When you are walking through the garages at Daytona in 1967 you might come across something unusual. Note the interesting light bar on the Mustang. Wonder what kind of generator/alternator and battery or batteries you needed for that?



As I recall, it was a demonstrator to show off the various types of lights to people who would be running the Daytona 24. I don't know that all lights were on at once.

 

See also post #38



Preston Henn 1931-2017

Monday, 01 May 2017


By Marshall Pruett and Robin Miller / Images by Kevin Jeannette, Pruett

Legendary raconteur and sports car racer Preston Henn (pictured above, far right) has died at the age of 86. According to his lawyer, the renowned driver, team owner and two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona passed on Sunday from natural causes.



The loss of eccentric millionaire, known as much for his self-made empire that fueled his passion for racing as his success during the formative days of the IMSA GTP category, robs the sport of one of its greatest characters.


Among his signature achievements, victory at Daytona in a Porsche 935 as a co-driver with A.J. Foyt, and the late Bob Wollek and Claude Ballot-Lena in 1983, and again in 1985 as an owner in a Porsche 962 (pictured below) with Foyt, Wollek, Al Unser and Thierry Boutsen continue to stand as hallmark achievements by an independent entrant.

"Damn, I hate to hear that about Preston," Foyt told RACER. "I just sent him a letter few days ago thanking him for hiring me that day at Daytona and for giving me the trophy that I was able to give to my daddy before he died. That was a special trophy and memory so I just decided to write him and I hope he got it before he passed away."


Foyt's addition to Henn's team came after the four-time Indy 500 winner's car broke early in the 1983 race, and despite heavy pushback from Wollek, the Andial-built 935 was soon flying with Super Tex behind the wheel.


"I didn't know him, but after my car broke, he asked me if I wanted to drive and, if so, I needed to be back at midnight," Foyt continued. "I guess it worked out OK and we've been friends ever since. He came down to my ranch a couple times to hang out and I enjoyed his company. He had a lot of money but didn't play the big shot, he was a super guy."


Born in Murphy, North Carolina, Henn was the son of a movie theater owner, and after his parents divorced, he moved to Southern California with his mother in his teens. The highly educated Henn, who earned a college degree in chemical engineering, chose a unique path in life by merging what he learned from his father and a natural flair for sales and promotion into the Swap Shop, his Florida-based movie theater/flea market empire.


"He was on the freeway in Compton, saw a drive-in movie theater that had a sign that read 'swap meet Saturday and Sunday,' and he stopped in and couldn't believe what he saw," Henn's longtime friend and 1983 Daytona-winning crew chief Kevin Jeannette (pictured) told RACER. "In California, they're known as swap meets, but most people know them as flea markets, and took that idea to Florida. He liked the idea that they could make money during the day on this big drive-in property by charging people to come in and sell their stuff, and then they cleared out and he showed drive-in movies at night."
Henn's main Swap Shop property in Fort Lauderdale was soon joined by a small chain of Swap Shops opened around the state. With the income generated from multiple flea markets, concessions from feeding the buyers and sellers, and the multiple attractions he created – everything from a dedicated circus to a personal car collection that grew in value beyond the $100 million mark – the Swap Shops gave Henn the financial power and authority to go racing on his own terms.
"He was an offshore racer with power boats, first, which is normal in Florida," Jeannette said. "In one race off the coast, he crashed and the only thing that saved him was a helicopter came by and saw him bobbing up and down in the water. After that, he said enough with the water; I'm racing on land. He changed his tune and got into racing cars, did some sharing of cars, got into an Interscope [Porsche] 935, and then went to owning his own stuff."


Henn would venture into professional sports car racing in 1977 at the 12 hours of Sebring driving a Porsche 914, and soon moved into bigger, faster Ferraris and Porsches with proven team like Interscope, the Whittington Bros., Bayside Racing, and N.A.R.T., which took him to Le Mans for the first time in 1982. At the urging of Jeannette, who'd worked with Henn in the past, the decision was finally made to buy a new Porsche 935 and focus on assembling the best possible team at Henn's Swap Shop Racing program.
"It was the high point of my career," he said. "For me, it was a big moment to tell Preston – and not many people could get away with telling him to do anything – that if he bought a better car, we could win races. That steered us into the 1983 24 Hours of Daytona."


A throwback in every sense, Henn dictated the terms of his life until his final days. He fought, sued, and argued with whomever he felt deserved his wrath, and as Jeannette recalls, earning Henn's trust was the only currency that mattered.


"For me and him, it was kind of special," he said. "If you had his trust, he'd let you run with things. We met when I was at the Daytona IMSA finale in 1981; he blew a turbo when he was driving with his daughter Bonnie, nobody had the stuff to fix the turbo, but I did, so I offered to help, and after that, we developed a relationship. If he knew you were there for the right reasons, and many weren't, he was the most generous person in the world. He became like a second father to me."


Long after Henn contested his final race in 1986, he would rely on Jeannette's Gunnar Racing operation in Florida to repair and restore a number of vehicles in the Swap Shop collection. The most famous car, an ex-Le Mans Ferrari 275 GTB/C, was restored by Jeannette, and at an estimated worth of $80-$100 million, it's widely regarded as the most valuable car in the world.
With the loss of his cantankerous friend, Jeannette hopes Henn will be remembered with the same hard-edge reverie that's bestowed on his most famous driver.


"There was a respect level between A.J. and Preston because Preston was his own man in the same way A.J. is his own man, and I hope people show Preston the same kind of respect for being a trailblazer in his life like A.J. has been," he said.


