The body is made from fiberglass, just like the Ford GT40s, however its a slightly thicker lay up that was developed to stand the test of time, with no warping or spider webbing/stress cracking. [3][4], The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was the largest purpose-built driving school in the world. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The allegations revolve around Pat Bondurant, the schools president of eight years, CEO since 2017 and wife of founder Bob Bondurant. For the 1964 FIA season after finishing 2nd in GT at Sebring, Bondurant was in Europe racing the new 289 FIA Cobras at the Targa Florio, Spa, and Nurburgring. The car you see here isnt an original GT40, its a replica built by ERA GT for Bondurant in the same specification and livery of the car he drove at Daytona in 1965. The pair needed money to race so Bob and Don went to work for Peyton Cramer who owned Dana Chevrolet in South Gate, known for its high-performance Corvettes, as well Camaros. [citation needed], The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has graduated over 500,000 drivers since its opening in 1968. Copyright 2021 Associated Press. Right now, Bondurant's class sizes are about 60 percent full,. His Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has been responsible for training generations of American racing drivers. Over the years 52 drivers and 35 spectators have lost their lives on the 3.6-mile track. He raced factory Ferrari GTs and Porsche prototypes, had brief spells in. ", Dick Guildstrand of Guildstrand Motorsports in Burbank was the manager: "Dana was number one in sales on the West Coast because we were racing," Guildstrand states. The interior is an almost exact replica of the original, with the exception of the Bob Bondurant signature on the glovebox of course. Bob's first entry into Formula 1 was one that almost took his life in the ill-fated ATS Grand Prix Car he was about to drive on one of the deadliest tracks in racingMonza. Bob is the first and only American to bring the World SportsCar Championship trophy home to America in the legendary Shelby Daytona Coupe No. What a career. Bob Bondurant left a legacy behind, which may be counted in lives saved, trophies won, and trained racing drivers. WATKINS GLEN INTERNATIONAL, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA JULY 25: Bob Bondurant in his McLaren M8E/D Chevrolet Can-Am, leads Pete Revsons McLaren M8F Chevrolet at Watkins Glen in 1971. Of course we're blowing dirt up in the air from the exhaust so you could see us coming. Being new, he was unaware the drivers carried spare goggles around their neck. Porsche, after witnessing how the school increased Datsun's profile, supplied Bondurant with Porsche 911s and Porsche 914s. This was said in a group of all my managers in a managers meeting: When she got back from Washington, D.C. for Trumps inauguration, she came back and said, Oh my god, when President Obama was elected all the black people must have followed him there because it was like going through Planet of the Apes, Jason Bondurant recalled. We started winning races. In the interim, Bob did get back on track (or the horse so to speak), knowing he had a growing business to fall back on should anything catastrophic happen again, entering a Can-Am race June 1970 driving a Chevy Lola T160. For the early part of the past year, it appeared that a sorry end awaited the school that had been founded by Robert L. Bondurant, a world champion racer, in 1968 in Orange County, California,. Bob Bondurant, champion driver and founder of the Bondurant Racing School, passed away Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88. Not long after he was born in Illinois in 1933, his. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving opened in early 1968 at Orange County International Raceway then moved to Ontario and then to Sonoma, where he was an important figure in the track's development. The land limitations only allowed Bob to put the small version of his dream training facility in Chandler, Arizona at Firebird Raceway,[5] now known as Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. Bondurant was actively at the track every day, enthusiastically greeting his new students until he was well over 85 years old. He raced motorcycles on dirt tracks as a teenager before switching to cars in 1958 and racing for the Shelby American, Ferrari and Eagle teams. ATS was formed by disenchanted team members who broke away from Ferrari, including Phil Hill. Is a Ram 1500 TRX the Ideal Winter Vehicle? Its what gives you the confidence to be bold and to push harder. Temperature-controlledHook up to both your hot and cold water so you can control the temperature plus it comes with a heated seat. The Depression caused Mr.. On Twitter, his family wrote that he "passed away in his sleep after a short illness." I'd never been to one before and I really liked watching them race. Bondurant relocated the driving school to Phoenix following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California. Our goal is always to be better than we were before because looking forward doesn't just happen on race day; it happens every day.". "It had Edelbrock heads and intake manifold, plus a light flywheel; it was a sleeper. She said to me that we should stop hiring people from Chandler or Gilbert, Arvizu wrote. The CSX2345 had innovative, distinctive features including wider front fender flares, cutback doors, and a tilt-back windshield to reduce drag. "If I'd been strapped in the car I would have been decapitated. Bob happened on a used car lot where Don was working. "I went to the Cal Club (California Sports Car Club) and said I wanted to go racing. I was taking my buddy around the track and said, 'This is really great isn't it?' For her part, [front desk employee Heidi] Johnson said she overheard Pat Bondurant say that staffers should tell female students to not dress like prostitutes. