GT40 – Pulpaddict

VELOCITY INVITATIONAL MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL

Jim Palam headed to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the VELOCITY INVITATIONAL MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL with a craving. Discovers he’s just one among 15,000 with a ‘Need for Speed.’

It is like your favorite piece of pie. You will make sacrifices just so you can enjoy it again and again. I had my first Velocity slice a year ago and what a treat to be back to enjoy the VELOCITY INVITATIONAL MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL again in 2022!

For those of you still waiting to take a bite of Velocity I’d say “Definitely go!” Remember that piece of pie? What makes it a treat is that all of the ingredients are right – and it’s been prepared and presented by people skilled and passionate about what they do. In the Velocity Pie mix are the rare and expensive automotive festival ingredients that impress: Iconic American and imported vintage and historic racecars. Modern Formula One cars. Actual pedal-to-the-metal racing. Cutting-edge prototypes of the next-gen Hypercars. The Mighty Minis! Gourmet food and beverages at the show’s Sip & Savor Pavilion. And – drum-roll please – Mario Andretti running spirited exhibition laps behind the wheel of the ‘13 McLaren MP4/28A Formula 1 car, courtesy of Zach Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing!

From its inception the VELOCITY INVITATIONAL MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL was designed to be a family affair. “Velocity Invitational was introduced with a vision of revitalizing the motorsports experience for all generations of enthusiasts and their families to enjoy,” said event founder Jeff O’Neill. As I explored the paddock areas I spoke with families from points near and far including California, New Jersey, Kansas and Japan. Some were spectators and others racers. All were having an excellent time!

This year’s 3-Day Velocity event attracted over 15,000 attendees from Friday, October 14 through Sunday the 16th. It was also live-streamed with over 600,000 followers across YouTube (syndicated by Goodwood Road & Racing) and other streaming platforms. I had hoped to cover at least two days of the event but thanks to some anti-car guy who did a hit and run smash on my parked pickup I had to hitch a ride up on Saturday with local race car driver John Adams. He was more than happy to be my driver and even happier that he got a personal photo with racing legend Mario Andretti in the McLaren Garage. The good news is that I had a ball and shot over 800 photos on Saturday. I’m excited about presenting some of my favorite images – including the 3D printed Czinger C21 Hypercar, above right. Enjoy!

Group 6 cars lined up on the Pre-Grid Lane included this red ’67 427 Corvette, followed by the silver GT40 and the blue Shelby FIA Cobra. The Group 6 cars include 1963 – 1969 Sports & GT cars. They were wonderfully noisy and sometimes nasty as they muscled their way around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway.

Sitting right below the gray Media Center building were the Juan Gonzalez Formula One Pole Position Collection cars, most recently on display at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. Juan, a racer and motorsports enthusiast, is the CEO of Mission Foods which is the #1 tortilla company in the U.S. Mission Foods is also a McLaren team sponsor.

I discovered this beautiful Aston Martin DP215 sitting poised and proper along the primary paddock lane when I first arrived at Laguna Seca early Saturday morning. A single example was built for GT racing in 1963. The DP215 was sold at RM Sotheby’s 2018 Monterey auction for $21,455,000 including buyer’s fee!

Impossible to ignore on the green sod of the Pre-Grid display area was the McLaren P1 HDK (High Downforce Kit) orange sizzler from Lanzante Limited and O’Gara. It follows in the same footsteps as the High Downforce Kit that was available to McLaren F1 owners who wanted to give their cars added performance and a unique aesthetic. The McLaren/Lazante P1 HDK is a privately owned, fully bespoke commission.

A ’67 Porsche 910-004 sits low and ready-to-go on the Pre-Grid. Only 980-mm high, its fender height is about the same as the knee height of the mechanic standing at-the-ready next to the driver. Only 29 910s were built from 1966 to 1967; 10 remain worldwide. Specs: 2000-cc 6-cylinder, 225 horsepower, top speed 155 mph. The 910 was only raced for about one year by the factory. Class rivals Ferrari Dino 206P and Ford GT40 proved too powerful for the 910.

