Dan Gurney The All American Victory
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- čas přidán 25. 01. 2017
- The old Speed network stopped by the museum and we surprised David Hobbs with a ride in the Mag-Ti car. This is a look at the 1967 Gurney-Weslake, V12 Eagle & the life of Dan Gurney. Hosted by Bob Varsha with David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and an interview with Dan Gurney.
- Auta a dopravní prostředky
Was at Spa when he won. Top of the hill after au rouge. Waved at us ,we had our air force fatigue's on, motorcycled from Frankfurt. Said he was happy we were there years later. Gentlemen 1st. Class guy. Patriot.
That is so great Burdine! He told me about you guys being there and he was so proud!
There was a fantastic write up in Car and Driver about this race, by Brock Yates. Called "Victory at Spa". Rest in peace Daniel Sexton Gurney. I will always regret never having the chance to meet you, not the least among my small group of heroes.
RIP Brock Yates, too.
I think it is most fitting that Gurney, driving that gorgeous Eagle F1 car won the Belgian GP on the original epic Spa-Francorchamps circuit of all tracks.
I remember this when it aired on Speed, RIP Dan Gurney, and RIP Speed.
One of the most beautiful F1 cars in F1 history.
Not "one of" - it was THE most beautiful F1 car ever.
@@keiths7494 agreed.
Hobbs such a legend. Driving that car around a industrial park. Goes without saying the same for Gurney. Man! I miss Speed channel.
I like how the thumbnail is a homage to the poster of the movie Grand Prix!!!
Bob, Steve and David were the best! The current coverage sucks!!!!!! I swear the current team pops uppers before they hit the air!
Too much has been made of that story about Jim Clark "fearing" Dan Gurney. People need to know the whole story because Gurney told it differently. At Clark's funeral, Clark's father mentioned that Jim had always been wary of Gurney. Gurney replied "Your son wasn't afraid of anyone, Mr Clark". That tells you everything you need to know about Dan Gurney. He was a class act and there's never been anyone like him in Formula One before or since. BTW: I'm not American.
Do you know where you read that? I'm actaully writing a paper for "you most fascinating person", and if that's true, it would make for a great ending
Neither am I and I fully agree with you.
@@MrSourceMan I think he mentioned it in an interview somewhere. I can’t remember when or where I read it. I also read a comment, directly from Gurney himself, that he didn’t know where the Eagle got the “T1G” designation from because he never used it.
Yeah I remember that.
There were two sources that came from - I say “were” because the last time I bought any book about racing was 20yrs ago - so there may have been other items published since then:
1)) the Karl Ludvegsen biography ‘Dan Gurney’ had a brief mention of it. Which makes sense because up until 1999 or 2000, no biography of Dan Gurney had ever been produced prior to that time.
In it Gurney said that the reason he hadn’t mentioned this after all these years was because he didn’t think it was necessary and didn’t want it seen as some sort of embellishment to his career. As humble as Gurney was I could only see this as something that got relayed from him over the years with people he considered as close contacts, eventually spreading to wider circles to where some source in journalism possibly picked this up, and naturally wanted to follow up on it.
Along with other members of the racing fraternity, Dan Gurney attended Clark’s funeral and the family wake at the Clark residence. According to Gurney, Mr. Clark asked if that he could have a moment with him alone. It was then that Mr. Clark disclosed that _”The only driver Jimmy worried about was you.”_ Gurney quite understandably was surprised and politely disagreed with such a notion. Mr. Clark however maintained to Gurney what his son had told him.
Gurney said that he soon afterwards had to excuse himself. Not so much that he was held in such high regard by a competitor and most importantly a friend, but as Gurney put it, _”Here I am with this poor man who just lost his only son and he’s telling me this_ (as if it mattered considering the moment of remembrance that was being exercised). _I had to soon excuse myself because it was overwhelming. And once I got outside to leave - I lost it.”_
2)) the only other source that I’m aware of was from a 2001 edition of _’Windtunnel’_ from the (now defunct) Speedvision Channel. Dan Gurney and Phil Hill were guests with the renowned motorsports journalist and host Dave Despain.
