All language subtitles for Racing Through the Forest (2016) BR

Carroll
Shelby now in the lead,

car number 98.

The Premier Maserati burning up
the course

Johnny von Neumann in second
place

and Richie gets a turn over 190.

The 3.5 Ferrari in third.

Old times, watch
56 for obstruction.

Watch 56.

It's 1190, spun
out right behind the bales,

I couldn't see the number on the
car.

Moving, moving, very,
very fast.

Johnny von Neumann right
behind Carroll Shelby.

- Pebble Beach was
almost like a storybook.

Beautiful scenery.

Just the smell of all those
trees

and everything so pure it seems
like.

I think that's what I
remember, Pebble Beach.

- Pebble Beach was always a race
track

we always look forward to
because

it was rather prestigious
and a wonderful venue.

- There was no question that the
king

of the racetracks in Northern
California

was Pebble Beach.

- We've got the fire
truck on an escape road

at six.

Keep him there and
tell him to stay there.

Okay.

Keep him there
and tell him to stay there

at turn six, hold him there.

Oh, somebody
lost a wheel on six.

Is he alright?

Did he flip?
No, he didn't flip.

Good.

Pebble beach has
grown to be world renowned,

but in the beginning, it was a
glorious,

beautiful place to go racing.

- Anybody associated with a
sports car

would have been at Pebble Beach.

- The smells at Pebble Beach.

The smell, the feel.

Even the rain time was
beautiful.

And driving around, it's
still kind of like that now.

But back then it was stunning,

it was a world apart from
the rest of the world.

- The crowd was pretty huge
all the way around the track.

Probably three or four
deep, maybe 10 deep.

Along the snow fencing that
would keep

the cars out of the crowd.

- I mean, people were crossing
the track

while it was going on.

- Pebble Beach course was
surrounded by

what they call soft pine trees.

And I can assure you
that the only soft part

is the first quarter
of an inch of the tree.

After that it gets really hard.

- The very wealthy folks were
there,

even without the racing.

But they came out for the
races in their beautiful cars.

- I thought there was
a lot of people there

and of course, you could
walk around in the course

and get near the racetrack
and see the action

and that's the kind of thing we
did.

- Any young kid that had a part
time job

could buy himself a used car,

fix it up and go racing.

- When you think about
the fact the first race

was 1950 and how that event,
Pebble Beach,

evolved over the next six, seven
years

and how it gained national
publicity

and in some cases,
international publicity.

It meant so much to the sport

in terms of expanding the
awareness

of sport cars racing.

It really was the foundation
of sports car racing

in the West Coast because it
persisted,

then it led to a point where

it was recognized around the
world.

- My neighbor had an XK120

and he walked over the
house one day, apartment,

and he said, "You want to go to
the races

"out at Pebble Beach?"

I said, what's that?

- Before World War Two, there
was very little road racing

in the U.S., most of it
was on circuits, tracks,

and the big race, of
course, was Indianapolis.

After the war, some of the
soldiers

who had been in England, found
MGs.

The MG had come out with
a new car called the MGTC

and some of the guys were able

to bring them over.

They were very different
from American cars,

which were big and kind
of clunky in those days.

Road racing in the United States
started

in 1947 at Watkins Glen.

They had pretty much
yearly races after that.

1954 was the last time and they
built

a Watkins Glen race course,

which is still one of the major

road racing courses in the U.S.
now.

- There was a young man by
the name of Sterling Edwards

living in Beverly Hills, who
was a very accomplished pilot,

which put him under the
immediate wing

of General Curtis Lemay in the
Pentagon.

And in the three and four
ensuing years,

they became so close and they
found out

they had cars in common.

When the war was over,
everyone went their own way.

At the same time '45 or '46,
half a dozen

young men in Boston thinking
they wanted

to formulate a body with
which they could enjoy

and preserve sports cars.

When they finally got
themselves a legal entity,

the Sports Car Club of America.

- Now that they had a real
core group of Road Racers,

that wanted to see this not only
continue,

but grow, they were constantly
searching

for more venues.

- Curtis Lemay went to
his peers at the Pentagon

and convinced them, they could
withstand

the probable liability
of running race cars

on a government airport.

- In the area, there was an
abandoned Naval air field

north of San Francisco called
Cotati.

It was still abandoned, it had
been used

by midnight drag racers and kids
out there

just having fun.

And the FCCA took it over and it
became

kind of their defacto home
because they had control of it.

- General LeMay was a real
character,

he had a car.

He set it up so we could
race on basis.

- Cotati is typical of
airports, flat, featureless,

not a real hospitable place,

very few creature comforts.

- It was very casual, people
would put together a race

and we'd all go paint
the numbers on our car,

do the race and take
them off and drive home.

- I think it was the attraction
was first

to race the cars anyway they
could

and obviously the attraction
for people to watch

these up and coming drivers
as they were at the time.

- Just imagine trying to race

through Golden Gate Park now
by going to San Francisco

and saying, hey, we'd like
to have this place closed

for three days and we're gonna
bring

100,000 people in and
have probably 300 cars

and I don't think anybody will
get killed.

It was just because Curtis LeMay

had gotten his nose in the tent

that it sort of saved all their
concerns.

- The people who had been
to races on the East Coast

said no, Road Races,

had roads go through all kinds
of terrain.

- Sterling Edwards was
very sensitive to the fact

that we needed to find a place
to race.

- Sterling was a good friend of
mine

and also the family.

- Sterling Edwards was a
classmate of Jack Morse,

the owners of Del Monte Forest
in college.

Jack Morse had ideas of building
homes

in the Del Monte Forest,
so this was a natural way

to promote potential
construction of new homes.

- My brother, John
Morse, he liked the idea.

My father did not like the idea

because he thought
someone would get killed,

which of course, they did.

Dear Mr. Pfund,
it is a pleasure to give you

all the information we have to
date

on the proposed Road Race at
Pebble Beach,

Del Monte Properties,
California.