We featured an exterior shot of this silver Scuderia Bear GT40 P/1029 for our Monterey Car Week 2022 race report back in August. It was great to see her back out on the track for the VELOCITY INVITATIONAL MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL. This time I thought you would enjoy a driver’s view of the interior – just before blasting away for the Group 6 Qualifying Race.

McLaren had a strong and active presence at Velocity. Much more than a partner and sponsor of this Luxury motorsports event, they were also fully engaged with the velocity/speed side of things – offering up track rides in their modern production cars and racecars to burn-up Laguna Seca’s asphalt. Pictured is the MP4-27 designed by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for the 2012 Formula One season punching it out on the Corkscrew.

When he zipped by me, I was impressed by this gentleman’s deft handling of his electric mobility scooter in the paddock garage area. When he parked it behind this iconic ‘61 Cooper Monaco Mk. III curiosity got the better of me, so I struck up a friendly conversation. Turns out this is Jeffrey Heller, the founding principal of Heller Manus Architects of San Francisco, and the proud owner the Cooper. This impeccably restored icon has a wonderful race history that includes ownership by Briggs Cunningham and victories in the early 1960s at Bridgehampton and Watkins Glen. It later won its class with Spencer Trenery behind the wheel.

Stunt driver, drift champion and TV host Tanner Foust was one of the celebrity racecar drivers entertaining the crowds. I grabbed this shot of him in the Gulf Racing ‘96 McLaren F1 GT-12R as it blasted away from the infamous Corkscrew. Racing enthusiast and pharmaceuticals magnate Ray Bellm along with co-driver James Weaver drove this car to four wins on their way to becoming the 1996 BPR GT champions.

This head turner was on the display grass. From a distance I thought, “Hey, it’s a Ferrari 250 SWB!” When I got up close, I realized that this red V-12 gem is a revival build from famed Ferrari restoration shop GTO Engineering. It has been meticulously hand built to the same 1962 factory specs as the original and this example was brought to Laguna Seca by the folks at the O’Gara Collective. GTO Engineering will build just 60 replicated 250 SWBs.

As impressive as it is to see and hear the modern F1 cars scream around Laguna Seca, it’s a special treat to see vintage racers like this lightweight and aerodynamic, 210 horsepower, ‘38 Talbot-Lago T-26 SS aggressively run the course on skinny tires and fervid resolve. The T-26 SS was designed for Le Mans competition but unfortunately would never see a victory at the famed 24-hour race. Brian Mullin was the driver of the Talbot-Lago in this Group 1 Qualifying Race.

If you head to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to catch a vintage automobile race it’s a good bet you are going to see the Ragtime Racers and their impressive collection of pre-1920 racecars from the “Heroic Age.” One of my favorite cars from the collection is the mighty 1917 Hall-Scott owned by Dick DeLuna. Built on a vintage REO steel chassis, this reconstructed racer is powered by a truly massive 9,900-cc, 4-cylinder, overhead cam WW I aircraft motor!

The Next Generation: I met these three 19-year-old guys in the Ragtime Racers open garage space in the paddock. They volunteer for the Ragtimers and are happy to get hands-on experience wrenching on these vintage machines. They are pictured with a 1911 National Racer which is restored to the same specs as it raced in the first Indy 500 back in 1911!

Throughout my day at the VELOCITY INVITATIONAL MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL, I asked attendees and participants if they were enjoying the event. No one I talked to had anything negative to say. Perhaps the best response I received was from the driver of a stunning Bizzarrini 5300 GT Strada that was staged for a qualifying race. When I asked him if he was having a good time, he shot his thumb up and said, “Inside the helmet I’m smiling!”

Words & Photos © Jim Palam, https://www.jimpalamphotos.com/

“If you can’t see it, smell it and hear it, it’s not a racecar.” – Jeff O’Neill. Founder of the Velocity Invitational, on why he encourages participants to race their vintage and historic cars at VELOCITY INVITATIONAL MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL. For more details, please visit https://velocityinvitational.com/

For the latest information on events at Laguna Seca, check out https://www.co.monterey.ca.us/government/government-links/weathertech-raceway

SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK!

