+6 When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
When Dan Gurney built an All American Formula 1
Gooding & Company brings this unique piece of American race history to their Amelia Island auction on 2-3 March. This is the AAR Gurney Eagle Mk 1, the first car with which Dan Gurney proved Americans could build F1 cars all the same.
Formula 1 has always been a European affair on the constructor’s side; Ferrari, Maserati, Lotus, you name them. Lance Reventlow should be credited as the first American constructor to build a US-made car for F1, with the Scarab in 1960, but it remained an unsuccessful effort.
Costa Mese
By 1966, Dan Gurney was a celebrated driver. He had success at Ferrari, gave Porsche their first win in F1 and was part of the Ford GT40 squad at Le Mans. But Gurney was more ambitious and encouraged by Carroll Shelby’s success, Gurney and Shelby set up All American Racers in Costa Mese, California in 1965. Their aim was the Indy 500 on the one hand, and Formula 1 on the other hand.
3-litre engines
Gurney’s effort to make it as a constructor in F1 was nothing out of the ordinary in those days; Jack Brabham did it before him and Bruce McLaren was on the same path at the same time. With a regulation change for the 1966 season, bringing engine capacity from 1.5-litre to 3-litres, the cards would be redistributed and Gurney wanted to be onboard.
Grand Prix, the movie
It took him until the Belgian Grand Prix before the Len Terry-designed Eagle Mk 1 was ready. Chassis 101 came equipped with a 2.7-litre Coventry Climax, the chosen V12 Weslake engine still being in development. At the Belgian Grand Prix, film crews made images of the race for the John Frankenheimer movie ‘Grand Prix’, and the Eagle Mk 1 features in these as well. Gurney finished the race but was not classified. At the next race, the French Grand Prix in Reims, already scored a first points finish for the Eagle Mk 1, crossing the line in fifth place. The next races brought struggles as mechanical problems compromised results, but the potential of the dark blue American F1 was clear.
Phil Hill
By the following race, the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, Gurney had a new chassis ready – the Eagle Mk 2 – and finally had the Weslake V12. Subsequently, chassis 101 went to Phil Hill, who could not qualify, handicapped by the lack of power from the Coventry Climax. At the US Grand Prix, it was Bob Bondurant’s turn in chassis 101, but he was disqualified after five laps after receiving a push start. Dan Gurney would take another fifth place behind the wheel of 101 in the Mexican Grand Prix.
Donington collection
For the 1967 season, Gurney sold chassis 101 to Canadian racer Al Pease, who drove it in the Canadian Grand Prix in ’67, ’68 and ’69. Tom Wheatcroft tracked the car down with Pease and bought it in 1971. It had both the Coventry Climax engine and the Hewland gearbox with which it was first tested at Goodwood in June 1966.
Wheatcroft kept the car in original condition in his Donington Collection for over 30 years. In 1999, it went to a new owner who had it restored in the US, carefully watching over the originality of the car. It now comes up for auction at Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island sale on 2-3 March, carrying an estimate of 3 to 4 million dollars. More on the sale here.