During that interview Gurney was asked about Clark “fearing” him, which DG replied the same as mentioned above in Ludvegsen’s book, except in a bit more detail Gurney said that he responded to Mr. Clark’s claim that _Mr. Clark, Jimmy didn’t didn’t have to worry about anyone.”_ To which Mr. Clark replied, _”Oh yes he did. I know because he told me so.”_
Now it’s almost certain that even in those moderately intense days of the sport that trade secrets were never given away, much less any revelation of respect towards a fellow competitor was provided to create a psychological advantage, but I think that it’s safe to say that Clark regarded Gurney as his fiercest competitor - at least until Jackie Stewart came along. Though I think that the word “fear” is a bit much, and a mellow-dramatic touch brought on by the press.
Clark rarely made mistakes; 1964 Monaco GP he clipped a barrier with his RR wheel at the chicane, the only other mistake that I’m aware of is when JC was feeling pressure from DG during the 1965 ROC (Race of Champions) at Brands Hatch.
*On another interesting note (which is online somewhere)*
During the 1963 Italian GP, which JC won, Clark was being chased by Dan Gurney when he came upon Innes Ireland. I can’t remember if Ireland was being lapped or was still in the mix.
Anyways as Clark was first attempting to pass Ireland - Ireland who was still bitter about his departure from Lotus - decided to lay it on Clark. Unfortunately this early exhibition of dirty driving in the sport and foolishness continued on the next lap as Clark made another attempt to pass Ireland.
Clark reluctantly had to give way to Gurney this time as Gurney had gained momentum during all this nonsense. Unbeknownst to Ireland - with his rear view mirrors vibrating at those speeds - a dark-green machine was once again challenging him. Only this time it was Gurney. 😁
So… slicky-boy thought he’d take another shot at “Clark.” Sure enough he violently moved over on Gurney and ‘Gentleman Dan’ was kind enough to respond accordingly by juking back, nearly making contact with Ireland and putting the fear of God in him. Clark thus saw and seized the opportunity to snatch the lead and held on to it.
Afterwards Clark was explaining to a journalist as to what was going on and was quoted, _”I think Innes must have thought it was me coming up to pass him again when he moved over on Gurney. Well you just don’t do that to Dan Gurney!”_
This race car becomes more interesting, and more handsome, the more I learn about it.
This should be made into a movie about Dan!
I would love to see a movie about Dan's life. He accomplished so much, it would probably have to be a miniseries.
I was lucky enough to attend the "First Annual Riverside Reunion" at the Petersen Museum years ago. It turned out to actually be the ONLY "Reunion" of its type. But get this: at one table was Dan Gurney, Bob Bondurant, Carroll Shelby, Phil Remington, Parnellli Jones and Phil Hill. Table of Champions, anyone? Best autograph table ever, for me.
Wow! Just wow!
How Incredible to be Face to Face, with such Iconic American Racing Legends!!!!
I agree with all but one driver on that list, I competed against him at a vintage event and his true spirit showed and I lost all respect for him.Not Gurney but ran a drivers school
Dan Gurney had a very keen interest in motorcycles. On a couple of occasions I'd see him at motorcycle races...in 1995 he was at Daytona, intently studying John Britten's ingenious V1000 racer. During a MotoGP at Laguna Seca, by coincidence I share a vantage point with him for a practice session. He explained his thoughts in designing the Gurney Alligator motorcycles. In the spring of 2018, not long after Dan's passing, his good friend Eddie Lawson shows up for a wounded veterans benefit ride on his own Eagle-blue Gurney Alligator. That was a fantastic tribute!
Good to hear Varsha's voice again, it's been a while.
