The Story of The Whittington Brothers
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- čas přidán 6. 12. 2017
- John Ficarra has researched a lot of cars but getting the whole story on one Kremer K3 led him down a very interesting rabbit hole of understanding the back story of the Whittington Brothers.
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Man, their story really needs to be a movie lol
The Whittingtons ought to finance it :p that'd be a perfect footnote.
Although their story doesn't ever appear to have stopped happening...
It needs to be a movie narrated by Ed, John and Rabbit!
why isnt this a film yet?!
im thinking taladega nights meets blow
I would watch the shit out of that movie
Ryan Johnson I agree
This is the kind of stuff you can't find anywhere else on CZcams. Thanks VINwiki!
But it was common knowledge back in the day. Same with Billie Harvey, and a few other Florida residents that were either in the boat or airplane business.
Check this out, same story but earlier upload. czcams.com/video/OqoUXH_cLtQ/video.html
this is the kind of shit you can find anywhere in the world, bullshitting is regular practice everywhere
@@ShrinkWrapping : i was working for the indy car manufacturer that they bought their cars from, and they always paid in cash - no bullshit.
At that time, you also did not stay around the Sebring airport track after 5pm if it wasn't a race weekend - low-flying, unlit airplanes running drugs landing after dark was normal there.
"they were great drivers, so they bought road atlanta"
Fucking legends
.
Old racing stories are the best. Thanks for coming by to tell this one John!
They were working for the U.S. government at the same time as running drugs. Gotta be an interesting life
This dude was a kid back then, what the fuck does he know about these fucking stories, fucking acting as if he was there.
ThunderAppeal as a kid I followed the story in Auto Week.
There are kids out there who actually grow up in and around racing.
i was lucky and worked on the Yellow car at 3 Races...Daytona , Sebring, and Road Atlanta.....at the first race in Daytona....crew chief......said...ummm yea..
when Don or Bill walk away ..... best not to ask them where they are going : (
You might want to do your research first and find out who "this dude" actually is...
What...the...hell. This has to be the craziest story ever put on this channel! Incredible!
Let's hope they put up Randy Lanier's story then. That'll really blow your mind.
This was barely scratching the surface of the bother's exploits.
why hasn't anyone made a movie about these guys?!?!?! the story has got literally everything you could want in a movie lol
...and the Whittingtons aren't event the most interesting IMSA guys. Check out John Paul Sr. and John Paul Jr.
I didn't know the Pope raced! LOL
Including the jail time, ruined racing careers (John Paul) ......?
American Made...
Yes, it has unbelivable story involving drugs, money, women, fast cars, crazy people - what else could you want for a movie script?
It is stories like this that make me so excited to see Netflix and Amazon cranking out movies. The more production houses we have working on stuff, the more things like this can actually get made.
You say that like any of the movies Netflix pumps out are decent
either it would have a lot of questionable pornographic scenes in it or they would make a series out of this with like 100 episodes
@phxxr650r netflix and amazon both produce/finance their own content. Amazon has stuff like the grand tour while netflix has stuff like orange is the new black
John needs to write the screenplay!
Make it happen Ed....if anyone can u can..... work ur magic.....this needs to be a movie for sure
"Decided to become sports car racers, because why not?"
This is why I love VinWiki, cause I can get home from work, kick back, crack open a cold one, and listen to some great stories.
Tito Jesusmane perfect bro!
The old important export business pays well. That hole, we did the same thing qualifying for the Daytona 500. I won’t say the team because they are big. But back in the day when you could qualify on a different motor. Well we had it setup so nitrous sprayed out of a pop rivet on the fire wall right into the air cleaner. We sat on the pole with that setup.
No kidding! Lol. What year range? Not to give away to much
You forgot the story about Le Mans ‘79 when their k3 kept throwing drive belts, Ludwig stuck out at mulsanne corner was sent some “sandwiches” which had the drive belts hidden in the bag. Klaus intern rigged the belt and limped it back to the pits where it was properly fixed... classic
Completely made up story.
@@deggis4 Not sure. Another version is he jury rigged the broken belt with a toothless alternator belt. I dont know which version to doubt more.