This should easily be a
national event one day.

Hoping this letter gives
you enough information

regarding our current
West Coast activities,

I remain sincerely, Sterling
Edwards.

February 10, 1950.

- So they continued to look to
venues

that they could rely on from
year to year.

One of the key movers behind
this

was Kjell Qvale.

Kjell, being the MG importer,

was the primary source
for race cars of that era,

pre 1950 and the MG Car
Club of Northern California

was the main vehicle in which
events

were organized and promoted.

- Kjell was more a race
organizer in those days.

He'd gone to Watkins Glen
earlier

and saw how the FCCA could
put on a weekend event.

He needed some organization,
the California one.

So Kjell organized the event
with the help of my mom

and mom was sort of the
Owner's Club representative

for our import company and
Kjell put on the races.

- Kjell Qvale who was so active

in Northern California region,

a terrific guy and great
organizational skills.

- Sterling Edwards and
Bill Breeze were customers

of my dad and they bought
MGs and they were part

of the MG Owner's Club and
they knew the Morse family

down in Pebble Beach
and could go down there

and try a 17 mile drive on for
size.

- I remember dad telling me a
story

of how he went down and
met with Bill Breeze

and over lunch on a napkin,

drew out the layout

four the course and after lunch,

they hopped in a car and they
went out

and drove the course
and that was going to be

the first Pebble Beach Road
Race.

- First they were going
to use 17-mile drive

and their various configurations

and finally they settled on the
course,

which revolves around the Polo
Grounds.

- And designed the
course, I think that was

in the Spring of 1950.

- So in 1950, the first race was
held.

- This was a prestigious event,

you wanted to go there
and you wanted to win.

- It was all out racing.

We truly enjoyed it.

- I just think there's
something very special

about the area around Pebble
Beach.

The mystique of the trees and
forest.

There's a more elevated sense
than to be,

baking out in the sun on some
airport circuit somewhere.

- In the beginning, you see the
lineups,

there were a lot of MGs, some
Jaguars,

Allards, the Allards were
tremendously powerful,

the MGs weren't.

The Jaguars were somewhere in
between

and they could manage the course

with competent driving.

- The reason that there were so
many MGs

at the first few Pebble
Beach Road Races is,

basically they were sports cars

that were adaptable to be raced,

but they were also fairly low
priced.

I think they had
maybe 50 or 60 entries.

They had a good crowd.

I think they surprised
themselves.

- Some of the names of race
drivers

who went on to become quite
famous

that participated at Pebble
Beach,

are household names for most any
race fan

and beyond that.

The first one that comes
to mind is Phil Hill.

Phil Hill was the winner
of the very first race

at Pebble Beach and a Jaguar
that

he had brought back from
England.

- The XK120 was just the
sleekest, newest,

most modern sports car of the
day.

There were some others
around, but this was

the new, lightweight foreign
sports car.

My dad went up to Pebble Beach
having done

all sorts of modifications with
his friend, Richie Ginther.

They were both very skilled in
mechanics,

but the problem was the
engine wouldn't start,

so he had to push start the car.

And he just tore off, just
going through the gears,

tearing through the field

and about halfway through the
race,

he had actually done a
great job working his way

through the field and Richie
Ginther puts out a sign

as he's going by the pits
and says, "Long lead."

Well my dad, being the bundle of
nerves

and anxiety and thinking he's
probably still in last place,

thinks that a guy named
Long is leading the race.

Well, what Richie was telling
him is

you have a long lead, you
can cool it, you know.

- He could handle just
about any kind of car.

And he would do well and
generally win.

- We raced against each other

and beat each other a many, many
times

here in the states and in Europe
also.

The thing I remember
most about the race is

we were sitting in the
garage the night before

and he says, "The ass end is
coming loose all the time."

I says, well, maybe if
we put a little weight,

add a little weight in the back
end.

He and I took some coat hangers

and put some weight in
the back end of the car

and he had the race is over he
said,

"It didn't help a damn thing,
did you know

"it wouldn't help a damn thing?"

We got to laughing about it
after that.

That was a great race, that
was a great place to race

and historically, we don't have

those kind of places anymore.

Phil was down there an artist

and whatever he did, it was 100%

and I savor the thoughts of him
every day

that he was probably one of
the greatest endurance drivers

who won Le Mans three times,
was second twice I think,

and he was the greatest
of our era at Le Mans.

- As we know now, Phil had an
expertise,

had an uncommon ability

to take a car

and make it dance and talk.

- You know, all in all, that
made

for such a great win and a huge
weekend

for the both of them, my dad and
Richie.

Turn one
there's a dog on the course,

on turn one.

On turn one?

Between the
starting point and turn one.

A big one or little one?

It's a large
brown one, it's by a tree.

Spectators are getting him.

- While the '50s were the
beginning

in sports car craze in this
country

and around the world,
and back in the '50s,

it was very informal.

You grabbed what you
got and you went with it

and there wasn't a lot
of money being spent

like there is today.

- Always wanted to be a race car
driver,

but I didn't know how to do it,
you know.

Who knows how to become a race
car driver

when you're 17 or whatever.

Met a guy along the way, Dave
Carter,

who had his father had a parts
store

and he and I teamed up,

and we built a race car
together.

- In those days, you know
you could just drive your car

to the races, very few
people had trailers.

When we'd go to the
races, there was usually

oh anywhere from five to eight
guys

and we'd pick up more guys along
the way

and we'd rat race all
the way up to these races

and it was pretty thrilling
because,

you know, we were really
racing on public roads

at that time.

- In those days, you could build
a car

and go out and compete before

the factories got into it.

A lot of them did,
Roger Barlow, Ken Miles.

- It was kind of a glory days.

It was the days, when
if you wanted to race,

you could get an MG or a car
like an MG

and by not spending a
lot of money, at least,

get a car on the grid, have some
fun.

There weren't a lot of
requirements

as far as licensing or what not.

If you wanted to race
and were in good health,

you could race.