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003. 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 also drove BRMs in five Grands Prix for Team Chamaco Collect, finishing 4th at Monaco. A man who made his F1 debut in a Ferrari no less and won Le Mans in a Shelby Cobra Daytona alongside Dan Gurney. The Great Depression altered countless lives and maybe some for the better. "Bob Bondurant has had a worldwide impact on the motorsports industry, and his legacy will live on eternally as the Bondurant Racing School moves forward into the future," Phoenix Raceway President Julie Giese said in a statement. It's constantly changing; technology advances, drivers get better, and times get faster. Now thats doing your business in luxury. This story has been updated with allegations from the Bondurant schools former general manager, Tim Rose, and comment from FCA. He was 88. Bondurant taught stunt driving, competition driving, police pursuit driving, evasive driving for . Bob Bondurant, 88, has had some health concerns over the last few years and has stepped back a bit from the business. >> Read more trending news Bob Bondurant was born in Evanston, and moved to California with his family. Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - Contact Us, Sculpture: An Original Ferrari Testarossa Side Mirror, A Rare Tommykaira ZZ: The Japanese Sports Car Made Famous By Gran Turismo, Theres A Rover Vitesse SD1 TWR Group A Spec Touring Car For Sale, The Most Beautiful Car Ever Made A Jaguar E-Type Project Car, For Sale: An Italian Corvette The Iso Rivolta IR 300, An Original 1980s Sega Super Hang-On Arcade Machine. The catalyst of the walkout was this, according to the ClassicCars.com Journals conversation with the schools vice president Jason Bondurant: Jason Bondurant said he and former financial controller Lavida Arvizu were instructed by Pat Bondurant not to tell employees the school was running out of funds as she mulled filing for Chapter 7, which would have immediately shut down operations. American racing legend Bob Bondurant has passed away aged 88. If were going to leave, lets leave the right way and not be spiteful, he said. It featured a 15-turn, 1.6-mile road course, an eight-acre asphalt pad for advanced training with more than 100 race-prepared vehicles, sedans, and open-wheel cars. He also worked trained actors for race-car movies such as the 1966 "Grand Prix . Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) -- Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors for their movie roles, has died. Sadly, Bob died in 2021 after some years of poor health. This is an ERA GT that was built for Bob Bondurant, it was driven by the famed American racing driver a number of times and kept in his private collection. As Bob went through the corner the rear axle broke sending him off the course backward and down a ravine. He is survived by his wife Pat. As a result, the schools assets, not the Bondurant name, were sold off in 2019. For 1967 he drove in the CanAm series and in a Corvette L88 Coupe at Le Mans. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc., 17030 Red Hill Avenue, Irvine, CA 92614, 949.417.6700 ERA GTs often sell for six figure sums when they do come up for sale, such is the esteem in which they are held. The second was teaching the world to become champions., "As the President and CEO of Bondurant, I have always known that being the best in the world isn't easy and isn't a fixed point. He was flown to England to receive medical attention. Nissan Motor Company (under Datsun name in the U.S.) was Bondurant's sponsoring partner in his school from its beginning, and continued in that role at the Sonoma Raceway driving school. Bondurant sustained serious rib, leg, foot and, most seriously, back injuries in the subsequent accident in which his car flipped eight times. His legacy will remain with us forever. [citation needed], Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Successful successions: Business owners plan for smooth retirement transition", "Last Year Firebird Raceway and the Arizona NHRA Nationals; In 2014 it's Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bob_Bondurant_School_of_High_Performance_Driving&oldid=1137791074, This page was last edited on 6 February 2023, at 13:15. It could happen again, if it did and the results were worse, how would he make a living, Bob wondered? [citation needed], The famous Bondurant name has never been bought or sold. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. - Champion Race Car Driver Bob Bondurant died in Paradise Valley on Nov. 12 at the age of 88. Pat and Bob Bondurant intend to reopen their school under an all-new ownership and management structure, at an exciting new location, and are currently negotiating opportunities to purchase the Bondurant Trademark License Rights. In less than a years time, enough financial and infrastructural damage had taken place to force the legendary racing school into Chapter 11 protection. By 1970, the school relocated to the nearby Ontario Motor Speedway. This week's reunion will be calmer, just a few minutes quietly recalling the life-changing event as . In 1968 Bob Bondurant founded the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and set out to establish one company, working as one team to be the best in the world. Between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races in Washburn's Corvettes. In 1965 Bondurant won the FIA Manufacturers' World Championship for Shelby American and Ford, winning seven out of ten races against the class dominating Ferrari 250 GTOs in Europe. He won his class at Le Mans and has been inducted into 10 motorsports halls of fame. Within a few years Bondurant had become one of the most promising drivers on the West Coast, between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races driving Corvettes for Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelly Washburn. The ClassicCars.com Journal report includes numerous detailed, on-the-record accounts from multiple former employees, and many of those accounts are substantiated in the sites comment section. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 2. After 13 hours their lone Corvette packed it in with a broken wrist pin. Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in Orange County in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors how to drive fast for their movie roles,. Bondurant trackside with Carroll Shelby while racing for the Cobra legend's team in the 1960s . In the same year he drove a works Ferrari Formula 1 car during the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, and handled a Lotus 33 for Reg Parnell at the following Mexican race. By the time he was 18; he was racing an Indian Scout motorcycle, and moved to sports cars in 1956 at the wheel of a Morgan. When he made the decision to leave, he said, other employees went with him. November 14, 2021 / 2:02 PM This particular ERA GT is finished to the specification of the car driven by Bondurant in the 1965 Daytona Continental. My dad took me to Gilmore Stadium when I was 7 to watch the races and that got me interested in racing. In 1967 while driving a McLaren CanAm car at Watkins Glen, Bondurant was seriously injured in a horrific crash when the steering arm failed at 150 mph. In 1989, Bob was invited to Firebird Raceway in Chandler, AZ to consider a lease agreement to build the world's first purpose-built driver training facility. We used to go to my aunt's house for Christmas dinner and my cousin had a big four-door Jag Mark VII. Mini Bio (1) Bondurant raced cars in the 1960s with some success until a crash at Watkins Glen, in New York curtailed his career. Bob Bondurant was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1933. Everyone who walked through the Bondurant doors was taught the copyrighted Bondurant Method, developed by the most respected Racing School in the world. Bob must've pinched himself: it was one thing to cruise the streets in his hot rod, but in a Formula 1 Ferrari! Articles that Ben has written have been covered onCNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine,Road & Track Magazine,the official Pinterest blog, theofficialeBay Motorsblog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more. While recuperating from a race car crash, he came up with the idea of a high-performance driving school. Now thats doing your business in luxury. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. Bob Bondurant, a champion race car driver who later opened a driving school in 1968 and taught several top actors, died Friday. Full Film: The Opposite of Death Curtiss Motorcycle Co. Bob and I are deeply saddened by the negative rumors that have been published around the Schools recent Chapter 11 filing, the statement from Pat Bondurant read. He was 88. Bob had never driven a Grand Prix Ferrari at all, and now he was about to go cruising not only through town, but out through the countryside to the track in a full-blown F1 car. They have no idea where we are going.". Bondurant began his racing career as many did in the United States, riding an American built motorcycle around an oval track. He was 88. (You can judge by this account how quickly the safety crews got to Bob.) The starting lineup of cars included Datsun 240Zs, 510s,[8] 2000 convertibles, a Lola T70 Can-Am car, and a Formula Vee. Bob's fleet has grown to 200 race-prepared Cads, Vettes (naturally), open-wheel Formula cars, and karts. "Then I thought, 'Wow, those trees are pretty tall!'". I had learned how to ride the bike by now. A spokesperson for the school said they could not provide expansion on that statement or interviews right now, as they said the team there is focused on the schools restructuring. Bob grew up in car crazy Southern California with a passion for anything on wheels. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving at the best online prices at eBay! The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was initially opened by World Champion and ten time hall of fame inductee Bob Bondurant at the Orange County International Raceway near Los Angeles, CA under the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving name. , in 1933 never been bought or sold Shelby Daytona Coupe no disenchanted team members broke... 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