Read about The Renegades Who Built the Cars, Won the Races, and Lived the Legend in Preston Lerner’s SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK!

Carroll Shelby is an American hero and he’s been my personal hero since first meeting him in mid-1963. When he launched Shelby American and produced Ford V8-engined variants of the original British AC Ace, I was the editor of two hot rod and custom car magazines – CUSTOM RODDER and CAR, Speed & Style – and worked on the company’s flagship magazine, CARS, in New York City.

After riding shotgun with him in a black (Livery #198) competition Cobra at Riverside on June 11, 1963, Carroll Shelby became my hero. It was while I was covering Ford’s 1964 new model press preview. Shelby had been partying in his suite at the Mission Inn the night before and he was feeling no pain when I left at around midnight. There was an early morning breakfast call the next day and I was out at the track, not long after the sun came up, with Cobra racecar driver Dave MacDonald and Ford’s Fran Hernandez. I had signed up to ride with Shelby in a Cobra. They were tuning the 289’s Webers, making sure the Cobra was ready for the boss and out comes Shelby who couldn’t have had more than a couple of hours sleep. He tosses me a helmet and says, “Let’s ride.”

When I had left his suite the night before, I was pretty sure he would not make it to the track before lunch! MacDonald buckled me in and off we went. Bottomline, he joked with me all the way around the track, and I got the feeling he could have nailed it blindfolded. He knew the “line” as though it had been embedded in his brain, and he drove it like he was in a race. It was an experience I’ll never forget.

He was happiest when he was behind the wheel of a race car, especially on his home track. I still have the photo of Shelby wearing a white Ford Racing baseball cap, MacDonald cranking the engine and Hernandez making final adjustments on the Webers. Had it not been for serious medical conditions, Shelby could have been a world championship driver. He did win Le Mans, above, with co-driver Roy Salvadori, in a factory Aston Martin DBR1/300 in 1959. He was that good!

Unlike the typical coffee table tomes covering Shelby, his cars, and his wins at Le Mans, Lerner has produced an old-fashioned book that you want to read and not skim for the art. What a concept! Don’t expect beautiful color photos, coated stock and endless racecar specs and chassis numbers. That’s not what this book is about.

Over my career as a magazine editor and photojournalist I had spent a lot of time talking with Shelby, mostly at the track and at Ford press events. Even though I had interviewed Shelby numerous times and visited his 12-acre facility at LAX, reading SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! I learned so much. Not necessarily about the cars. It was the people who worked for Shelby and built its winning cars that really made Shelby American: Phil Remington, Ken Miles, and an endless parade of fabricators, mechanics, managers, crew chiefs administrators. Working with Ford’s Roy Lunn (Godfather of the GT40, and Le Mans-winning 427 Mark II and Mark IV) and his team at Kar-Kraft, Remington, on loan from Shelby, was directly involved in the creation of the 427 Mark II prototype, and later sorting out the Mark IV (body design and aerodynamics) after Miles’ fatal crash during testing at Riverside.

There’s a laundry list of Shelby American alumni, in addition to Miles and Remington, who get their due from Lerner: Charlie Agapiou (crew chief, mechanic and serial trickster), Peter Brock, Chuck Cantwell, Gordon Chance, Peyton Cramer, John Collins, Al Dowd, Bill Eaton, Phil Henny, Max Kelly, Bernie Kretzschmar, Frank Lance, Dave MacDonald, Steele Therkleson, and many more. Because I had spent all of my time with Shelby or one of his PR people, and spent little to no time with most of the car building and racing team members, SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! proved to be a real treat for me.

Preston Lerner also takes you behind the scenes – post-1967 Le Mans – at some of Shelby’s less successful ventures like, how he got and the results of, Toyota’s first 2000GT, above, racing program and the overly complex Turbine Indy car, below, project sponsored by Botany 500 that ended up costing $500,00 over its one-million-dollar budget. They ended up with a pair of cars, that never made the starting grid. Lerner explains the why and how the cars had to be withdrawn from the race. It was not a pretty picture.