@@deildegast When there are multiple versions of a story it is usually a sign that it is untrue.
Those were the days! Still remember when they flew two of their P51 Mustangs over Donnybrooke (now Brainerd), put on a low level acrobatic show and then landed on the main straight. We were there testing and the paddock ran to the fence because it was one of those WTF moments. The majority of racers then already knew they were flying pot. Heck, John Paul Sr. listed his occupation on his registration as "exotic plant importer"
Landing their p51’s on the main straight holy shit!
Another great morning of content from the only channel where I find myself watching videos all the way through. This guy is good.
I have never heard of John Ficarra before in my life but after this single 10 minute CZcams video I am planning to follow this guy forever. Awesome friggin' interview. I mean, DAMN! Beautifully told John!!
SAME
Doug and Ed are not even close to being as good as John
This guy knows how to tell a story. One of the better people on here.
Btw.. I like this guy, another great story teller!
Never knew this one glad to hear such a cool story
Holy cow!!! I don't believe my ears but those guys are my damn heros lol. This is the best story that I have ever heard of. Vinwiki keep the good stories coming and man do I love this channel.
They weren't "heroes". They were criminals. There's a difference, really.
@@caribman10 Yeah, no joke. Scumbags, through and through.
Imagime describing drug traffickers as "heros".
Yes hero drug trafficers, way to go
these are the type of videos that pop up in your home feed, and you keep clicking them and passing hella time
This story explains why I had to work so hard to be anywhere near competitive in the early '70s IMSA GT races.
You weren't dealing weed then haha, did you know the whittingtons?? or have any good stories/memories about the era??
I come back to watch this video at least once a month. Legendary
1.Klaus Ludwig's a legend in Europe,who's won touring cars,as well as LeMans twice.2.This was an era that IMSA may want to forget.The Whittingtons,along with the John Pauls,were in jail during this time.
Were the John Pauls into something illegal? I remember rumors of the Whittington's funding at the time.
Who owned interscope?
@@theawsomekicker Ted Field.
@@epistte Sr served 15 years for drug trafficking and shooting a Federal witness. He was wanted for questioning in the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend when he disappeared in 2001. Jr was convicted of drug charges and served time for racketeering.
@@epistte The John Pauls were using there transporters to traffic drugs across the country as they toured the IMSA race series
6 dislike. Friggin Jag owners. Seriously, these stories are gold value. Thank you to all for sharing.
Best VINwiki video I have watched and I have watched almost all of them.
I can't help but imagine this as a 'drunk history' episode...
I want more stories from this guy
This guy just seems legendary. Can't wait for more of his.
Best story yet
I have watched this episode more times than i count!!!! By far my favorite story!
This is hands down one of the most interesting and well told stories I've heard in quite some time. Thank you John and VINwiki!
You guys need more of this upstanding gentleman telling crazy stories.
Amazing channel, why has it taken so long for me to find this place?!
We are glad you found us
This story needs to be expanded. Reminds me of the Wolf of Wall Street or something crazy like that. WE DEFINITELY A MOVIE.
I've watched this upload about twenty times and every time I just want to crack a can of beer and listen too this dude.
Those were the days! Road Atlanta with The Wittington Brothers, Danny "On-The-Gas" Ongais, Hurly Haywood, Al Holbert, Peter Greg, David Hobbs, Klaus Ludwig ....you could just go on and on and on. All of them, great drivers.
The Whittington Bros. sound like the literal definition of not giving a shit.
Hahaha, your comment made me notice something... The url of this video ends with "0qFuk", it needs to be "0Fukg" for 0 fucks given by the Whittington bros. =]
I saw that exact car at the Petersen Automotive Museum when I was in California 2 weeks ago! I just thought it was a good looking Le Mans Porsche but never thought it had history like that! Awesome vid!
Am i the only one imagining a movie about the Whittington Brothers directed by Guy Ritchie?
I was thinking Quentin Tarentino, but I think this needs to be made, definitely.
or the guys who did RUSH , the aesthetics were on point
That is a movie I would love to see!!!
Awesome story. Btw though, the 935 was not the 'last production car to win LeMans'. I seem to remember the entire GT1 era... especially the McLaren F1.
