All American Racers founder Dan Gurney was honored last week at the International Historic Motoring Awards in London, which awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award. The record that helped Gurney garner the award should be well known to most, but to capsulize let’s just say he started 312 races in his career, scoring 51 wins and 47 other podium placings, all despite questionable luck that often left him standing trackside next to a broken car after having dominated a race.
Beyond mere statistics he’s also the man who hooked Ford up with Lotus to fuel the rear-engined revolution at Indianapolis, teamed with A.J. Foyt to win Le Mans for Henry Ford II in 1967, helped sustain McLaren Cars with a pair of Can-Am wins in the wake of founder Bruce McLaren’s untimely death, and created AAR to build winning American racing cars for more than 30 years. And those are just the highlights. As Dan was unable to attend, his friend and former teammate Sir Stirling Moss accepted the award.
Other award winners included: McPherson College’s Automotive Restoration program for Industry Supporter of the Year; the “Beast of Turin” Fiat S76 for Car of the Year; the Rennsport Reunion V for Motorsport Event of the Year (see separate item); the Mercedes-Benz Museum for Museum or Collection of the Year; and Porsche Historic Motorsports’ 1971 Porsche 917 as Restoration of the Year. For the complete list of winners, please visit www.HistoricMotoringAwards.com