Brock Yates wrote about the Indy 500 Turbine cars in his Car and Driver, August 1968 column: “They were the Ken Wallis/Carroll Shelby turbines that have to be included with the Titanic and the Gallipoli campaign as one of the great debacles of the Twentieth Century.”

After winning Le Mans in 1967, Henry Ford II got what he wanted but the company’s bean-counters wanted more. They wanted to end its relationship with Carroll Shelby. But not completely. There was still a contact to run Mustangs, above, in the Trans-Am Series and Shelby delivered with Ford winning the 1967 Championship. And, even after Ford cleaned-out Shelby’s LAX facility, taking trailer loads of everything related to GT40s, Mark IIs, and Mark IVs and delivering them to Holman & Moody, Ford contracted with Shelby in 1968 to build and field a Can-Am car. That was another debacle.

Carroll Shelby never really wanted to build low-volume production cars like the GT350 and GT500 Mustangs. He wanted to build and campaign racecars, but they were a valuable profit-center. Losing control of the 1968 GT Mustang program was both financial and public relations losses. Shelby made a lot of money with the Mustang GT program even though the cars were incredibly hard to sell. They often languished at Ford dealers until they were discounted. Today they are pricy collectibles, not unlike the Cobras that challenged the status quo before the Mustangs, and won!

After losing control of Shelby GT Mustangs, Carroll Shelby spent a bunch of years exploring business opportunities in Africa, building his chili brand and other ventures. Lee Iacocca left Ford to go to Chrysler and brought his old pal in to get involved with a line of Shelby performance cars. He worked with Ford once again during the 2005-2006 Ford GT program, and once again Carroll Shelby was welcome in Dearborn!

The publisher’s press release copy for Preston Lerner’s SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! says a lot about the man whose name is on so many cars that are topday considered iconic. “Always standing above it all was Carroll Shelby himself. Dynamic, charismatic, mercurial, mercenary, and a little bit dangerous, he had to fight Ford bean-counters as fiercely as he dueled with Enzo Ferrari. But for a few magical years, Shelby managed to beat both of them at their own games.”

True that is. However, what Ford had given, Ford had also taken back! One of those contacts that Ford and Shelby had signed included a multi-million-dollar loan agreement and ended up giving Ford use of the COBRA name. Add that to the wins at Le Mans; over decades Ford has certainly gotten its money’s worth out of the relationship.

Books written about Carroll Shelby and Shelby American during the 1960s and 1970s, rarely ever delved into the negatives and glossed over Shelby’s less-than-successful projects. Preston Lerner’s SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! opens doors rarely opened before to see the man with all his warts as well as his genius. And, pays tribute to the people who supported him during the golden years of Shelby American. All the great road and race cars bearing Shelby brands and cars are covered as well, including the Cobra Daytona Coupe, above.

SHELBY AMERICAN, THE BOOK! is a great read and, best of all, you can take it along when traveling unlike all the coffee table books that best remain on coffee tables!

Published by Octane Press, the 328-page hardcover SHELBY AMERICAN: The Renegades Who Built the Cars, Won the Races, and Lived the Legend is available at, https://octanepress.com/book/shelby-american-carroll-cobra-mustang-GT350-GT500-Ford-preston-lerner

https://www.amazon.com/Shelby-American-Renegades-Built-Legend/dp/1642341215

GT40 UNCOVERED!

Showcasing original technical drawings, cutaways and period photos, GT40 UNCOVERED! treats readers to a unique look at the engineering story of Ford’s multiple Le Mans winners: GT40, Mark II and Mark IV.

GT40 UNCOVERED is more than simply a book. It’s a lavish production of a condensed research library, giving the reader rare access to the evolution of Ford’s iconic Le Mans-winning GT racecar via an almost endless cache of archival blueprints, drawings and photos. There are more than 250 original technical drawings, plus illustrations, graphics supporting period photos. Coverage also includes the Mark I and Mark III GT40 road cars. Calling GT40 UNCOVERED! “a book” is akin to labeling Ferrari’s 250 GTO, “a car.”

