The original was made from a lighter gauge mild steel. In 1967, Bob led the GT Class at Le Mans with co-driver Dick Guldstrand in a stock L88 Corvette Sting Ray until retiring at the 15th hour. 2021 is a year that called on Pat and Bob Bondurant to focus their new direction; to move boldly and do the right things to fuel their continued legacy. Oh sure! I was going with a girl who I liked a lot, but she said, 'If we're going to get married you're going to have to stop racing motorcycles. I bought it for $40. Bob happened on a used car lot where Don was working. If I did well on the testdrive, I'd be driving the car the following year. The Depression caused Mr. Bondurant (and Cord) to fall victim to hard times when he lost his business, telling the family, we're going to move as far west as we can. Bob's father owned a car dealership that sold fast cars in nearby Chicago; very fast carsCords to be exact. I got a Model A roadster body and frame from Economy Auto Wrecking in Bishop and put it together. During his teens, Bondurant raced an Indian motorcycle on dirt ovals. "I went to the Cal Club (California Sports Car Club) and said I wanted to go racing. They gave me the signal to pull in and I decided to take one more lap.". This as around the time he caught the attention of Carroll Shelby, who was looking to hire the best drivers he could find for his new Ford Cobra team. I raced an Indian 101 Scout motorcycle at De Anza Park in Riverside. [citation needed], The famous Bondurant name has never been bought or sold. Silodrome was founded in 2010 as a website dedicated to Gasoline Culture and all it entails - We write about modern cars, classic cars, motorcycles, racing, gear, gadgets, clothing, boats, planes, airships and the occasional submarine.Read more Silodrome 2023. all rights reserved. >> Read more trending news He'd fallen out of the car! Bondurant, a member of 10 racing Hall of Fame classes, founded the driving school in 1968. Be a part of the unmatched history and credibility of the legendary Bondurant Brands and copyrighted teaching methodology. He had won the National Corvette Title, Le Mans GT, the World Championship, and the Baja 500 Between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races in Corvettes. It's constantly changing; technology advances, drivers get better, and times get faster. Died:. We started winning races. By the mid-1950s he was racing on four wheels in a British Morgan before switching to a Corvette and winning theWest Coast B Production Championship, taking victory in 18 out of 20 races. For 1967 he drove in the CanAm series and in a Corvette L88 Coupe at Le Mans. Bondurant left the Formula 1 race series to race the even faster Can-Am cars with best friend and team driver, Peter Revson, in the Lola T70 Mark II. 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. This one is likely to attract plenty of additional attention thanks to its influential former owner. Only four have returned since, he said. At 62, Bob grabbed a Third place podium finish at Road Atlanta in a Saleen Mustang in 1995. We barely got the spare parts in the truck. 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. Power is provided by a highly-tuned, period-correct Ford 289 V8 which sends power to the rear wheels via aZF five-speed manual transaxle. You can call it character, you can call it determination, or you can just call it guts. 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. While driving a McLaren at Watkins Glen, the car's steering arm fails at around 150 mph, which . "If I'd been strapped in the car I would have been decapitated. Bob realized his dream, opening the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving at Orange County Raceway on Valentine's Day 1968 with a Vee-Dub van (minus the peace signs and daisies), a Datsun 510, and a Formula V for starters. I'd never been to one before and I really liked watching them race. Funeral plans were not immediately available Sunday. He is survived by his wife, Pat, president and CEO of the Bondurant Racing School, who vows to continue the legacy of Bob's school. [citation needed], The current operators of the formerly leased facility have renamed the facility and has no affiliation with Bob Bondurant or the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving/ Bondurant Racing School. She vows to continue the legacy of the school. "I didn't think about the accident until we were doing the cool-off lap at the end of the race," he recalled. "I figured the ATS wasn't as fast as the Ferraris and after a few laps I began taking the corner flat-out at 150 mph. 69-year-old suffers stroke in his N.C. home; Realtor showing house leaves him there. Guildstrand asked Bob how to tell when he was approaching the Tertre Rouge corner at the end of the long (4381 feet) Mulsanne Straight at night. Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelly Washburn hired Bondurant in 1961 to drive his #614 1959 Corvette. They met at a Russo and Steele auction. 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. ", Guildstrand and Bob decided to fill the Corvette's tank with essence (fuel) and drive it to Le Mans. The CSX2345 had innovative, distinctive features including wider front fender flares, cutback doors, and a tilt-back windshield to reduce drag. By 12 years old, his parents were divorced, and he persuaded his mother to purchase a Whizzer electric bike to deliver his newspapers faster. Between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races in Washburn's Corvettes. The Whizzer got me into two wheels and from there I got a 125cc James two-stroke motorcycle. 