He probably didn’t count it because the F1 was basically designed as a street legal race car compared to the 935 which was a street car modified for racing
@@tomstratman9977the McLaren F1 was never designed to be a racecar, it's an absolute roadcar........ Actually Gordon absolutely didn't like the F1 going into racing, they bugged him to make the GTR version.....
Those back wheels at 3:06 are doing something mighty to my soul
Big Jones I actually paused the video there to take a better look because they caught my eye too. Some serious racing hardware there. 👍
I think these are BBS E57
This channel never fails and bringing great stories to the public cant get enough of this stuff THANK U VINWIKI
I’ve gotten up close to the P-63F they flew, you can still see it flying around at airshows around Houston Texas, very cool aircraft and a one of a kind. Their aircraft collection was insane with four P-51s (including a rare but insanely fast H model and the legendary P-51 Precious Metal), two F8Fs (the best prop fighters ever made), and two P-63 Kingcobras (both of which still fly).
I’ve been up close to their P-63F, stunning aircraft
This is such a great story, i've listened to it 10 times now
I would love to hear some stories from people who knew Smokey Yunick back in the day.
One of the craziest, coolest stories I've heard in a while. Great video!
This was easily one of the best stories told here yet. Simply awesome.
Wow. I would love to see this in the big screen. It's like Blow but with racecars.
This guy, always beer in hand, always with the best stories !
More of this, please. Keep up the good work finding these people.
This channel has the best stories on CZcams hands down
Last production based car to win was the McLaren F1 GTR in 1995
This one crazy ass story!!!! I love it
he was pretty spot on; about Road Atlanta and the Whittingtons, but failed to mention Randy Lanier, T-bird Swap shops, JLP Racing, Peter Gregg 59 etc as a lot of them, were into "Transportation" too. Camel Gt & Winston for one year, but great racing! and a good story too; painted with a pretty broad brush . . .
Wow, VIN Wiki!! You guys are finally getting up there.Been subscribed since the Mclaren maintenance video and loving every moment since!!
Next you should tell the story of John Paul Sr. & John Paul Jr.
@siralanlordsugar Randy Lanier got caught and was sentenced to life but was released recently.
WOW!!! I feel like John just handed me the keys! What a story!!
This guy is my second favorite behind rabbit. These two are the best
This is the first VINwiki segment I ever watched and it hooked me immediately. I had to come back a year later and watch it again. Awesome story and they do need to make a movie about them.
Still one of my best race care stories. I wish I was there to see it all!
Another chapter I'm sure that IMSA would like to forget is Andy Evans.He owned IMSA for a while,and fixed the 1997 race so that he would win it.
I remember Don doing an excellent job designing the racing semi trailer that two cars could be driven in, automatically lift up and two more could be loaded in. It was powered by multiple wenches with separate control switches.
Yes, "multiple wenches" are a feature of many car races, have you seen the grid girls? (Or was wenches a typo?)
Those stories, which I’ve heard since the early 80’s is what makes the brothers legendary!
Keep John Ficarra coming back!!
This is awesome! I raced with the Whittingtons youngest son in karting a few years ago! Great story, guys are Crazy!
Yeah they are honestly just normal guys. We all raced for a team called Pure Karting, running the Tony Kart Chassis in S1 and S2. Jr Whittington definitely had some nice stuff, they were even nice enough to loan me one of their backup motors when I couldn't afford to get a motor that would let me run in the front of the pack.
Yeah, the Whittingtons, they always had the coolest planes over in their hanged. My father and I jumped the fence to go take a closeup look at a P38 Lightning they had there one night.
I keep on coming back to this story, it's so good!
This was amazing. 😂
RIP Bill Whittington. For those who didn't know, he was killed in a plane crash near Winslow, AZ on 4/23/2021. Thanks for the amazing stories Bill and of course John for sharing them.
End of a legend
A repeat-offender criminal died. Boo-f'ing-hoo.
@@deggis4 His "awful crime" was marijuana smuggling. Fast forward to 2021 and 39/50 states in the US have either decriminalized, allow medical, or fully legalized marijuana.
