Orange County is home to one of the finest racing drivers from the United States that has ever lived. Tony Adamowicz is fondly referred to as Tony- a2z. Tony is a good friend of ours and just a few days ago, we had breakfast with him at Citrus Grill in Tustin. We talked about; what else- racing.

OCCE: What was it that sparked your interest in motor racing?

Tony: I was interested as long as I can remember. I grew up in up-state New York and was always interested in cars, since I was 7yrs old. In the late 40’s “the magic Ferrari” came to life. I read everything that there was on Formula 1 that was available. Later, all of those California guys, Ginther, Gurney, Buckham- They were all getting these great rides. I thought-anything is possible.

OCCE: Where was your first race and what did you drive?

Tony: Marlboro Maryland in a Volvo (PV) 544 

 OCCE: How did you do?    

                                          

Tony: I won, not bad. I was in the service at the time; the Volvo was my everyday street car. I had made some modifications, but not much. (In 1963,) I went to a (3 day) racing school at Marlboro, (MD.) at the end of the school was our first race. The car was reliable and I had done so many laps the previous days. I had Pirelli Cinturato “S” tires on the car. They were the hot ticket, better in the rain, I was able to beat Mini Coopers and other sedans that should have beat me.

OCCE: What did you for the military?

Tony: I was with the Whitehouse for 5 years, as a communication liaison under three presidents, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson.

OCCE: What lead to racing becoming your lively-hood, how did it all happen?

Tony: When I left the service in 1964 I started working for Weikert’s garage in Pennsylvania that gave me a place to work on my car. Bud Weikert then became interested in what I was doing and he bought an Austin- Healy 3000. I accompanied and crewed for him at his first driving school. Along with Jim Taylor my Army buddy, we started a little club for sports car guys in the local area. I learned a-lot from those guys. Bob Krokus and John Williams lived in a house they called “misery manor”, in Falls Church, Va. Along with my ex military buddy Jim Taylor , with his Black Triumph TR4. We all moved in as roommates. The “bad” guys at “misery manor” all had black Triumph cars and me-my slate blue Volvo PV544
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I came in second in the “B” sedan regional championship in 1964 with the Volvo and in 1965 won the regional championship with that very car. By that time, the Volvo became a pretty “hot” little car. There was a good amount of engine and suspension work done to produce results
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Bob Tullius President of Group 44 was looking for a protégé’ driver, for a Triumph Spitfire and Lotus-Ford Cortina- like the one Jimmy Clark was driving in the days, whom I had the privilege to meet the year before at Marlboro, along with a very young Jackie Stewart.
Bob Tullius and Group 44 gave me my first professional start in 1966 driving a Triumph Spitfire and the Lotus- Cortina and soon even a factory backed Dodge Dart.

The first race for the new SCCA “Trans-Am” series was in 1966 at Sebring.

A.J. Foyt was driving a Mustang, Bob and I in a Dodge Dart. Some new guy by the name of Jochen Rindt was driving a new factory Alfa Romeo GTA. He had rolled the car during practice, somehow they put the car back together and Rindt won the race overall. Bob and I finished second to Rindt in the Dodge; we won our 5 liter class. I remember passing A.J. in turn one and waving to him as I did, Tony laughs. We were all so impressed with this new guy Rindt.

At Group 44 I had a seat built for the Spitfire so that I could lay back in it and emulate Clark. It also made the car impossible for anyone else to drive; my best thought was that it would save my ride. I wanted to be driving a Lotus 23, but had the Spitfire. My best race in the Spitfire was at Cumberland Maryland- in the rain. Bob Sharp was driving a 2-liter Datsun roadster. At the start, there was so much water that I could not see, I must have been about 30th on the grid. I pulled out after the start and had a clear shot all the way to turn one. I think after the first corner I was about sixth or 7th. I started closing in on Sharp and thought “I can catch this guy”. I took first overall in a 1300 cc Triumph Spitfire G Production.