From birth as Roy Lunn’s Lola MK6-influenced Ford GT to the retired Le Mans winning Mark IV, this museum-quality book not only covers the interior and exterior details of each car line, but chapters are devoted to Concept, Chassis, Engines & Transmissions (transaxles) as well as Suspension, Brakes & Steering. The engine chapter covers the 255 Indy, 289 race and road, small-block Gurney Weslake and the 427 that powered the 1966 and 1967 Le Mans-winning Mark IIs. Plus, stunning cutaways of Claude Nahum’s GT/101 R, and GT40 P/1078 and Mark II P/1016.

To better understand the quality presentation of this book – a 176-page, cloth-covered hardback measuring 16.5 x 16.5 inches – one only has to look at the resumes of its author and co-author, Claude Nahum and Steve Rendle, respectively. Nahum raced while he was going to engineering college and in 2002 bought his first GT40 and competed in historic racing. Since then, he has owned a second GT40 and has commissioned two concours-quality recreations. He owns a treasure-trove of original GT40 drawings, but is probably best known for his GT/101 R, a superb recreation of the long-gone first Ford GT prototype, above, currently on display at the museum at Le Mans.

One of the high points Nahum experienced while working on this book was taking legendary Ford racing engine builder Mose Nowland for a ride in GT/101 R at Goodwood, above. Nowland was involved in the building of 427 Le Mans engines at Ford Engineering and was the recipient of the Spirit of Ford award in 2005 for 57 years as a Senior Motorsports Engineer. Co-Author Rendle is a passionate motorsports enthusiast, technical writer, editor, author, and publishing project manager.

Considering its size, price ($420 to $600) and quality, exactly who was this oversize, highly technical tome actually written for? Certainly, not the enthusiast looking to add another coffee table book to his collection. However, if you own a real Ford GT, GT40, Mark II, are considering buying, or in the process, of restoring one, or constructing a replica, it was written for you. Racing historians, research libraries, and racecar museum curators should own copies.

As an automotive journalist, author, editor of Hi-Performance CARS magazine in the 1960s-1970s, who road tested the prototype GT40 Mark III in 1967, was longtime friend of the late GT40 Godfather, Roy Lunn, left, and owner of a 2006 Ford GT, I highly recommend this impressive tome.

Because of the limited number produced (365 copies), I suggest ordering now or be prepared to pay a lot more when copies pop-up on the secondary market. For more information about GT40 UNCOVERED! ordering details, pricing and its publisher, please visit, https://porterpress.co.uk/products/ford-gt40-book

FORD GT40 ANTHOLOGY

You may think that you know everything about GT40s, but this just-published book – FORD GT40 ANTHOLOGY – is true to its sub-title, ‘A unique compilation of stories about these most iconic cars.’

Since Hollywood took incredible liberties entertaining us with its blockbuster version of Ford beating Ferrari at Le Mans in 1966 – FORD v FERRARI – there has been a renewed interest in the Ford GT40 and the company’s program which created cars that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans for four straight years. There’s no shortage of GT40-related books – published both before and after the film broke cover. Some focus on engine and car specifications and chassis numbers, others on race records, driver profiles, etc. Pretty dry reading unless you’re restoring a car, own one, or want to impress someone at a cocktail party by rattling off numbers and who won what!

But, FORD GT40 ANTHOLOGY, A unique compilation of stories about these most iconic cars is different. And, what makes it different, also makes it worth buying, even at $90. Publisher Veloce is no stranger to books on this subject, having offered a trio of related titles in their portfolio that were published before this tome. It provides insights to the GT40’s design and racing achievements, starting with the first-built GTs, below, and some well-kept secrets about its development and financial aspects.

