THE MUSCLE BOYS, PART IX: BOB BONDURANT.

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. Editor-in-Chief's Note: We lost another of the great ones over the weekend: Bob Bondurant passed away at the age of 88 last Friday (November 12, 2021). Bob started racing bikes in his early 20s, but transitioned to four wheels at the age of 23. From the age of 23 to 34, Bob became one of the most successful racing car drivers in the world. He won SCCA National Championships in Corvettes, winning 30 out of 32 races from 1961 to 1963. But he was best known for his affiliation with Carroll Shelby and the Shelby American Cobras. Bob was the first and only American to bring the World SportsCar Championship trophy home to America, driving the legendary Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe to many memorable wins in Europe, including fourth overall and first in GT5.0 in the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, co-driving with Dan Gurney. He then drove for Ferrari in World Championship Sports Car prototype racing and in F1. He even raced in the Baja 500. Bondurant left F1 to race in the Can-Am series on a team with his best friend, Peter Revson. But at Watkins Glen in 1967, while driving a Lola T70 Mk.2 Ford, a severe crash changed the direction of Bondurant's entire life and career. A steering arm broke at 150 mph, and while Bob was lying in traction in the hospital afterward, he recounted a vivid conversation he had with God. According to Bondurant, God explained to him that he was needed more on earth to start a driving and safety school to save thousands of lives of those who were dying on the highways and in motorsports. So on February 14, 1968, Bob founded The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, and for 50 years it earned the reputation as the finest racing school in the world. Using his own, copyrighted, "The Bondurant Method," Bob personally trained his hand-selected instructors to educate the world to be better racers and drivers. Bob and the Bondurant team graduated well over 500,000 students at his famous school, including Christian Bale, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise, to name a few. Bondurant was actively at the track every day, enthusiastically greeting his new students until he was well over 85 years old. He kept racing too. Bondurant's last Championship was in 1997 for the World Cup Challenge, racing for Steve Saleen. Bondurant retired from racing at 79 after winning his last race at Pomona Raceway in his No. 72 ERA Ford GT40. Though his accomplishments with his driving school are indeed legendary, his exploits in racing still resonate to this day. He was a racer's racer, through and through. This week's issue of "Fumes" is dedicated to Bob Bondurant, and you'll see that all of the pictures are of Bob and/or his memorable racing cars. -PMD

Detroit. Beginning in the late 50s and running through the mid-70s, sports car racing - particularly here in the U.S. - was captivated and dominated by V8-powered machines that barked their intent at race tracks all over the country. Sure, back in those days, SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) events were heavily populated by small-bore sports cars like Austin-Healeys, Triumphs, MGs, Minis, 356 Porsches and many other brands. And there was no question that they provided the backbone of SCCA racing back then. But starting in the late 50s with race-prepared Corvettes, and then fueled by the emergence of the Shelby American Cobra, and on to the USRRC, Trans-Am and Can-Am days, the real action was with the big-bore machines.

I vividly remember seeing the crowds gravitate to the fences when those V8s fired-up on the false grid. They couldn't really help it, because the sound was guttural, menacing and mesmerizing all at once. Standing among those cars on false grids all over the Midwest with our "A" Production Corvettes - Waterford Hills, Grattan, Mid-Ohio, Nelson Ledges, Milwaukee, Blackhawk Farms and, of course, Road America - was an in-period treat that I couldn't get enough of and will never forget. And besides the spectacular noise coming from those machines, the sheer speed was awesome to behold as they devoured every race track they visited. 

And the legendary names that wheeled these machines were a mix of Hall of Famers and hard-scrabble drivers who wouldn't settle for anything less than the fastest, baddest V8s available. The legends were present and accounted for: Ken Miles, Dan Gurney, Roger Penske, Mario Andretti, Jim Hall, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, Jackie Stewart, Peter Revson, John Surtees, Parnelli Jones, George Follmer, Mark Donohue, Swede Savage, Sam Posey, Milt Minter, Ed Leslie, Dr. Dick Thompson ("The Flying Dentist"), Allen Grant, Jerry Grant, et al. And, of course, my brother Tony and his teammate Jerry Thompson. This list of drivers - which I have affectionately dubbed "The Muscle Boys" - were just the tip of the iceberg. There were countless others who wheeled and manhandled their brutal machines at tracks all across the country. They were visceral, no-compromise machines that captivated the hearts and minds of racing enthusiasts, and if you've ever been to a vintage racing event, the same is true today, if not more so. I hope you enjoy the following images and recollections as much as I do.

And that's the High-Octane Truth for this week.

Bob Bondurant made his early reputation by racing Corvettes in sports car races up and down the West Coast.

(Photo by Dave Friedman)
Bob Bondurant in his distinctive racing helmet, 1965.
(Photo by Dave Friedman)
12 Hours of Sebring, March 21, 1964. The Bob Bondurant/Lew Spencer No. 12 Shelby American Cobra qualified 11th and finished 5th overall.
Targa Florio, Sicily, May, 19, 1965. Bob Bondurant in the No. 194 Ford Advanced Vehicles Ford GT40 Roadster that he shared with John Whitmore. They didn't finish.
Targa Florio, Sicily, April 24, 1964. "Bondo" in the No. 142 Shelby American Cobra that he shared with Phil Hill. They didn't finish.
(Photo by Dave Friedman)
Riverside International Raceway, October 13, 1963. Dan Gurney (No. 97 Shelby American Cobra) leads Allen Grant (No. 96 Coventry Motors Shelby Cobra) and Bob Bondurant (No. 99 Shelby American Cobra) in a special 1-Hour GT race.
(Photo by Dave Friedman)
12 Hours of Sebring, March 21, 1964. The Bondurant/Spencer No. 12 Shelby American Cobra in for a night pit stop. Lew Spencer buckling in.
(Photo by Dave Friedman)
12 Hours of Sebring, March 21, 1964. The Bob Bondurant/Lew Spencer No. 12 Shelby American Cobra in the pits.
Nassau Speed Weeks, December 3, 1965. Bob Bondurant (No. 111 Pacesetter Homes Lola T70 Chevrolet) didn't finish the Governor's Trophy race.
(Photo by Dave Friedman)
Laguna Seca, October 18, 1964. Bob Bondurant (No. 96 Shelby American Cooper King Cobra Ford) finished third in both heats of the Monterey Grand Prix behind Roger Penske (No. 66 Chaparral 2A Chevrolet) and Dan Gurney (No. 19 Lotus 19 B Ford).
(Photo by Dave Friedman)
Riverside International Raceway, October 13, 1963. My all-time favorite shot of "Bondo." He's on his way to leading a 1-2-3-4 Cobra sweep in his No. 99 Shelby American Cobra. Allen Grant (No. 96 Coventry Motors Shelby Cobra) was second, Lew Spencer (No. 98 Shelby American Cobra) was third and Dan Gurney (No. 97 Shelby American Cobra) finished fourth in the special 1-Hour GT race.