Our Two Cents: Automotive heroes we’d like to be
The mission of Our Two Cents has been to seek enrichment from our staff of automotive professionals/enthusiasts on a variety of topics. Clearly, we have a diverse background, so why not put it to good use for everyone’s benefit?
For this episode, we asked our staff a very pointed question: If you could be one person from Automotive History, who would it be?
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Managing Editor Stefan Lombard started us in a good, yet unexpected direction. We all like Ike, especially when we hop on the interstate to enjoy his 1956 creation for public enjoyment and national security. As Stefan said:
“The staggering number of staggering automotive personalities is, uh, staggering. But for some reason I keep coming back to Dwight D. Eisenhower. He’s the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force one day. And he’s Head Honcho of the American Interstate System the next. The guy won a war and then paved the way for hundreds of millions of us to explore this magnificent country. Not a bad legacy!”
Enzo Ferrari
David Zenlea, Managing Editor, gives us multiple reasons to be Enzo Ferrari. Can’t disagree with any of them!
“I’d be Enzo. For all the misty eyed reasons but also because Italy in the mid-twentieth century seems like a great place to be rich, famous, and powerful. Think of the food. The wine! The villas!”
Burkhard Goeschel
Executive Editor Eric Weiner dug deep into BMW’s corporate machinations behind one of his favorite machines. And he found a very interesting person in BMW history:
“First, let me state that I don’t know that I’d want to be any of the people in the next sentence. But that said, I’d love to have been a fly on the wall in the boardroom when Burkhard Goeschel was selling BMW’s board on the Z3M Coupe. He had to explain that it was going to be as affordable as possible to adapt from the roadster, and I suspect he may have gone light on details about the ultimate design.”
David Scott
Senior Editor Brandan Gillogly has once again thrown us a delicious curveball, as he decided on the man who first drove on the moon!
“My first thoughts on this subject included some notable racing milestones. Mickey Thompson had a number of great feats, including running in excess of 400 mph at Bonneville in 1960 and driving a 427 Corvette at Daytona in 1963, but I think one of the coolest “firsts” goes to David Scott.
During the Apollo 15 mission, Astronaut David Scott became the first person to drive on the Moon when he piloted the Lunar Roving Vehicle, serious bragging rights. Pick up the pace Neil, we’ve got lunar landscapes to see!”
Shigeru Uehara
Editor Nathan Petroelje picked one heckuva automotive engineer, who has made an impact on so many vehicles…and many writers.
“I’m a sucker for a high-revving four-cylinder engine in a lightweight car that wants to pick fights with expensive exotics, so naturally, the original Acura Integra Type R is a hero of mine. The man behind it, Shigeru Uehara, is responsible for some of Honda’s greatest machines, including the Type R, but also the S2000 and the NSX. To have his tuning ability, and to be able to experience the first time that he got each of these cars ‘right’ would be incredible.”
Steve McQueen
Editor Bryan Gerould picked a person near and dear to many of our hearts, but his reasoning put a unique spin on why it would be so great to be Steve McQueen:
“The aura of Steve McQueen and his life is undeniable. From The Great Escape to Bullitt to Le Mans, spending my years on earth as the leading man of some of the most iconic films in automotive history would’ve been one hell of a way to go.
Afforded the gift of knowing how memorable some scenes ultimately became, this answer is obvious for me. Plus I would’ve gotten a front-row seat watching stuntman Bud Ekins do his thing and marvel at the dude’s daring. Not a bad day at work.”
Sam Smith
Yes indeed, our Editor at Large Sam Smith, answered this question by wanting to be himself. But that’s not the candid feedback of an egomaniac, quite the contrary:
I don’t want to be someone else, I want to be me…but with a time-travel machine. I will go back to watch/help/participate in about three thousand separate moments. Not only motorsport or engineering—that’s just the stuff top of mind:
- Nuvolari’s win at the Ring in 1935 against the Nazis.
- The moment the first Model T rolled off the line.
- The day Dan Gurney won at Spa in an F1 car of his own design and build.
- When Harry Miller met Leo Goossen.
- The day Carroll Shelby realized Phil Remington was a genius.
- The day Pete Brock and John Morton and the BRE Datsun 510 team lost, then won, at Laguna Seca, in 1971.
- The first time Bonnie and Clyde left a bank robbery in a Ford V-8.
- When Gordon Murray first drove a McLaren F1. When Paul Rosche first ran an S70/2 on the dyno. And on, and on, and on…
Carroll Shelby
Steven Cole Smith, our Special Projects Editor, has met a fair number of automotive celebrities in his career. Perhaps that’s precisely why Carroll Shelby is his pick of the litter:
“Bob Lutz is a possibility, Phil Hill and Dan Gurney are others, but despite all his personal travails, including heart transplants, the man I saw having the most fun was Carroll Shelby. He was a slippery fellow in business dealings, sure, but he leaves a lasting legacy that will outlive us all. And I look good in a cowboy hat.”
Anonymous engineers?
Senior Video Lead Ben Woodworth knows what he likes, but not necessarily who was behind those things. Wouldn’t it be great if we could learn about someone who made the products that had such an impact on the esteemed Mr. Woodworth?
“I don’t know much about the people behind any of the vehicles I covet. Maybe I need to watch more Jason Cammisa Revelations episodes on YouTube? (You are the king of cross promotion. Now get them to talk about me! – SM)
Anyway, most of the old cars I love are late-80s to mid-90s Hondas and Toyotas. So perhaps the person I’d choose is whomever designed Toyota’s All-Trac system. Or Honda’s RT4WD system. Or maybe the person who designed the wagons and vans those systems went into? I don’t know, as my mom always told me I should just be happy being me!”