But please continue to type edgy comments on the internet if it makes you feel better.
@@KanjoNights Good point because illegally smuggling "just pot" from another country and then laundering the profits is the same thing as legally manufacturing and distributing it now under many many constraints.
Convicted for drug smuggling and tax evasion in the 80s and convicted again for tax fraud in 2018. Additionally their aircraft leasing company was part of a cocaine smuggling investigation in 2013.
John Ficarra is an amazing storyteller. I knew a little about the Whittington Brothers....but this stuff is incredible.
One of the greatest stories ever told. Hats off to you John. And the 935 was the greatest works of art to come out of Stuttgart.
Awesome story! Great channel
I actually knew Don and Bill Whittington. Your story is 100% accurate. I could tell you some other wild things that is so crazy people think it's BS.
Your uploads are absolutely excellent....thanks for the info.
Crazy to see this mini-documentary. Great job! I thought I'd add more details to this crazy story that I experienced as a teenager working for Don Whittington @ World Jet, Inc. in 1988.
I was a teenager and worked for Don @ World Jet, Inc. in 1988. He had given me a job after I rode my BMX bike around FXE perimeter applying at every private aviation firm to refuel and handle a/c. After having rode my bike around the FXE perimeter the second time and applying @ World Jet a second time in a week, Don appreciated my tenacity and hired me. I couldn't believe it. I was working at perhaps the largest FBO on FXE(took the entire NE corner of the FXE property). He had a few old warbirds. A Grumman F5F Bearcat that he used to buzz the World Jet hangars at low altitude after take-off, a beautiful F-4U Corsair and was planning to build a P-51 Precious Metal(N6WJ) for the upcoming race in Reno later in September.
After I was there a few months refueling, moving and washing a/c he asked if had me assist in restoring a Fairchild C-123K. He showed me how to use a sand blaster, handed me a respirator, a set of coveralls and directed me to climb into the tail section to blast the primer/paint from the inside. It was a hot summer June day in Ft. Lauderdale so you can imagine how comfortable that wasn't. After a few days doing that he had me to get to work on Precious Metal(N6WJ), the P-51 mentioned above. I couldn't believe it. I was going to work on building a P-51 from the airframe up for Reno. After a brief tutorial on shaping and buffing sheet metal, I got to work shaping the sheet metal and after it was mounted to airframe I had to buff until she was a shiny beautiful chrome. A Counter Rotating Rolls Royce Griffon engine was mounted along with custom canopy he had designed. He was a great pilot and loved speed. The sounds of those old warbirds were amazing.
In addition to his personal toys above I would also handle a few a/c owned by famous people. A Gulfstream 3(N768J) owned by Julio Iglesias, a King Air owned by Oral Roberts and a couple other multi-engines for some 80s big hair bands. Just before the 4th of July we were installing a navigation system in the G3 similar to what is on the back seat commercial a/c these days, perhaps 1st of it's kind. I was offered to participate in a test flight to Orlando to make sure it worked for an upcoming flight that would host Julio and Elizabeth Taylor. Julio was hosting Liz Taylor at his Miami residence for the 4th of July Weekend. Once I found this out I offered to stay late at the end of a week. I had already put over 60 hours in and thought I could push it to 80 and get 40 hours of time and a half. As a teenager this would be huge money and most I had ever mad by that age. Unfortunately, I passed out late in the FBO and woke up to the plane in front thinking I had missed them. They actually flew to Tamiami dropped them off and the pilot flew plane back to FXE.
Oh well, I missed Julio and Liz but at least I'd get my big payday w/40h of time and a half, I thought. However, When I got my check I was only paid 80 hours at regular hourly rate(I was pissed, he had stiffed me ~$1300, even though he had these million dollar warbirds and perhaps the largest FBO at FXE). I went to his office upstairs and told him he owed me time and a half for the 40 hours over. He look at me and said "I don't pay time and a half". Knowing he had just completed his stint in prison after pleading guilty for charges related to his trafficking, I threatened to contact the Labor Bureau. He calmly opened his 3-ring check binder, wrote me a check and said "Son, you've been a great employee but you now have to go". So I took my check, told him whatever and walked out the door. It was so crazy to work there and I'm happy I did because it has provided me a great story to share over a beer through the years.