Wish Speed channel was still on. As well as Varsha, and the F1 coverage. They did it right. Absolutely HATE Sky coverage and their Hamilton/British bias. Don’t get me wrong, Hamilton is the best driver hands down. But it gets old listening to those wankers in their skinny jeans.
Met him at Newport, Rhode Island where his 1967 Spa-winning Eagle was on display. He was a gentleman and a gracious, classy, humble guy just like everyone says. Feel very fortunate to have met the man.
R.I.P. great Dan !
This video has some of the most revealing parts of the Eagle which are almost impossible to find elsewhere.
Mr Gurney for me was the best USA driver in F1 history.
I totally agree. And while his F1 luck wasn't nearly as bad as Chris Amon's, Gurney had several GP victories snatched by mechanical/logistic problems-- '67 German and '64 Belgian immediately come to mind. 1961-65 he was 2x4th, 2x5th, and 6th in Drivers' Championship, when Clark, Surtees, Brabham, and Hill were at the top of their games. When Clark said he "feared" Gurney, it meant on any given day, DG was the driver whom Jim knew could beat him. As an all-around driver--formula, sports, stock; sprint and endurance--perhaps only Moss exceeded DG's excellence. And personally, he was a class act. He has a prominent position in motor sport's Pantheon.
. I respect your opinion but disagree. I think Phil Hill, who won the F1 world championship in 1961, and also drove in Le mans and the Carrera Panamerica.
@@CatheLeiperPhil Hill also won Le mans in 1958, 1961 and 1962 with Olivier Gendebien.
Than you Revs Institute !!! Absolutely wonderful !
The Collier museum is incredible.
Thanks for the kind words! We changed our name to Revs Institute in 2014 but are are still the home of the incredible cars of the Miles Collier Collection -- plus a few other wonderful cars!
In '67 Hobbs himself raced against the Eagle; in a BRM he ran two races at Silverstone and Mosport, and also in a Lola at the Nürburgring.
Dan and the Eagle actually led the German GP for a good fraction of the race. Since the race took place on the 21km long Nurburgring Nordschliefe .Hobbs was one of the F2 entrants invited to help fill out the field so spectators would have additional cars to see.
Most beautiful F1 car ever.
Love the racing stories. Great show.....Vasha, David "Jeepers"
Hobbs and Matchett are the reason why F1 is my favorite.
I realy miss Speed channel
RIP Dan Gurney
Well...the old saying: "You're never too old to learn..." came true on watching this show about a beautiful car in auto racing history. I love the way it was presented. It is a proud thing to see an All-American racing car be a success.
Of Dan Gurney's corporation developing the Eagles, my absolute favorite when it came out is the 1975 Indy 500 winning car. Though it was a '74 model, it sure looked sharp in '75 in that beautiful blue color. I was there at Indy for that race.
Another favorite (actually 2nd favorite of mine) is the 1969 Eagle. Dan had an interview back in May, 1969 about his Eagles on Indianapolis TV station WFBM Channel 6. His main interviewer: the famous Tom Carnegie. Also, another sportscaster on that station named John Totten was in that show, which did a half hour on Gurney, and the other half hour on A.J. Foyt, Jr. I audio recorded via reel - reel tape recording with a mike in front of the TV set.
When will you post this priceless interview? I had Dan Gurney's World of Racing on LP but played it to death over the intervening decades. He would have made a grand President
@@madjackmcmad2226 Yes, he would have. Solid individual.
Disappointed as an original AAR supporter that nothing was mentioned of the grassroots backing that supported the AAR team efforts. I still have that poster that is shown commemorating that spectacular win. I have my membership card and jacket patch that were sent to the supporters.
Dan the Man.
Fantastic. So happy that I found this!
Dan had a good sense of humour.
In 1962, at Rouen Les Essarts, Clark and others pilots hided the Porsche steering wheel. the wheel was removable. So Dan was unable to drive his car !