Authors John Allen and Graham Endeacott, both Brits, have immersed themselves for years in everything Ford GT/GT40. Allen is a published author and photographer; Endeacott has owned a replica GT40 since the mid-1990s. Allen also co-authored THE FORD THAT BEAT FERRARI, A Racing History of the GT40 with Gordon Jones in 2019. When it comes to Ford GT/GT40 history, these guys are experts.

GT40 ANTHOLOGY, is highly recommended for serious GT40 nerds who never seem to get enough words and photos about their favorite marque, as well as “newbies” who discovered GT40s watching FORD v FERRARI. That goes for me as well, a veteran enthusiast automotive journalist and magazine editor. What I truly appreciate is the way Allen and Endeacott handled the ever-popular conspiracy theory about Ken Miles being robbed, by Ford, of what could have been his win at Le Mans in 1966, when three Ford Mark IIs crossed the line for an unprecedented 1-2-3 victory. They devote 9 pages, a complete chapter (13) titled DEAD HEAT, to debunking that myth that surfaces every time a new book or film on the subject surfaces.

“… it was claimed by some that when the planned dead heat was announced, somebody from Ford (recollections vary as to who it was) had – allegedly – been sent to ACO to try and get a lap taken off Miles’ car, thus ensuring a win for McLaren and Amon. There’s no evidence in the ACO’s IBM timing records for P/1015 to suggest that any such lap had been removed, and it is difficult to see how it could have been done.”

They finish off the chapter with, “Whatever one’s view of the subject, the fact is that P/1046 and its drivers won according to the race rules, rules that applied to everybody, and nothing what so ever can, or should attempt to, take that victory from them. So … the congratulations rightly went to Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon and GT40P/1046 for winning the 34^th Grand Prix d’Endurance -les 24 Heures du Mans!”

During the development of the Ford GT and subsequent GT40 and Mark II, even later when the Mark II was replaced by the Mark IV, Ford’s Roy Lunn who headed up the Le Mans program, was enamored with Ford’s Indy engines. First it was the 1963 aluminum small-block used in Ford’s first Indy car; later with the sophisticated purpose-built four-cam race engine that replaced it in 1964 and went on to dominate Indy 500 racing. The first GTs were powered by the single-cam, two-valve Fairlane based Indy engine, later replaced with 289s.

Ford’s Engine and Foundry Division supplied Lunn with a total of 10 Indy engines, 5 of each version. The authors do a great job of following the applications and use of the engines, supported by photos of the four-cam motor in Bill Wonder’s GT/103, above. Wonder had actually installed it himself. The injected Gen II Indy motor was also considered for use in a modified sports car built around the Mark IV platform. While the Mark IV chassis # J-9 was being built by Lunn’s team at Kar-Kraft, below, it was fitted with one of the four-cam motors. There’s a great photo of that chassis with Indy engine installed, a photo that I’ve never seen before.

GT40 ANTHOLOGY is packed with interesting chapters tracking the history of important cars and their owners, a broad selection of examples of GT40 road and racecar advertising, and the most coverage I’ve yet seen on Safir Engineering, its owner Peter Thorp and the company’s Mark V continuation GT40s. And, how they ended up with rights to “GT40” and Ford not using it for its 2005-2006 modern variant of the GT40. As a genuine GT40 “nerd” and the owner of an ’06 Ford GT, I found the final chapter (32, MARK V) of great personal interest.

I already own just about every book written on the Ford GT/GT40, Mark II & Mark IV road and racecars, and if Allen and Endeacott decide to write another, it will end up in my library! Be aware, FORD GT40 ANTHOLOGY, A unique compilation of stories about these most iconic cars, is a true coffee table book, not the kind you take along to read on an airplane flight. It measures 12 x10.5 inches, is packed with around 500 photos over 320 pages and weighs approximately 5 pounds. It’s a heavyweight read, highly recommended; well worth the $90 tariff.