- When you go really back
and quite a few generation,

you know, 20 to 30 years ago,

cars it was pretty dangerous.

In fact, I mean, one of
the main reasons I race

was because it was dangerous.

You know, when you're 17, 18
years old,

you want to do something crazy.

- So I think of Pebble Beach,

I think of Bill Pollack.

Bill Pollack had the best
winning races around there

and I think for three or four
years

he always won the race on Pebble
Beach.

- My ride at Pebble Beach really
started

at Hollywood.

I was driving a TCMG at the time

and I dropped in on a
friend of mine, Al Moss,

and we were just talking and he
said,

"By the way, there's a
guy up there in Tacoma

"that just bought a new Allard
and looking for a driver."

I said, really?

So then I called Carstens.

He says, "What kind of
experience have you had?"

I said well, I said I won the
novice race at Palm Springs

and I did this and said.

He said, "Have you ever ride in
a Allard?"

And I said, well, yeah, sort of,
okay.

So there was the car, it
was absolutely beautiful

and they said, "Well,
you want to take it out?"

I said, well, yeah, I
think so, yeah, okay.

And they said, "Well, she's
ready to go."

- Well, this car is a fabulous
car.

It's got a great racing
history and Pollack

was a really good driver.

It's fun to drive, it's
very dangerous to drive

because the rear end flips
out on you very fast.

You go around a corner too
fast and don't handle it right

and you find yourself going
the opposite direction.

But the sound is lovely.

It's the noisiest sports car
I've ever heard in my life.

It's got no mufflers.

It's a straight exhaust a big
Cadillac V8,

but it's a great car, fun to
drive, and a lot of noise.

- My father had a very hot MGTC

that was well know, number 88.

Driven first by Bill Pollack

and later on by Jack McAfee.

And Bill went out on the course

and did some great laps with it.

Next time he came around the
pits,

my father was standing way out,

almost into the track
and signaling to come in.

So Bill came into the corner.

Bill was thinking he told me
later,

years later he says, "You
know I thought that was it,

"I thought John Edward
was just gonna can me.

"I done something wrong, he
didn't like the way I drove,

"I was gonna be out of
the race altogether.

"And when I stopped, he
came over to the car,

"he didn't say a word, opened
the door,

"the passenger side door, and
pulled out

"from the door pocket, his
scotch whiskey,

"that's what he wanted.

"As soon as that was done, I
was off and more practice."

- A name very well know, Carroll
Shelby

was an early competitor
throughout the West Coast.

He raced the first race and I
believe

he was the first winner at Santa
Rosa,

which was actually Cotati
Raceway in 1957.

So he goes back a long way.

Of course, Carroll Shelby is a
legend

for his development work
on the Cobra, the GT40,

the Sunbeam Tiger, a variety of
cars

and then on to a car
manufacturer.

- I was around him quite a bit

as he was involved in racing
and I really enjoyed him.

He was a great guy to be around

and he was full of good ideas,
you know.

He had a lot of ideas and
I was not surprised at all

to see him end up putting
together that Cobra deal with
Ford

and he just very capable of
doing those kind of things.

- I think the best thing that
really explains Carrol Shelby

is they didn't call him
Billy Sol for nothing.

And if you knew any history
about American

Billy Sol Estes was one

of the greatest Texas oil
scammers

in the business and that was
Shelby.

He was a fabulous salesman.

He could convince everybody in
management

that he had great ideas and he
collected

the best people around him and
built

probably the best racing
team that we've ever had

in America at that time.

- Won Le Mans, won the World
Sports Car Championship,

a legend.

- My father realized that with
the power

that these guys were making,
in the old cad Allards,

some of these big American V8s,

that the Jag simply wasn't
gonna be able to keep up.

So he sold the Jag, the XK120

and he bought an Alpha
Romeo 8C, a beautiful car,

but he sold it so he
could go on to purchase

his next race car,
which is when he started

getting into Ferrari.

- Behind me is the 1953
Ferrari 250 MM Vignale Spyder.

That probably is most associated

with its original owner.

It was purchased new by Phil
Hill in 1953

and he drove it up to the
Pebble Beach Road Races

that happened in April
that particular year.

My understanding is that
he was qualified mid-grid

between some Cadillac
and a bunch of C types.

But Phil being Phil and
the driver that he was,

by about lap 24 of the race,
took the lead

and he went on to win.

This being his first win in a
Ferrari,

and I think it's because
of the drives in this race

that he became aware
for the Ferrari factory

and he secure one of
his many factory drives,

which ultimately landed
him the full factory drive

and he went on to become, you
know,

the first American Formula One
drivers World Championship.

- Well there wasn't any
official qualifying to say,

people just ran there and they'd
stick you in line someplace

where they felt you might be
competitive

or more or less equal
with the surrounding cars.

- I walked over to the
reception area was

and we went in, we said,
we want to go in your race.

They said, "Okay, where
are your licenses?"

We'd never been to a race
before.

"Okay, sign here!"

- Our entry fee was $15.

And the other thing too is that

we could drive the car and look
like this.

- Race cars all of a sudden
became cars

you could drive on the streets.

Virtually impossible to drive
today

a race car on the street,
but also the '60s or '70s.

Up to that point in
time, you could actually

drive your car, put on a Randall
helmet

if you're advanced.

Some guys, they never wear
helmets

and you would go racing.

- On the qualifying that day

I got on to that back straight

and there was a Morgan.

And I think he was stopping

to get sandwiches or something,

but he was just puttering along,
you know.

And when I came in, everybody's
looking

at their stopwatches saying,
"What the hell happened?"

And I explained what happened.

And they said, "Well, we're very
sorry

"about Mr. Pollack's
misadventure,

"but we have a whole lot of cars

"that have to qualify and
he can if he wants to,

"he can go out at the end of
qualifying."

By now I'm really pissed off
too that I've got to wait

all afternoon and you know.

So I went out and was
gonna do a flying lap

and I came by the start and
finish.