OCCE: What driver impressed you most in you early days and why?

Tony: Before I started racing, I think Fangio. I did not have a particular hero initially. When I met Jimmy Clark and Jackie Stewart in 1965, they were driving Lotus Cortina’s. Jimmy was racing anything and everything he was my first hero.

Before I started racing I had met Dan Gurney in 1961. He took the time to say hello to me, at 12 Hr race Sebring, Fla. He was driving for the Porsche factory. Little did him, or I know that in 1969, eight years later, I would win a professional Formula A-5000 championship for him in a Gurney Eagle.

In 1965, I was invited to attend the Indianapolis 500 with my Auzzie friend Allen Moffit, an Australian Lotus Cortina driver. Dan Gurney had put this whole Indy thing together with Ford and Lotus. I don’t remember much about Dan’s car, I was focused on Clark. I remember that Clark had a distinctive helmet livery and all of a sudden that became important for me to duplicate when I was driving the Lotus Cortina.

OCCE: When did you win your first professional championship and what were you driving.

Tony: I wanted to drive formula cars. Fred Opert had formula cars, however in his stable also had a Porsche 911 that was sponsored by Valvoline- it was the beginning of the Trans-Am series for Porsche, but the car needed serious work. Opert did not have the additional funds to run the car for the next season and I thought that my Career was over. It was then that I received a call from Marvin Davidson, a partner in Bear Stearns investment group who had been driving Alfa sports cars on the East Coast.

He indicated that he was interested in fielding a car for the 1968 Trans-Am series and asked if I was interested in being the driver. He asked me which car should we run an Alfa or a Porsche 911? I asked him if he wanted to win the series, he of course said yes, my reply to him, he would have to sponsor the Porsche.

I packed all of my stuff into my retired Volvo that had been sitting for about a year, put some snow tires on it and a muffler and headed north to Wilton, Connecticut. Marvin had a Sunnoco garage & gas station, where it was my job to pump gas from 8:00 in the morning until noon, and later worked on building the 911. Mac Tilton was the chief project engineer; he and I, along with a few other local friends, built the car from scratch, there were no Porsche racing parts available to us at the time, so we made everything; including machining and heat treating new torsion bars and sway bars, to make the car unique and competitive at the time. RESULTS:
We won the 2-liter Trans-Am championship for Porsche that year.

OCCE: What was your next drive?

Tony: 1969- Question; what do you want to do now? I wanted to run a Formula car, so Marvin Davidson bought a year old Formula A-5000 Gurney Eagle chassis. Bill “Murph the Surf” Mayberry, the previous mechanic on the car, showed us how to work on and prepare the car.Marvin Davidson also ordered a brand new Eagle through AAR (All American Racers) Dan Gurney’s factory, to start off the season with the older car for a back up.

With only two weeks to our first race of the season at Riverside. We took the first car to Willow Springs, Ca. to get some track time. We were way over our heads and really did not know much about the car, this seemed to be right thing to do, get familiar with driving the Eagle. Practicing and learning the track, we ran a full tank of fuel out of it, about half a day’s worth of testing and went back to town for more fuel. Then we made the last “ski run of the day”. This car did not have the aero dynamic down force stabilizing wings like the new on we ordered; while exiting turn six, it went airborne while exiting the track, we found a big sand dune mound, catapulting the car as if by planned take off and I saw nothing but the horizon. My first thought was “this is going to hurt”. We destroyed the car. We started looking for missing parts and found the right front wheel and brake rotor and caliper assembly a stone’s throw from the pit straight away. With my medical clearance, indicating minor cuts and bruised ribs, the team took the car to Bob Bondurant’s Driving School. At the time, his shop, was located in So. California. We stripped it down for the useable parts. Meanwhile our New Eagle was being completed in Santa Ana, for a late delivery for the first race.
Finally, we arrived at Riverside raceway with the new Eagle. I was so sore from the incident at Willow Springs that it was hard just getting in and out of the car. Sam Posey just wrote off his brand new Eagle in a shunt during practice. After the start of the race, John Cannon took off in his very fast Eagle. I worked myself into second, but every bump was killing my bruised ribs. Lothar Motchenbacher another resident of Orange County finally caught up with me in his new McLaren and passed me in turn nine. Cautiously we finished third in my very first formula A-5000 race.