Pleasant joke ! Did your dad tell you this story ?
He won this race, as you know, in a brilliant manner. First win for Porsche in F1.
At indy 500, he drived the Mickey Thomson special, a rear engined car. One year after Brabham's Cooper (1961) and one year before Lotus (1963).
If he had gone with the Cosworth DFV he would have won a ton more races.
Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren and Dan Gurney all won F1 races in cars they designed and constructed. Brabham won the F1 championship in 59, 60 and 66.
American, the others are not Americans
Dan .. The Eagle
I miss SPEED channel so much. I never liked NASCAR much so it was nice to have a channel for road racing. Only to have NASCRAP take it over and destroying it.
Destroying it how? Bill France saved IMSA, like it or not. Perhaps you should figure out how to make a successful business plan for road racing in America?
A year prior at the Belgian grand prix Gurney had to stop out on the track during the wet and miserable race because he had to take a leak :)
Beautiful car - but (being picky), the car was designed and built in the UK (Len Terry designed), and the Weslake engine was designed and built in Rye, Kent. Never mind - Gurney was the only driver Jim Clark was afraid of - in terms of his speed - as Clark's father related to Gurney at Clark's funeral. Tears flowed. Utterly good guy - I was lucky to see him at the first FOS at Goodwood.
Hi Morgan, Thanks for your reply and thoughts on my Dad. I always love reading people's comments and their thoughts on Dad and how he raced and conducted himself. Just to clarify the F1 Eagle was designed and built at All American Racers in Santa Ana, CA. USA. There is no debate on this. It is a fact.
Hello Justin, I stand (partly) corrected, although Terry was the designer (you can see similarities to the Lotus 38 USAC car that won the '65 500 - both beautiful machines). I nearly met your Dad at one of the Goodwood Festivals of Speed - but as he was deep in conversation with Mario Andretti, with the likes of Jim Hall, Stirling Moss, Derek Bell, and Murray Walker all around, I just looked on in awe. But I DID see him win at Brands in '67 (Race of Champions). A different age, and different standards - but so so dangerous.
@@justingurney8692 good to have that clear, much thanks!
Weslake was based in Rye Harbour in East Sussex.
@@kevinjuden9568 - 2.4 miles away - yes I was wrong putting Kent.
A car with so much potential if it had been sorted properly and stunningly beautiful.
In 1967 the only car with more potential was the Lotus 49. The difference was thatGurney, unlike Colin Chapman or Jack Brabham, didn't make a business of selling cars. That came later. That meant he didn't have the necessary funds to make the Weslake more reliable. The chassis was a good one but a bit on the heavy side (because the engine was not a fully stressed member like the 49) and didn't have the manoeuvrability of the 49. You might observe also that it has the refuelling ports for an Indy chassis so it was not really optimal for F1. BUT - and it's a big but - it was quite stiff and handled well, particularly on fast circuits like Monza and Spa. What a lot of people don't realise is that Gurney was leading the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring when a $2 part failed with two laps to go, handing the victory to Denny Hulme. According to Autocourse 1967, both the Lotus 49 and the Eagle were good for 200 mph at places like Spa. So the Eagle was actually a pretty good all-rounder.
It had a lot of potential but would have required a much larger team to extract much more performance from it. By 1968, the chassis was starting to show its age a bit. If they had been able to raise the funds, they would have tried something like a chassis with the engine as a fully stressed member but the Weslake was unsuitable for that so they would probably have gone with the Ford Cosworth DFV.
@Flame Resistant Troll Thanks. Unfortunately he only lasted four laps. For sure, the car was well suited to the track and Gurney was a very smooth and precise driver whose style was well suited to the high speeds of Monza, where smoothness and not scrubbing off speed are critical. But even he would have been hard pressed to top Jim Clark in that race. It was the stuff of legend.
database.motorsportmagazine.com/database/races/1967-italian-grand-prix
@Flame Resistant Troll My pleasure. I am not American but there has never been any doubt in my mind about the esteem in which he was held by both drivers and fans alike. His tally of Grand Prix wins is perhaps not truly reflective of his talent. With Cosworth power and a purpose-built chassis in 1968, he would definitely have been a title contender. But for better reliability, he'd have been a World Championship front runner with Brabham in 1964.