Absolutely flawed.

And just past the start and
finish

is just this little bit of a
bend

and when I got into it, I
realized

that I was going just
about 10 miles an hour

too fast.

I'm feathering the brakes

and doing this and doing that

and it's just no way, I'm
not gonna make the turn.

So when I got to the end, I just
spun

and I killed the engine.

I said, well, that's it now,
whatever.

Whatever they want to do.

So they put me on the pole.

We don't want to see that again.

Spin out on turn one,

spin out on turn one.

- This is the 1953 Tatum GMC
Special.

Was built in Stockton,
California

by Chuck Tatum.

Chuck was a young man having
just returned

from World War Two in the
Pacific.

He was a survivor of the
first wave on Hiroshima.

- Well the idea to find the
Tatum Special,

was the fact that I'd always
been interested in race cars.

And I'd built a lot of race
cars before the Tatum Special.

- This is a car that was,

according to Chuck, built almost
on a bet.

- One time, I was at a race

in Stockton, California Road
Race

and they had a lot of big,
famous cars out there.

One of them was called a
Cadillac Allard,

and that was a real fast car,

no one could beat it, actually.

- He was having dinner one night

with Sammy Weiss and with

Phil Hill in Stockton

ahead of the Road Races.

- Someone says, "It's hard
to ever beat an Allard".

I said, well, I could.

And they said, "Well,
how could you do that?"

I said, well, I'd make a
car that could out run it.

They said, "No, no, forget all
that."

- And there was a lot of
discussion.

I suspect there were some
jokes back and forth.

- And later on, one of
the guys there says,

he came to me and he says,

"Is that really true, you can
build a car

that would beat an Allard?"

I said, absolutely.

- But this is what resulted.

So, what do we have here?

Tube frame, coil over shock
absorbers

on a rear axle, all four junk
yard suspension components.

Big GMC truck motor and a
beautiful aluminum body.

And that is the Tatum GMC
Special,

as it was.

First raced in 1953.

- There was a certain amount of
talent

that was developed just
by the men being there

and racing and every
race, they got better.

They learned more about their
vehicle,

their vehicles got better,

and therefore, their talent
grew.

- That whole era of designing
cars

and building them and racing
them.

Was so influential in my life

because you got to see
guys who built stuff

with their hands.

And the lines that came
out in some of these cars

were really excellent.

I mean, as good as anything that
came out

of Europe at that time.

- It's really too bad that

more people don't appreciate

just exactly how much thought
and work

goes into balancing all
of those delicate aspects

to building a car.

- And of course, Phil Hill
was in some of those races

and there's some really
exciting drivers back then

and it was a fun time
and a very early time,

very early period of racing.

- The first time I was
going to race this car,

I looked down and there's
masking tape

covering the tachometer, the
speedometer,

the oil pressure gauge,
they were all taped up.

And I turned to Carsten, who
owned the car

and I said, what's going on
here?

What's all this tape?

He says, "I don't want you
looking at the instruments,

"your job is to look at the
road."

Carstens wanted to be sure
that I was paying attention

and looking straight
ahead and he was right.

He was, bless you, Tom, thanks.

- Tell you how wonderful it was

to walk around the pits and see

all the innovation,
ideas that were going on

from these guys that
were building these cars.

Nothing like that today,
absolutely different.

- A well known driver was Ernie
McAfee,

who was working on other
people's cars

for quite some time.

- Below a large sign, it was
very visible.

Was Turtle Wax, a huge
thing of Turtle Wax.

And down below was Ernie's shop.

And he took care of everybody,

he was an engineer.

He was a first rate mechanic,

he competed in Montville,

hot rods and so forth earlier
on.

When my dad started Remak
Engineering he backed him.

Ernie always wanted to drive
sports cars

and so my dad financed
his career, started it

in sports car racing in
California.

- In 1952, Ernie entered
the Mexican Road Race

with a co-driver, Jack McAfee.

They were not related.

They entered and came in fifth

in the Mexican Road Race.

- My father became
frustrated being a mechanic

and in 1954 really decided to go
racing.

He raced before, but not
seriously.

- Ernie was such a good driver.

He would drive in the
under three liter class

in the Monza and win that.

And then he would jump
right into the 44 Ferrari

into the main event and win
that.

And he did that a bunch of
times.

- This car is a 1516 OSCA engine

with .

The car has quite an interesting
history.

It started off as a OSCA
entry in the 1955 La Mans,

where the driver name's Roberto,

who failed to finish.

After that, the car came
back through the league

and a few races again as a
factory car.

Did a few things on it and then
sold it

on to America.

Now the car was at that time
owned

by the OSCA distributor John in
Arizona

called Chapman.

He then contacted Ernie McAfee
in late '55

and said, Ernie, you
anyway participate in race

how about you try to compete
this car

on my behalf and therefore,

spread the OSCA gospel.

- In the 1956 Pebble Beach, he
entered

an OSCA MT4 in the small car
race

and the 44 Ferrari in the main
event.

- He did quite well, led the
group

the under 1500 cc on a
Sunday, then the distributor,

the rotor broke.

He had to retire and hop
into his now infamous

121 LM Ferrari.

- And as Jack McAfee tells it,

the 857 Sport of Jack McAfee was
overtaken

by 121 LM of Ernie McAfee.

- And Jack said that he missed a
shift

then got in the wrong gear

in a corner and went straight
into a tree.

- He just, there was never any
doubt

what his passion was.

Growing up he was always cars,

cars, and more cars.

- Jack McAfee started
in MG that was sponsored

and owned by John Edgar.

- John Edgar had this real
famous MG,

number 88 that Ernie
McAfee kept at his shop

and did all the work on.

- Because the Edgar MG did so
poorly

in the first Pebble Beach race,
one lap,

a lot of effort out of
Ernie McAfee's engineering

shop went into preparation

for the second 1951 Pebble Beach
race.