Unbelievable, as this was the first time I ever drove a formula car, let alone a 1400 lb car with nearly 500 HP. We ended up winning the 13 race championship that year. Point of interest, “When contemplating victory one must have complete control over the preparation of the car”, Marvin Davidson provided me the opportunity to do so. This was a back to back professional championships result.

OCCE: How did the Ferrari drive come about?

Tony: Marvin Davidson and Ferrari Importer, Luigi Chinetti, N.A.R.T. (North American Racing Team) were friends and discussed the 1970 24 hours of Daytona, Fla. Chinetti had two Ferrari 312P’s. Sam Posey and Michael Parks were to share one car, David Piper and I assigned to the second. The 3-liter class was pretty much covered with the 312P’s. Basically, it was a formula one car, with a formula one engine and a slick aero body. The car was so much fun to drive anywhere on the track, with an engine that would turn 11,000 revs. These cars were so slick; it had an overall height of less than 40 inches tall!

During the race, Parks crashed and the only spare radiator that we had was put on his car. The track was coming apart and under the asphalt surface was coral. The coral base finally damaged our radiator as well, with no spare replacement; we ran the car without water for over 5 and ½ hours. The only thing we could do is watch the oil temp. When it would go up, we would lay back. We ended up second in 3-liter prototype class and fifth overall. The sister car won the class, Amazing that a high strung Italian F1 engine could run 5 1/2 hours with out water, so much for the reliability theories of Ferrari.

That finish put me in a favorable position with David Piper and my first ride in a Porsche 917 was with him at Monza. The advantage that the Porsche 917 (K) had was that it the chassis was flexible. Initially driving the car, I told David that there was something wrong with the car, it would flex noticeably down the Monza Straight. David would assure me that is was normal. Other cars, like the Ferrari 312 and 512 were so rigid, that the chassis set up for dry or wet surfaces would be greatly affected. Not true with the Porsche, the car stayed more consistent, regardless of weather conditions.

Tony a2z Note: (The success of Porsche winning the World manufacturer’s Endurance Championship was in my opinion due to the compliance advantage of the 917K chassis in wet weather conditions).

OCCE: Tell us about your Highest Placed finish at 24 hr of Le Mans in 1971.

TONY: How it all started was with the Ferrari 312P rides that gravitated to the 512 series cars. I drove with Ronnie Bucknum in 1971 at 24 hrs of Daytona in a 512S. We finished 2nd behind The Famed Gulf Wyer Porsche 917K of Pedro Rodriquez and Jackie Oliver. We traded positions through out the race, finally finishing 2nd to them on the same lap in 24 hrs of racing. It was the closest finish in the history of the 24 hrs. Later I drove with Greg Young of Young American Racing Team in his 512 M-S conversion at Ecuador for the Marlboro 12 horas of Endurance. We won over all with his Ferrari.

Now came Le Mans in 71 and NART asked me to co drive with Sam Posey in their 512M. I had retained a pretty good long distance reliability reputation and NART wanted to do well at Le Mans. We were no match for the famed Porsche 917’s however, I consider we were 1st in class and 1st Ferrari overall at Le Mans 71. The Battle of the Titans was over between the Ferrari and Porsche. I had enjoyed finishing 1st in Ecuador, 2nd Daytona, 3rd at Le Mans. The new series would then revolve around the New 3 liter formula.

In 1971 I became one of the five International rated FIA drivers in the USA. One of the few living today that have driven both the Titans, the Famed Porsche 917K and the Ferrari 512 S-M series. I would drive the 917K’s of David Piper again at Watkins Glen, N.Y. and Kyalami, So Africa.