Flame Resistant Troll You too mate.
He picked the wrong engine. should have gone Cosworth DFV
Best looking 1960's Formula 1 car?
It just pips the Lotus 33
Lotus 33 for me.
1967 i was born
Engine was British - westlake also famous for motorcycle engines .
"Weslake" not "Westlake".
Aubrey Woods (BRM) designed the V12 ?
Aubrey Woods designed also the V12 BRM.
the V12 Matra and V12 BRM are very close
When Lotus won Indy 500 in 1965, Chapman said to Terry "there is a problem in the factory. You have to jump in your plane at once and fixed it "
Of course, nothing went wrong in Norwich.
Chapman dislikes Terry and wanted the glory for himself and Clark. He just wanted Terry away.
I have read that Gurney felt that his engine was down in power but he didn't know why.
He discovered that some repairs were made with araldite or something like that. not a very professional manner.
So he became angry, very, very angry. he flew in a temper.
I don't know if this story is true or not..
Perhaps Justin has some information about it.
Torture to have to be stuck in a parking lot...
Oh to run it at Goodwood!!!
All-American? In fact, didn't Gurney re-name the F1 effort "Anglo-American Racers" in recognition of the major British involvement. British designer Len Terry, and engine by Harry Weslake. The initial chassis fabrication may have been done in California, but the F1 effort was hardly All-American. After renting space from Weslake at Rye, Sussex, England as a base, the team outgrew the building and moved to a new facility in Ashfird, Kent, about fifteen miles away. When America needs racing cars they call on Britain - AC (Cobra), Lola (GT40 and Indy), Mclaren (Can-Am and Indy) Lotus, Mallock (Saleen), Reynard, Cosworth, etc. And, Penske had a manufacturing facility in Poole, Dorset for about thirty years. Rule Brtiannia!
I believe the car was actually built in the UK.
Most F1 cars are & back to the 1950’s were . That’s where all the expertise was. Guys moved between teams,, still do. A lot of technicians etc came from the aircraft industry. There maybe 20 people involved in a team , Jim Clark had 1 mechanic.
Hi WIlliam, just to clarify the car was designed and built in Santa Ana, California in the USA.
@@justingurney8692 you forget Len Terry, my friend
@@DL-ls5sy What do you mean I forgot him, my friend.
@@justingurney8692 Sorry ! I apologized ! I am french and don't speak english very well.
You don't forgot him (11 mn and so on) for sure
A great guy !
Weslake engines are British.
liar liarliar And the car was designed by Englishman Len Terry in the UK, and built in the UK that is why the team were called Anglo American Racers. Terry's chassis design was a natural extension of his Lotus 38 design that gave Him Clark his Indy 500 win in 1965.
"Sway bar" ......... .
And the weak link, in as much as it was underdeveloped.
@@andrewwmacfadyen6958 just to clarify the car was designed and built in the United States. Yes Len Terry was the designer working out of the drawing office in Santa Ana, California. AAR was and is more than capable of building just about anything. The car was also built by very skilled fabricators and machinists right here at AAR and not in the UK.
Why don't we have a US F-1 team now?
We do. The Haas Formula 1 team.
The F1 Team was known as Anglo-American Racers. Nice feature though of one of the most beautiful F1 cars ever made. Certainly puts the aero focused garbage of the last decade and a half to shame.
not quite all American
Very true! British designer, Len Terry, British Weslake engine, and British Hewland gearbox...