When the McAfee's, Jack and
Ernie

loaded the MG 88 on to the
trailer

to take it to Pebble Beach,

they got as far as the Ridge
route,

the wheel on the trailer came
off

and rolled out into a canyon.

So there it was with
the trailer inoperable,

no wheel to replace it.

- You know, my dad was
kind of asking Ernie

what he thought they
should do and Ernie said,

"Well, let's roll it off the
trailer

"and just drive it up there."

- So, he drove the race car,

the short stacks, no mufflers.

- Exhaust headers about this
long.

- The loudest thing you could
ever imagine

from Grapevine on the Ridge
route

all the way to Pebble Beach.

He said when he got there,

he couldn't hear a thing.

He says it's probably
one of the reasons now,

which he told me a few years
ago,

before he passed, that
I don't hear too well.

- And he graduated to Porsches

and then graduated from
there into Ferraris.

He had a fairly long career
that went beyond a decade

and was very successful in his
reason.

- Today we're sitting in front

of the 857 Sport serial number
0588,

that's in the Les Wexner
collection.

Very fascinating history on the
857 Sport

in that it was a factory team
car

originally given to Olivier
Gendebien

and Masten Gregory.

Their first time out in
the car during practice,

they crashed the car, rolled the
car.

After the factory rebuild, 0588
was sold

directly to John Edgar, who
was a California businessman,

who was one of the original
Ferrari race teams.

Jack McAfee driving for John
Edgar's team

was terrifically
successful in the 857 Sport

all the way to 1956 Pebble
Beach,

where he was third overall.

- The course itself
was really interesting.

We got some practice, I
can't remember just how much.

The course wasn't too hard to
learn,

there were only approximately
five turns

that really were turns.

The change in elevation
was the interesting part.

Up at the top of the course,

was like a more or less a
hairpin

and then you were on a downhill
section,

which was quite fast.

Then into the bottom turn,

which was about a 90 degree turn

back to the start finish.

It was an enjoyable track to
drive.

- The thing you worry about, I
worry about

is getting through that first
turn.

I mean, that is a crucial thing,

getting stopped, not over doing
it,

so easy you can't even get
your right foot off the floor.

I mean, you are glued all
the way to the firewall.

- In the shadows that the trees
created

and then as you ran your
cars through the course,

there was this strobe effect

that was distracting to many.

- He was standing in the paddock

listening to the cars going
around.

You could tell the sound they
make

going through the trees.

Usually exactly what
was going on in that car

a mile away.

When he'd change gears, when
he'd brake.

And of course, straight
pipes, were the only thing.

You were allowed to make
it as slow as you want to.

And everybody did.

I wear two hearing aids most of
the time.

- It was pretty exciting
on the starting line

because all our cars had
to be hand pushed to start.

And then they wanted to
have a standing start,

so everybody was sitting there

with their engines running like
crazy

wanting to get off the line.

And when we got the flag,
it was a real scramble.

Guys were going in all
directions it seems.

And it was pretty exciting.

- The first time that we saw the
course,

there was this

literal wandering path

through the Del Monte Forest.

Fortunately, the old corral was
there

where the horses had been.

You could sit on the fence there

and watch them go by on the
straight away.

- So you had to watch where you
stepped

'cause you were walking
around in the pits.

- I must've started under him

in Northern California,
even Southern California

and I remember him today with
this white

and red shirt on.

He was a portly gentleman,
but quite active

and he could jump like a
kangaroo,

which he managed to do
at the end of every race.

But he also got half way
out in the race course

and then it was sort of a
challenge

whether you were gonna hit him
or not

and he wanted to be close to the
car,

so he was in the picture you see

when you came across
the start finish line.

But this was unnerving,
because you never knew

where he was gonna be.

He was a darn good starter.

When he ran from the lead cars
to the back

to the line we would
try to watch him coming,

you know, and try to outguess,

which we couldn't do because
we'd be jazzing the engines

and then he wouldn't do
anything,

he'd just stand there flat
footed

and then all of a sudden,
he'd leap three feet

in the air and we were supposed
to be off.

I had a good respect for him,

but I think he was in
the bullfighting business

or something before he signed up

for the Sports Car Club.

- Pebble Beach wasn't very
popular

because once they knew where it
was.

Plus the fact that it drew a
crowd

from Los Angeles as far as the
drivers,

as well as Northern California.

- It was the first time that
we'd

first me all the guys that came
up from Southern California.

And they were a totally
different group

than the guys that raced
around the Bay area.

These guys were far more
professionally race oriented

than the sort of the
amateur gentlemen racers

that you found San Francisco.

These guys had a lot
of hot rod background.

So instead of running MG
engines,

they were running V860s.

So there was a whole transition
there

that went away.

The guys that came up
from Southern California

were a whole different kind of
racers.

- And of course, you had your
rivalries,

but it was still something
that you supported

one another in.

- And it was getting more
aggressive all the time.

More competition, more money
involved,

people from back East were
coming out.

- We didn't have any foreign
drivers.

One has to remember that we're
simply,

this was a fletchling
bonus of a new course.

It didn't have the draw

of a fixed, known venue.

I think that played into the
fact

that we didn't have a lot of
drivers

from the East Coast.

Jim Kimberly was one of the
few that made the effort.

- Kimberly was a hell of a good
driver

and he was doing well in the
race

until the big sweeper at turn
three,

Jim Kimberly rolled his 166
Marketta

and who was there to give him a
kiss

and make sure that he
was not feeling too bad

about everything?

Ginger Rogers.

- It was pretty obvious
that the movie industry

did not overlook the fact
that we had already found

these beautiful scenic places to
race.

The film Fast and Furious was
shot there.

- Connie, will you give me a
break?

You drive people off roads,

you engined men unconscious.

- Alright, don't give me a
break,

just remember I've got a gun

and I know how to use it.

- We had a shop here on Sunset
Boulevard,

Remak Engineering.

I was over there at bench race

every Saturday and one of the
customers,

Remak Engineering was Steve
McQueen.