In closing, I never got the chance to see Precious Metal race because of the overtime pay issue. At Reno he flew Precious Metal to the highest qualifying speed at the time (453mph), as was mentioned in the video and would later have to land her on the belly due to engine failure.
And now in the words of the great Paul Harvey, "That's the rest of the story"
That's a great "rest of the story!"
We NEED the Whittington brothers on VINwiki ASAP!
Just when you thought the world of sports car racing was perfectly legitimate...no wait.
One of their Porsches was discovered in an old aircraft hangar in South Florida. It ran for the first time in decades at the historic 24 at Daytona in 2020.
Amazing. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable in motorsports and I've NEVER heard this much in-depth about these guys, subscribed :)
Excellent content!
I think Ficarra is remembering Indy 1982 when Cogan, middle of the starting line sent his car careening into Andretti and Foyt less than a hundred yards before the green flag dropped, lap one.
This is my favourite racing Porsch 935 -really glad you did the video with background story. There are some videos on CZcams with Ludwig driving a 935 - he knows how to drive these motors - they never come off boost and to give you an example I think he starts dead last on a historic race a few years back - can’t be bothered to qualify - 1 - 2 laps he hits the front - in car footage unbelievable.
Late to the show as usual, I’m just discovering this channel. What a GREAT storyteller, and what an amazing story! Movie is a must.
I'm sure that this is an episode of its history that IMSA would rather not talk about.
1:09 imagine seeing that on a drive
Yup. Totally deserves a movie.
Between these guys and John Paul, Jr. and Sr. Good times!
Unless your the federal witness that John Paul Sr shot five times.
John Paul, Sr. was not a nice man. He was a serious POS.
I'm sure if we dug into all the teams funded with drug money, we'll find they're probably not even the worst of them.
Finding out how the sausage is made screws it up for everyone, but during my blissfully ignorant teenage years, I really enjoyed the racing.
Now there should be an version of the IMSA acronym for trust funds rather than drugs. Too early for me to think of one.
P WrightisRight International. Millionaire. Sons. Association
Nice
Independent Money Spenders Association
Inherited Money Spend At-track
Inherited Money Squandered At-track
Love you John.
This is such an amazing story, Love it! John told it really well also.
My brother had this car in 1:24 when we were kids. Loved taht model. He's owned 3 real porsches since then. Gets in your blood.
Chip Ganassi has sadly confirmed that Bill Whittingdon died on 23 April this year in a plane crash.
This is one of the best stories yet, sorry Ed :P
We agree!
Try Tony Parravano. Or better yet, Lance Reventlow.
One of the best stories on this channel
Saw one of the Whittington brothers at Sebring , vintage racing a Jagermeister 935.
I generally thought this video interesting but having been a crew member of this racing team during part of the 1978 as well as the 1979 and 1980 seasons I must note that some elements of this account are fictional. I will point out two of them here: First, unless it happened sometime after I left the team in May 1980, we never used nitrous oxide injection on the these 935s. I do recall that we once used water injection, rerouting a line from the windshield washer fluid reservoir, to spray a mist into the engine air cooling fan, but this was not an infraction of IMSA rules. Otherwise, we did use technology extensively to improve the original Porsche design, for example, we replaced all of the water and oil cooling lines with aircraft quality steel braid covered hoses and aircraft-type quick disconnect fittings. This allowed us to replace a complete engine and transmission assembly in about twenty minutes during a race! Secondly, the story about the team car transport truck being publically inaccessible because it was full of contraband is totally false. That carrier (we only had one) was accessible at every race track and its interior, usually carrying three to four vehicles, spare parts, tools etc., was seen by thousands of fans.
VinWiki New Video = Excitement.
Best story teller on the internet
I love these stories! I really enjoy the historical back in the day experiences of the 70'-90's takes. It seems like each vlog should be stretched out and made into a movie...🤔
What's your choice of beverage? I've seen you hold that can before
Local Terrapin Brewing Company IPA. Obviously we shot several of these in one sitting.