Yes Len Terry detailed it all in his book it was a continuation of his work at Lotus and had the Weslake v12 more money spent on it Cosworth would have had more competition --- not to distract from Dan Gurney a great man both as driver's driver and a man.
Yeah, please remember "Anglo-American Racers". Now please return to your seats.
"All American" - apart from the chassis: designed by an Englishman, Tony Southgate; the engine: designed by an Englishman, Aubrey Woods and built by an Englishman, Harry Westlake; the gear box from the oh so English company, Hewland...perhaps the cup holders were American?
Yes designed by an Englishman but not Tony Southgate but Len Terry it was really an evolution of Terry's Lotus Indy cars Later Terry designed a F1 car for BRM that was further developed by Tony Southgate
@@andrewwmacfadyen6958 Can confirm: the designer was definitely Len Terry. The fuel filler caps on the side of the monocoque show its Indy heritage. The engine was originally designed by Aubrey Woods from BRM and while they rejected it, Weslake, a combustion chamber specialist, thought it was good enough to persist with. It was a relatively advanced design - cross flow heads with four valves per cylinder and fuel injection - it was a not a structural member, like the Cosworth DFV. That meant there would be extra weight in the chassis because it needed structural sponsons to support it.
The original name for the team was "Anglo-American Racers", which later morphed into "All American Racers" when Gurney finally ended his Formula 1 activities.
I am sorry to chime in here but the car was designed and built in the United States. Anything else you have heard or read is what I would call complete rubbish.
Dan left Ferrari to much politic still today back stabbing Enquire F1 team
Yes it is a "unique" piece of motor racing history, in that it happened once, one race, on one day many years ago. And of course like everything else coming out of the USA it was a magnificent achievement, was called "All American" and "Eagle", and was the best race ever, drawing the most crowds the like of which will never be seen again! Yea, pull the other one! Make America Great Again? When was it ever great? The US has been involved in armed conflict somewhere in the world for almost all of it's life and it's about time that it drew in it's neck.
The Whole WORLD owes The United States of America for saving the world in W.W.ll. So piss off.
burdine estep except of course the US was late to that war by two years and four months, as it was to the First World War. If it had declared war sooner then it may, and I stress the word “may” have been able to consider being able to claim to be the worlds saviour as you suggest it was. You sir, need to go f@#k yourself. Have a nice day!
Another interesting video ruined by music intended to keep it interesting.
Yes, many too loud music intrusions! Victory By Design got it ABSOLUTLY right, NO MUSIC just the music of the car itself!!!
Terence Lewis , close minded and very rude person.
Yeeeeaaahhhh..... Actually the car was designed in Britain, built in Britain, powered by a British engine and run by a British team. Only the name and the money was American.
TheNecromancer6666 And the driver. But yeah. I mean the F1 venture was called Anglo American Racing at least
@@Tom_Hadler I think an American driver who is any good deserves to be an honorary European. Decent American drivers are a rare gem. Though my suspicion is that American racing series just dont teach the skills as eurpean feeder series do. There is certainly the talent there....
Since Dad isn't here to defend himself it is up to me to not let people rewrite history when it comes to this topic. The Spa winning Eagle was designed and built in Santa Ana, California at All American Racers. Anyone who says different just doesn't know. Anglo American Racers as you call it was a shop in England where the team ran out of when in Europe. What were they supposed to do fly home after every race? You also say only the name and money was American. That is obviously not true as stated above. I see you left the driver out too. In case you were wondering he was American as well.
@@justingurney8692 thanks for setting the record straight. Volunteering at the Revs, I have the honor of discussing the Gurney Eagle on display. The automobile racing world is so much better and more interesting as result of your father’s efforts.
@@justingurney8692 Thank You! SO many experts!
The patriotic crap in Formula 1 is so stupid. The sport is so much more interesting and the stories more compelling when it gets beyond the flags and stereotypes and is about the men and the cars, and if politics are included at all, the politics that actually matter, among the sponsors and in the shops.