So I got to know Steve McQueen
and sort

of the Hollywood group.

- I got to know Steve fairly
well

because I was running a company
then

and we had a motorcycle type
machine

that he wanted to play with.

Steve took one of these
and broke it in an hour.

He was tough on cars and I
don't know about girlfriends,

but he was tough on cars.

- The nexus between
Hollywood and it's honor

and speed, which in those period

was very much a personal thing.

So, you know, you could
basically buy a car

and race it yourself.

Don't need a big team behind
you, became a little bit

of a weekend hero type.

And that feeling kind of
attracted a lot of gizmo types.

I think you look at all this mix
and say,

you know, it was a very
special time, Yogi Berra.

- Jackie Cooper was a frequent
visitor

to the races.

It's a romantic place, at a
Highway one,

boy oh boy, you know,
Kim Novak lives there,

that's enough for me right
there.

I don't even need to see her,

I just know she lives on Highway
One.

- All of a sudden the guy came
out

and he was talking to me and he
says,

"We're making a movie called
Johnny Dark,

"it's about road racing."

For those
of you who just tuned in,

we are speaking to you
from the starting point

of the border-to-border race.

A three day, 2200 mile
ride from Canada to Mexico.

- And suppose you do lose the
race?

Who cares?

- I care.

- We'd like to rent your car.

I said no.

I knew I had a good car and I
was proud

somebody wanted me to be
involved in it, you know.

But along the way, they
kept calling me up.

Wanted to know if I'd rent my
car.

I said no, and no one ever asked
me

to be an actor before.

Finally it turned out, we're
sending you a contract.

Off, stay off the
track.

- And the brakes went.

So help me, coming round
the turn I lost them.

Maybe it was a brake fail.

- Then the brake drums
would be hot, wouldn't they?

Oh, you can do better than that,
Duke.

- Forget it.

- Johnny, he was trying to
explain,

you didn't give him a chance.

- I thought, well, you're gonna
need

a lot of money in life, you
better make

as much as you can.

- Liz, so I lost the race, who
cares?

- I care.

- I made about $10,000 off of
that thing.

Most money that I ever made in
my life.

Screwing around with
race cars in Hollywood.

- Pebble Beach started in
controversy

and ended in tragedy.

John von Neumann entered a new
TD

and he ended up winning the
race.

With a guy named Bill
Carrigan second in another MG.

- And we ran three or four races
together.

He would win it, I would win it.

And when it got to be a habit
form,

a speech Johnny.

- He was the importer for
Porsche cars

and came up with the first 356
Porsches.

Nobody had ever seen
anything like the Porsches.

You know, I mean, rear engine
air cool.

I mean, this is a total
departure

from our English background with
the MGs.

- I caught up with him on the
uphill.

I tried to go through the turn
with him.

So I'm going through the turn
sideways,

I ended up in a ditch.

I lost a lot of ground
so I had two laps to go.

By the time I got to the last
lap,

I'd caught him, second
place is second place.

- After the race, the
SCCA disqualified him

claiming that he had ethanol in
his fuel.

Not only that, the SCCA said
that all of the entrants

were required to drain
their fuel before the race

and refill it with the fuel at
the track.

John didn't do that,
so he was disqualified.

- In the mail, a letter,
from one of the officials

Sport Car of America.

Awarding me first place.

It was a surprise.

I always wondered, through the
years,

if anybody ever remembered that

because I always thought
I was the only one.

But now, originally I found out
different.

It still doesn't matter, I was
second.

- Sterling Edwards bought the
car new

and he really wanted to
race it at Pebble Beach.

So he entered it and Phil
Remington

was his mechanic.

- I went out to test the car

and came in after a couple of
laps

and told Phil, there's something
wrong

with the handling of the car.

So Phil crawled underneath
the car for a little bit

and tinkered around and sent dad
back out

and dad came in the next lap

and said, no, there's still
something wrong with the car.

- He says, well, take it out
and see what you think of it.

So I took it out and
we were probably doing

90 or 95 and as I was coming up
the hill

on this Jaguar, some fellow
in a Jupiter,

so I nailed him and might've
hit a couple of pine trees

and shortened the car about four
feet.

- So the guy leading the race

was the other C Jag, so
that guy gets a big sign,

pit now and the driver, you
know,

he was driver, not owner,
he comes in and said,

"What are you doing,
I'm winning the race?"

And the owner said, "You're
sitting

"in Mr. Edwards' car."

So Sterling just wrote him a
check

and he said, "Bring the car in."

And finished the race in his new
C Jag.

- It was a pretty good shunt,

but it didn't damage
the chassis or anything.

It still has the original tub
tail section

door and the rest of it.

- The moment of truth is when
the starter.

Starts his run back between the
cars

and that's when you know,

for the 97th time you check to
make sure

the ignition and all, the
car's in the right gear.

God forbid if you had you know,

this is a three speed box.

When he finally came back up.

My adrenal glands were in high
speed

and just when he told us to fire
up,

I hit the starter button and
this thing

just let out a boom, you know,

and it actually blew a piece of
asphalt

about the size of a salad plate

off it, knocked it right on the
gloss

and knocked it right onto the
side

of Michael Graham's car.

And I thought, well, game is
ship,

he's out of the race right now.

When my exhaust will
put a dent in his car.

- I don't know how much
those cars cost back then.

My father didn't really have
to concern himself with that.

He was fronted the car by Chuck
Hornberg,

but I do remember him saying

that the best thing was to
actually not race your own car

race someone else's car.

- My dad would help out
some kid with his MG

while they're calling his name

to ask him to come up for the
start line.

I remember Sir once saying,
"Lou, you can help that kid

"after your race, so will you
please

"come up to the line?

"Mr. Hill and a few other people

"will enjoy having a drive with
you."

- Al Moss came up to me
a couple of years ago.

He said, "You're McAfee's
boy, aren't you?"

And I said, yeah.

And he said, "Well, I've
got a story for you."

