “Matinee Bob,” (it had nothing to do with going to the movies).
The evening was capped by GM Racing Manager Doug Fehan, who spearheaded the return to open factory support for Corvette racing the late ‘90s and has guided the team to eight straight ALMS victories. After adding some first-hand recollections of his own, Fehan made a point that underscored the tremendous accomplishments of Corvette’s early racing pioneers. “Today, we have multi-million dollar budgets multi-year development programs. These guys had virtually no corporate support and were expected to get production cars race-ready in a handful of weeks. They are truly the heroes of Corvette racing.”
The applause that followed was straight from the heart.
TRIBUTE GUESTS
Bob Bondurant Tony DeLorenzo Bob D’Olivio John Fitch Joe Freitas Lou Gigliotti (current driver) Dick Gulstrand Doug Hooper Gib Hufstader Jim Jeffords Davey Jordan Bill Krause Scooter Patrick Bill Pollack Andy Porterfield Paul Reinhart Sherry MacDonald (Dave’s widow).
CARS ON DISPLAY
On display were a number of significant racing Corvettes, including:
Rich and Shar Mason’s ’56 SR-2 Loren Lundberg’s 1960 Camoradi LeMans team car Bruce Meyer’s ’60 Cunningham LeMans team car Larry Bowman’s ’63 Grand Sport Jim Mangione’s ’63 ZO-6 Paul Andrew’s ’62 Gulf Oil team car Vic Edelbrock, Jr.’s ’63 ZO-6 Tom McIntyre’s ’63 427 Mark ll “Mystery Motor” engine.