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. According to his family and the Bondurant Racing School website, Bondurant died Friday in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. They moved to Westwood Village, near Beverly Hills, when Bob was 3 years old. There were also claims of derogatory comments about employees, pressure not to hire too attractive of women [sic], withholding important information from employees, and outright racism by Pat Bondurant, according to the report. Pat Bondurant secured a 51-percent stake in the school in 2010, about two months after she married Bob Bondurant, their son told Jalopnik. This was an important race for the GT40 as it was the models first international victory, with GT40s finishing 1st and 3rd. Instead of being kept at the track garages, the Ferrari F1 cars were at a Chevy dealer in town. Bondurant, 88, passed away last week unexpectedly and leaves behind his wife Pat Bondurant. Racer.com traced his life story: [], [] driving school founder Bob Bondurant died Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88,Racerhas [], [] and driving school founder Bob Bondurant died Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88, Racer has learned.The son of a car dealer, Bondurant began racing in Corvettes on the West Coast in the [], Bob Bondurant, 1933-2021 RACER - Jakhala.com, Racing legend Bob Bondurant lifeless at 88 Abrar Gadget Shop, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 AutoSector.com , BOB BONDURANT 1933-2021 The Road Racing Drivers Club, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 - Aftermarket Alloy Wheels, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 Born To Be Wild, All contents copyright 2023, Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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 had trouble seeing but by turning his face into the wind, the goggles would stay pressed against his face as long as he kept one finger on them while shifting with his other hand and grabbing the steering with his knees. Formula 1 came to the United States on a course steeped with racing history dating back to 1956: Watkins Glen. If youd like to read more about it or cast a bid you can visit the listing here. Gregory was at Monza instructing Bob on the difficult course. It turned out to be the ATS at Monza, Italy. He participated four times at 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing best in 1964 in the fourth place overall, and . In those days there were as many as 35 Vettes on the track at the same time. The school closed a month later, though, with no information as to why and no indication of whether it would reopenor how the closure would affect existing agreements, like Bondurants customer obligations to the brands it works with. Certainly Bob's life was altered for the better as he was a bona fide Californian now going to Union High School in Westwood. The Depression caused Mr.. After five decades of training racers of all skill levels, the Bondurant High Performance Driving School in Chandler, Arizona has new name, the Radford Racing School. She changed the subject. []. 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Full Film: The Opposite of Death Curtiss Motorcycle Co. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, THE BOB BONDURANT SCHOOL OF HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVING. This racing school is still going strong today and you can enroll for training here. As funds dwindled leading up to the bankruptcy, the schools former financial controller Lavida Arvizu, who also walked out, said employees didnt trust they would get paid without herself or Jason Bondurant around to make sure it happened. 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,. ", Bob made the big bucks$8 a night because he was in the novice class. Bondurant was one of two drivers (alongside Graham Hill) to help extricate Jackie Stewart from his fuel-leaking wrecked car during the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix, the incident that led to Stewart's crusade for motor racing safety. 2021-2022 Bondurant Racing School. If were going to leave, lets leave the right way and not be spiteful, he said. It's either me or the motorcycle.' Always in the back of his mind was going to Santa Barbara to watch the sports cars races, so Bob decided to try racing sports cars. 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. I told her it didn't work. Jack Brabham spun, Rindt spun twice, Bob worked his way through the spinning field driving a masterful race considering his handicap, and finished Ninth. You're right, that's "tea bagger" stuff but wait! He called me asking, 'Do you know how to drive?' Everyone who walked through the Bondurant doors was taught the copyrighted Bondurant Method, developed by the most respected Racing School in the world. Its a car that was developed to be indistinguishable from the original, despite the fact that it has a stronger chassis, a more heavy duty body, and even optional air-conditioning. The Bondurants intend to reopen their school under an all-new ownership and management structure, at an exciting new location, and are currently entertaining investor inquiries on opportunities to purchase the Bondurant Trademark License Rights. The walkout, he claimed, included all of the employees at work that day26 including the night shift. Tim Rose, the former general manager of the school, also told the abovestory to Jalopnik. ), "I had never been to Europe before so it was exciting to be able to race there," Guildstrand continues. He was 88. Ask any race car driver and they will tell you, on the edge, exceeding the limits, is where harmony is found. He drove for Carroll Shelby and teamed with Dan Gurney. Image courtesy of the Bondurant Archives. He raced the Shelby Cobra CSX2345 through the 1964-1965 racing circuits and locked in more wins than anyone else on Shelby's team. 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