He said, you know, at
the first Pebble Beach

my fan belt came off and he was
driving

a J2 Allard.

He goes, "My fan belt came off

"and I came into the pits and
your dad was standing there,

"and he said, Jack, get a
screwdriver,

"a big screwdriver, we've got to
get

"this fan belt back on."

And somehow he goes, you know,
"Your dad

"just grabbed the belt with his
hands

"and got it around the
pulley and put it on

"just like that and off I went."

And he said, "I'll never forget
that."

That's how casual things
were back then, you know,

it was guys, it was
drivers helping drivers

and you know, it was
that kind of camaraderie

that made that era so special.

- So 1955 was a big year for my
father

at Pebble Beach.

It kind of was the icing
on the cake, sort of speak

for what his whole
experience over the years

at Pebble Beach was.

That year he decided to
not only enter the race,

racing the 750 Monza for Alan
Geiberson.

And it rained that year, so
it was a very tricky race.

- I think it was quite
an effective race car.

Most Ferraris in those early
days

were B12s and they continued
with that,

but during these years, they
built

some of these four
cylinder light weight cars

and they were quite good.

Obviously by the way that this
car

was able to compete for a whole
year.

- He made an outstanding
performance in that

and it just showed the real
dominance

of what the Ferrari
could do on that course

and he won the race with it

and the car that Phil Hill
won the 1955 race with,

the 750 Monza, came into
Carroll Shelby's hands

the following year, and he won
the race,

the main event with the same
car.

- I really enjoyed having it

and realize what a wonderful car

that Ferrari makes and the fact

that Phil and Carroll both
won several events in it.

Make it and I won my first
sports car race in it,

so it's got a lot of history for
me.

It's kind of an interesting car
to own

still at this time of my life.

- Another well known name
and another Grand Prix racer,

is Pete Lovely.

Pete Lovely came down from
the Pacific Northwest.

His first car that he drove
here,

if I remember correctly, was a
home built

Porsche powered Volkswagen
special.

He did quite well in that car.

It had a Cooper body.

It had been a former Streamliner

that had bone to Bonneville

to set records and they bought
the car

without the engine, put
in a Porsche engine in it

and they called it a VW Porsche
Special.

And it was also known for it's
short name,

the Pooper.

In one race, he was running
up front in his group,

when a throttle spring broke.

So he drove the balance of the
race

with one had behind him
actuating the throttle,

which was a rear engine car and
driving

with the other hand and
he finished the race

and did quite well.

Pete Lovely went on to
win the very first race

at Laguna Seca in a Ferrari.

- After John von Neumann,
who was leading the race

in his Ferrari, kind of lost a
bit

on the final turn.

Beyond that, he then
traveled over to Europe.

He had a Lotus Formula One car,

as a privateer race in
many Formula One races,

came back to the United States

and was a vintage racer in his
cars

and a car restorer up in the
Northwest

for many, many years and just
passed away here recently.

Skip Hudson was a teenage friend

of Dan Gurney's.

They both got into sports car
racing

and while Skip Hudson was
over shadowed by Gurney,

'cause Gurney went on
to international fame.

He was never the well-known
driver

that some of his compatriots,
always overshadowed,

but a very good driver,
nonetheless.

- He loved racing and fast cars
I think,

probably more intensely
than anybody I know.

I mean, you get to talk to Skip

and he'd come up right in your
face

and his eyes would just focus on
you

and he was just vibrating about
it.

He was so passionate about this
stuff.

And a terrific driver and he
never made it

and had a chance sometimes,
and it just never clicked

for him the way it should've,
but great guy, great guy.

- The Speedster, it's a perfect
creation.

It's one of the most beautiful
automobiles

in my opinion, that has ever
been made.

It's just a perfect balanced
machine.

And I think he thought exactly
the same,

that this car would be perfect
for racing.

It's compact, it's small,
and it just looks sturdy

in every way.

Skip Hudson wanted to be
seen by the photographers.

He wanted to stand out, to be
able to come into the press.

All his race cars was either
white, red,

gray, there was nothing unique
to them.

So he decided to put two
stipes down the front

running down the back, and it
did work.

It drew attention of
all the photographers.

There again, is it a myth?

Is it a story?

Could it actually be a
fact that Skip Hudson

was the guy who started the
stripes

down the middle of the sports
cars that we see today?

But of course, the most famous
outing

of my Speedster, would be

1956 Pebble Beach races.

On the 17th lap, Skip Hudson
was maintaining first place

until he lost control of little
Speedster,

he crashed into some tree
stumps,

the left front panel was
actually damaged,

but it wasn't damaged enough

so he couldn't continue the race

and he did.

And he actually came
second place in that race.

He's kind of a forgotten race
driver.

And in some of the documents
that I found,

that came with my car,

there's something that he wrote
in there,

which I find a little bit sad

that he wrote, but it's very
true in everything in life.

He said, "If you don't come
first,

"you're not remembered."

but there again, why should
he have been remembered?

He was there together with
everybody else.

He was there to start it.

I mean, who were these young
guys?

They're just normal guys
who would jump in their car,

drive down to the race track and
race.

Imagining Skip Hudson being
behind my steering wheel,

is quite a thought, it's
quite amazing, actually

that I'm over here in Spain

with Danish origin myself,
and I'm driving a car

that used to race in America.

I think that's fantastic.

- One of the things that was
most

intriguing about going
down to Pebble Beach

was the Concord that went along
with it.

- Of course down there, is just
who's who

of beautiful, beautiful
automobile.

- There were a lot of
socialites at Pebble Beach.

They would come down for the
conquerors.

They were just starting to get
interested

in car racing.

I think that was something new
to them.

- It wasn't just Hollywood.

There were actresses that were
considered

the sort of thing.

If you sat at certain tables

you were identifiable as a
socialite.

- I thought brilliantly arranged

to have it coincide the same
weekend

as the Concourse that had gone

through all these years.