In 1972 I was asked by John Wyer himself to drive his New 3 Liter GULF Mirage at Osterech Ring and Watkins Glen. It was my honor and to do so, becoming the only American Driver to have driven for the Famous GULF Wyer racing team.

OCCE: Tell us about the (1979) 24-hour race at Daytona and the car that should not have won.

Tony: John Morton and I co-dove a Ferrari 365GTB in the 1979 24 hours of Daytona. Otto Zipper managed the team. The night before the race, Otto passed away. The team was ready to pack it all in. I told them that Otto would not want it this way and that we should continue in his behalf. The team was emotional, but I suggested that we had not come this far to quit now. We finished second overall in a car that by that time, was already vintage status. Otto had personally overseen the preparation of the car. It was beautifully prepared. Years later, I found out that Steel Thurkelston, who worked for Otto, had fabricated a new set of pistons for that race engine, creating a higher compression ratio. The engine never skipped a beat the whole race and 8,500 rpm was not uncommon. One of the crewmembers, prior to the start had painted a black stripe across the hood of the car in tribute to Otto and the crew wore black arm bands. This was a “Real Rocky” story, running strong and nearly beating out the twin turbo 935 Porsche winners.

OCCE: When was your last professional race?

Tony: Miami Grand prix in the Nissan GTP car.

OCCE: How has racing changed from your perspective from the glory days?

Tony: I can’t speak for CART, IRL or Formula 1 but believe that racing has inherited a lot of rules, rules that the driver has to relate to. My perception is that there are so many class rules, that things have become overly complicated, not so in our day. I also see bigger car fields with various skill levels of drivers. Back then, as a driver, you knew who they were and what their experience level was.
In today’s endurance racing, you’ll have 4-5 drivers per car, back then it was two.

The one thing that has stayed consistent is the desire to win. There is too much technology, it was more driver back then, and a good driver could make-up for the car. Testing was almost non-existent; you simply got in and drove. More fun. The commercial demands are far greater on the drivers today, with sponsors etc.

OCCE: What car or cars were your favorites, easy to drive, forgiving?

TONY: There were several, but the top three, Porsche 911, the Ferrari 312P and the Nissan 280zx turbo when I drove with Don Devendorf.

OCCE: The most challenging?

Tony: The Gurney Eagle, it was such an early development car and we were in so far over our heads.

OCCE: Tough question- Who do you personally think is, or was, the best racecar driver ever?

Tony: Probably (Jimmy) Clark.

OCCE: We concur.

OCCE: We understand that you have made a wee bit of a comeback, how did all of that come about?

Tony: It really started with groups like the Alfa club and Driving Concepts International, who invited me to instruct at various track events. I have since done some racing in NASA and BMW events, recently competed in a 13 hr SCCA endurance race with my old friend Derek Bell. It was a charity event for the cancer society that earned nearly $35g’s for cancer research.

OCCE: What are you doing now?

Tony: We have started a vintage race apparel company www.a2zracergear.com that has official licensing agreements with Carroll Shelby and Steve McQueen’s estate. We are doing retro jackets, shoes, hats, and T-shirts for racing enthusiasts.

My old Eagle F 5000 car is also being restored and we hope to test the car by February of next year. Doug Magnon of the Riverside-Ontario International museum now owns the car, and we will take the Eagle to a competitive level for its time. 2008 will be the 40th reunion of the Formula A-5000 cars with event starting in California and winding up at Watkins Glen, N.Y. in the fall. For those who missed the Glory Days, vintage racing today is about the show, sounds and sights of yesterday.

OCCE: Tony thanks for your time. It is always a pleasure seeing you.

If you love sports car racing from the glory days like we do, visit Tony’s web site; it is terrific. It is full of great Photo’s and history from the greatest time in racing. We thank Tony for the use of some of the photos as well.

O.C.C.E.