Check out FORD GT40 ANTHOLOGY, A unique compilation of stories about these most iconic cars @ https://www.amazon.com/Ford-GT40-Anthology-John-Allen/dp/1787115763/ref=asc_df_1787115763/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475741797303&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=664353068492404021&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012304&hvtargid=pla-1126985586389&psc=1

https://www.veloce.co.uk/store/Ford-GT40-Anthology-p303032784

OUTLAW: PORSCHE DOUBLE AA SPORTS 911

With its wide-body RSR attitude, seriously upgraded suspension and supercharged 3.6 engine, Archie Urciuoli’s OUTLAW: PORSCHE DOUBLE AA SPORTS 911 rules the road!

Retired sports car racer Archie Urciuoli’s last four competition cars – Ford Mark IV, Mark I GT40, Porsche 956 and Lola T70 Spyder – represented some of the sports’ most iconic and fastest examples of purpose-built racecars. He competed (and finished) in the Le Mans Classic in the GT40 and ran 200 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in his big-block Mark IV. Now that he’s now longer racing, his favorite road car, also purpose-built, is this Outlaw-style 911 that looks and performs like a racecar!

A member of the exclusive Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC) and a recipient of its Bob Akin Memorial Award, Urciuoli’s racing resume dates back to the 1950s when he competed on the New England SCCA circuit in popular British sports cars. He worked his way up to an exotic D-Type Jaguar, then competed in open-wheel Formula Atlantic, Can-Am and Daytona Prototype competition before moving up to a GT40. In 2005, he won the Historic GTP Series Championship in his Porsche 956.

Custom built for Urciuoli by racer and racecar builder Jim Newton and his crew at Automobile Associates of Canton, CT (AAOC), this one-of-one featherweight road rocket was crafted in the Colin Chapman tradition of adding lightness! The donor car, an ’88 Carrera 3.2 weighed in at 2,866 pounds and powered by a naturally-aspirated 3.2 liter Flat Six rated at 217 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. After AAOC worked its magic, the Double AA Sports Porsche tipped the scales at 2,300 pounds, and its supercharged 3.6 engine from a 964 Porsche dynoed at 380 horsepower and generated a whopping 350 pound-feet of torque.

Boosted by a positive-displacement Eaton supercharger producing six pounds boost and backed up by a Porsche G-50 five-speed and limited-slip differential pirated from a 964 Porsche, Newton estimates that 0-60 mph sprints should take 3.4 seconds and top speed max out at 170 mph. Unlike modern Porsches, it’s not fitted (and controlled by) computers. It’s an “analog” car with disc brakes from a 928 Porsche. “At six horsepower per pound, acceleration is phenomenal. A 3,600-pound 911 would need 600 horsepower to equal it,” says Urciuoli!

While he wanted his Outlaw 911 to be purely focused on performance, handling and flawless build quality, he was also going for a unique look that would set it apart of other 911s of that generation. He also wanted creature comforts like great seats – custom Recaro buckets upholstery in Ferrari red leather – air-conditioning and a sunroof. A firm believer in using OE Porsche parts whenever possible, Newton utilized factory suspension components, Porsche KW adjustable shocks and updated the torsion bars to 911 (930) Turbo specifications. Custom aftermarket anti-roll bars were the exception.

What makes Archie Urciuoli’s silver metallic Outlaw 911 stand out in a parking lot of Porsches is its steel Porsche RSR widebody treatment including custom RSR bumpers, accented by VW Salsa Red striping and accents. His last racecar, a dark blue Lola T70 Spyder powered by a Weber-carbureted Corvette engine, prominently featured Salsa Red stripes. There are also the Salsa Red 17×9 front and 17×11 Fuchs alloy wheels fitted with sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.

A serious racer needs a serious road car when he retires from the sport; that’s exactly what Jim Newton delivered. For proof-of-concept after competition in 2019, Newton put it through its paces at a major vintage racing event at Lime Rock. As far as its builder and owner were concerned, it exceeded expectations on the road and race track!

Photos: Howard Mintz & Martyn Schorr

For more information about AAOC, builder of Archie Urciuoli’s OUTLAW: PORSCHE DOUBLE AA SPORTS 911, and its road and racing services, please visit https://automobileassociates.com/