After having started with the
car racing

through the forest in 1950.

Then in 1956, the racing being
canceled,

the Concourse kept on
running in its own way.

And had gone through some
high and low periods,

but was enjoying generally

of a very wonderful reputation
worldwide.

- All I remember was good
picnics

on the side of the track,

great parties.

Bring your own booze.

- And pretty girls, oh boy!

- I remember the picnics much
more

than I do the races.

- Yeah, it was wonderful.

- You look back, you think,

that was a time I could've died.

And this was a time I could've
died.

You wonder how you ever
get to be 30 years old.

- There was a lot of
questions about safety

as far as crowd control,

trees.

- They had little tires

and a lot of power.

So they would be skidding
all over the place.

- The helmets were not much

than just a normal hat.

- They did manage to put a few
hay bales

on the corners,

which seemed to help a bit.

- No place to go for an escape.

Right off the paddock
on the start and finish

there was maybe 10 feet of soft
shoulder

and then the big pine
trees are right there.

So you didn't have much
of an avenue of escape.

- It had this little Philip of
danger

in the background.

You knew that if something went
wrong,

it could go terribly wrong.

Instead of scaring people off,

many people were drawn to it

because of that.

So you had a little bit of
everything

in sports car racing.

- When the accident happened,

I'm sure I was following.

Jack McAfee at the time and did
not see

Ernie coming down the hill

until I heard the crash.

- Ernie was an aggressive
driver.

Some say that perhaps he
shouldn't have driven,

he should have stayed with
engineering,

which was really his forte.

But he just loved to drive.

- You know, his number one asset

was a mechanic and fabricator.

And when he stepped into the
Ferrari,

you know, albeit, he did very
well

for a couple of races, but
when you go to Pebble Beach

and there is no room for error.

- By now the cars were so fast

on the Pebble Beach course.

Through the rises past the trees

and hay bales, spectator fencing

just you know, a few feet away

off the course.

- It was amazing that they
didn't have

an incident like that in the
year

or two previous, 'cause
they started having

some pretty high horse powered
cars

on little tracks like Torrey
Pines and Pebble Beach.

It was really a matter of time

'til somebody got hurt.

- Earnie and the 4.4 that he was
driving

was really trying to make up

and move up on the leaders

and was doing a spectacular job.

- He was attempting to pass

a car on the approach to turn
six.

He missed a downshift.

He skidded into hay bales

and ricochet into a
tree and died instantly.

- Ernie McAfee was
driving the car in 1956.

It was damaged very heavily.

The family that owned it
was the Doheny family.

They had retained the
car after it was crashed.

They thought, you know,
was on the borderline

of being destroyed, but they
painstakingly

spent two years restoring it,

bringing it back to
its original condition.

Was always blue with a white
stripe

and the number 76.

It was probably a late entry,

so in order to get in, they
put a number two on it.

That was the way that it raced

at Pebble Beach in 1956.

- And that accident, the
loss of Ernie McAfee,

not only caused a restart of the
race,

but it caused the finish
of the Pebble Beach races.

They would never race there
again.

After the tragic death of Ernie
McAfee

and after the restart of the
race in 1956,

Carroll Shelby went on to win

in Decal's 750 Monza.

Phil Hill was second and Jack
McAfee

driving John Edgar 857S Ferrari.

A wonderful looking car
with a tail fin on it

was third.

But that was the last of it.

There would never be any
racing at Pebble Beach again.

Only the time honored
and wonderful prestigious

Concord d'Eleganza continues to
this day.

Now, the races are canceled.

Sam Morse is very concerned,

and he wants his cash flow to
continue

to come on through.

He goes to Monterey,

they concur, they form a group

they call themselves the Sports
Car

racing on the Monterey Peninsula
SCRAMP

and with the good fortune
of a man named Lou Gold,

was placed as a first
chief or head of SCRAMP.

- And SCRAMP was the
group that got together

with the U.S. Army.

Who had a little bit of property
there

called .

They took a corner of

and in I believe was in 90 days,

and for a very small sum of
money,

I think it was about $100,000,

they built Laguna Seca Raceway.

- So the Pebble Beach races in
1957

actually continued in name only

by going to Laguna Seca
as the eighth annual

Pebble Beach National
Championship races.

- In many ways, it's amazing
the evolution of this.

You know, Pebble Beach
and some of the pioneers

driving these cars.

These heroes through the pine
trees

ended up evolving into a
purpose built racetrack

called Laguna Seca.

It was a world audience.

The MOTO GPs, the Grand Am
series.

Some of the most prestigious
series in motor sports

come to Monterey County and
guess where they go now?

Laguna Seca.

- For a long time, after
the end of that era,

it was forgotten.

And only until, I would
say the last 25 years,

has the remembrance reappeared.

And a such an interesting piece
of history

of auto racing.

- I think it's important
that we don't only focus

on the guys that made first
place,

or were driving the most
exotic cars at the time,

like the Ferraris.

But let's not forget the guys

that came number two and they
were driving

under 1500 engines.

And let's not forget their
families out there today.

Let's give them honors as well

that they were part of history.

- As far as being a gentleman
sport,

I guess you could say it was.

- It was a romantic period of
racing

that it's gone,

it's no longer with us.

- I miss that exciting time,

when we were all a large group

of enthusiasts.

- It was quite a big thing.

It was an enjoyable thing
at the time, really.

- These are the ghosts of Pebble
Beach.

I don't know how else to say it,

but nothing is really there

to show you that these races
happened.

And I think this was a much
bigger deal

than people can even fathom
today.

- We look back at that age,

and every age in the past

is always called a Golden Age,

a Heroic Age.

As a man once said, "You
can return to a place,

"but not to a time."

The Cal Club days of that era
are gone

and it just remains in
photographs, maps, and memories.

- The words Pebble Beach are
just,

they're almost magical in that

this is where American sports
car racing really began.

- It was just a magic time.

Racing through the trees.

- But it all started at Pebble
Beach.