"Preston had a temper, but I know the other side of him that many might not have seen. People think A.J. has a temper, but he never threw a helmet at me ... but Preston did! With Preston, he was the type of guy to give you the full magazine of ammo, full throttle, and if he gave you a blistering, it was because he liked you. If he didn't like you or trust you, he wouldn't even talk to you. You don't realize how much you miss somebody like Preston until he's gone. He was a giant part of my life."

 

Up in the spotter section with Mary Ann Mullen

 

By louis Galanos
If you were working Daytona in 1970 you where there when the new Porsche 917K made its debut. There were just two of the J.W. Automotive 917s at Daytona, though a third 917 (photo), in white and orange instead of the blue and orange of the J.W.-Gulf cars, was entered by Porsche of Austria-the Piech wing of Porsche. The Porsche of Austria entry was a surprise to John Wyer since he believed that his Gulf team would be the only ones to represent the Porsche factory. In the background you can see David Yorke (white shirt), Ermanno Cuoghi (with hat) and Pedro Rodriguez (sitting on the wall). Both Gulf 917s would finish 1-2 but the car in the photo was a DNF due to a ruptured fuel tank. It was driven by Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens, Jr. One more thing, a fourth 917 was entered but did not start. It was the 917K of Tony Dean and Peter Gregg. Gregg blew the engine in practice and they had no spare so they didn't race. Story is that this car had been stolen off the docks at Miami and entered by Dean. It was owned by David Piper.

 

By Louis Galanos
One advantage of having corner marshal credentials is you could take a photo like this. I took this photo at Daytona in 1971 and as you can see there was little to block the view in the pits. Not so today. The NART Ferrari of Tony Adamowicz and Ronnie Bucknum was just leaving the pits after a hurried pit stop. The leading Gulf Porsche 917K of Pedro Rodriguez and Jackie Oliver was still in the pits for a transmission repair. Adamowicz and Bucknum would gain the lead just briefly as they entered the last hours of the race but the amazingly fast transmission repair on the Porsche put Rodriguez back in the race where he caught up to and passed the Ferrari for the win on the final two laps. The NART Ferrari was ailing with broken valve springs. Otherwise they might have had an excellent chance to beat the Porsche across the finish line.

 

By Louis Galanos
Gene Felton in his Datsun at the Paul Whiteman Trophy Races around 1971. Gene Felton has enjoyed an amazing race career, mainly in Professional Road Racing. His list of wins and top 3 finishes are the envy of many and his number of victories are second only to Al Holbert. Before his career spiralled, Gene was a regular on the SCCA circuit - a successful spell with a Ford Mustang, which he took to the 1967 ARRC, was soon followed by a year at the wheel of an ex-BRE Datsun 2000, which he bought from Pete Brock in 1970. The 2000 had previously been raced by John McComb, who Gene had raced against in A Sedan when campaigning his Mustang.

Gene says: "I got the car from Pete Brock after the 1970 runoffs. I had been driving sedans (and crashing them) so I thought it was less expensive to add a roll cage than to obtain more life insurance - I asked Pete Brock to design a roll cage which he did and I had it welded up. It was probably the first roadster around with a "rollcage".

 

By louis Galanos
If you are a long time CFR member then you remember Vince Gimondo. He passed away on Monday (17th) after a brief stay in the hospital. He was 84 years old. Like John Greenwood, Vince Gimondo was one of those drivers that we all looked forward to seeing on the track and in the pits. The few times I had a chance to meet and talk to him were always pleasurable because he really appreciated what corner marshals did. Funeral will be with Robert Bryant Funeral Home, 321 E. Michigan St., Orlando, Florida 32806, Phone 407-240-6080. Interment Glen Haven Memorial Park, Winter Park, Florida with military honors.

 

By Byron Kauffman

 

By Louis Galanos
There are a lot of stories that have come out of the Daytona 24 Hours over the past 50 years but, in my mind, the most endearing one has nothing to do with Porsche 917s, Ferraris, Matras, GT40s or Corvettes. This wonderful story has to do with the Morgan +4 of George Waltman who is the only person of his time to drive and complete the 24 Hours of Daytona without benefit of a co-driver.

The year was 1968 and not only did George drive solo in the Daytona 24 but he also did it without benefit of a pit crew. And, as they say on TV, “But, that’s not all!” George drove, did not trailer, his Aztec Racing Morgan Plus 4 to Daytona from his home in Great Neck, New York, a distance of over 1,000 miles.

During the 24 hour race George complied with FIA driver rules requiring a rest break of one hour after every four hours on the track by servicing the car, taking a nap or getting a bite to eat. When leaving the pit area to “take care of business” he would place an “Out to Lunch” sign on the car. With no pit crew he had to fuel the car himself, change tires and do other maintenance or repairs. No doubt he took advantage of all the freebies being offered to racers from the automotive vendors at the track in exchange for placing their decal on his car. It was also reported that some of the other racing teams may have assisted the intrepid driver where they could. George’s Morgan Plus 4 was one of the last race cars running when the checkered flag fell and he is listed as finishing 30th overall, 335 laps behind the winning Porsche Works Team 907.

Even more amazing was that he was only five laps behind actor James Garner’s AIR team Corvette that had four drivers including the likes of Ed Leslie and Scooter Patrick. This was not George’s first attempt at a solo drive in an endurance race. In 1963 he completed the 12 Hours of Sebring without a co-driver finishing 37th overall out of 42 finishers driving a Triumph TR4. No doubt this gave him the confidence to tackle the Daytona 24 alone.

 

1971 John Greenwood By Louis Galanos
The passing of Corvette racing legend John Greenwood. Since he and his brother Burt lived in
the Orlando area. The attached photo was taken by me at Daytona in 1971 and the tall
fellow in the driver suit is John.


NOV 12 2015 Tribute to John Greenwood