Terry Fullerton
Senior Editor Eddy Eckart gives us a deep cut into the world of automotive motorsport:
“I’d like to be Terry Fullerton during his tussles with Ayrton Senna on the kart track in the late ’70s. To grasp the talent it took to regularly beat Senna in the purest form of the sport, if only for a moment, boy, that’d be something.”
Tony Kuchta
I am inclined to pick people in the same vein as Nathan Petroelje and Eric Weiner, but I generally prefer folks who are even harder to Google. Putting my money where my mouth is, here’s my story on the work of Dennis Foerschler. Stories like these are likely to never wind up in a social media mention, a PR-blessed story, or a magazine article. And that’s a shame, as such automotive professionals deserve much better.
That’s where Tony Kuchta comes into focus. Rumor has it that Ford made Kuchta take early retirement because of his team’s collective failures in the design and implementation of the 1989 Ford Thunderbird. As this book suggested, the oversized, overbudgeted Thunderbird needed a corporate scapegoat, and it would be both heartbreaking and enlightening to walk a mile in that man’s shoes. The questions I would ask myself, had I earned this opportunity:
- What did/does he feel when passing by a 1989–97 Ford Thunderbird or Mercury Cougar on the street?
- Is he tempted to pry off every Ford blue oval he sees in a Walmart parking lot?
- Where/how did he find solace?
- Did he bounce back from this setback?
- Did the experience make him a better person, eventually?
- If he could do anything differently, would he?
These questions are a touch more personal for me, as I’ve been a victim of scapegoating in a past career. Over time I realized the experience made me a better manager, a kinder person, and hopefully a more compassionate individual in my personal relationships. I would like to know exactly what Tony Kuchta did when faced with similar circumstances, and I suspect I am not alone.
Whose shoes would you want to walk a mile in? Or maybe drive 100 miles? Let us know in the comments below.
***
Check out the Hagerty Media homepage so you don’t miss a single story, or better yet, bookmark it. To get our best stories delivered right to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletters.
Mark Donohue. Enough said.
It took too long for that name to come up a brilliant engineer, a great set up guy and a fierce competitor Great book the unfair advantage…
Dwight D. Eisenhower!!! My goodness, could this Country use him right now…
The country’s drifted so far to the right the past 45 years, during which the average American’s net worth has declined, that Obama was essentially an Eisenhour Republican with a tan. Regardless, it’s hard to transpose any figure out of his or her era, let alone century, and expect similar results.
Smokey Yunick, I always felt he was one step ahead of the NASCAR Officials, reading about some of his exploits, like casting his own camshafts and crankshafts with official GM part numbers, or his 67 Chevelle that everyone said yeah its a Chevelle, but it looks smaller and a little different. I used to read his column in Hot Rod for years.
Yunick was brilliant. Too many didn’t take Smokey seriously because of his accent. He piloted a B-17 in War II, self-educated, transcended his background; world-class engineer.
Dan Gurney is the man for me. Hyper talented driver, clever engineer, and a well respected gentleman.
Agree 100%. Gurney was the best in my book.
How about John DeLorean? What he did for Pontiac was famous. And lets not forget the noble attempt with DMC. Too bad he fell from grace.
He may finally be coming into his own. I see they have a movie, “The Man: DeLorean,” named after him now.
What “noble attempt?” A DeLorean is all but impossibly uncomfortable for anyone over six feet. DeLorean was 6′ 4″., which might tell you something. It was an under-powered fashion statement, befitting a guy who married a model and was all about image, even having a chin implant to appear more masculine. When things got tough, he tried a cocaine deal.
And he didn’t “invent” the muscle car. Such go back decades, even before the ’33 Terraplane Eight.
Hilarious the seeming cut off point at Hagerty when it comes to auto history, other than an occasional look at a prewar car not ruined with requisite SBC, Turbo HydraMatic, tilt wheel, velour upholstery.
Ok Mike maybe you should stick with something you know, and I’m not sure what that is given your comments. I owned a 1982 Delorean. When J.D. stated he built it around his 6’4 frame he wasn’t kidding. I’m 6’3 and fit very comfortably in the car. Better then an 84 vette a 77 Triumph TR7, better then 83 Lancia Zagato and a pontiac Fiero. That’s from experience with these cars. Nothing had power back then or did you forget that. A 1982 Firebird Trans- Am had 165HP. Considering it’s much heavier weight it was barely faster then a Delorean. ” Accelerating from 0–60 in 9.2 seconds.[5] Road and Track. And yes in these upside down times, Ray Dutra is right, we could use the strength, wisdom, HONESTY, level headedness of a Dwight D. Eisenhower.
That would be Max Balchowsky, the iconic hero of the “Underdog” in Motorsports taking on all comers and best newest European Factory Team cars from Ferrari, Listers, Jags and Maseratis and beat them with a $1450 home built Special built from Junkyard parts as he said and went ‘head to head’ at the biggest Motorsports purses in the world (Riverside International Grand Prix had much bigger money purses than Europe in late 50s and early 60s) and introduced the concept of a light weight chrome moly chassis and a set back big American motor such as Buick his favorite … and his Old Yeller II was driven by Carroll Shelby, Dan Gurney, Bob Bondurant, Bobby Drake, Paul O’Shea and Billy Krause all in 1960 racing season… and he teamed with Carey Loftin as they were the “God Fathers” of major car stunts in movies including Bullitt with Steve McQueen as well as Love Bug and Viva Las Vegas with Elvis…among others and designed concept of a movie platform filming car stripping down the Old Yeller IV and that concept used in Bullitt with a Corvette chassis and platform…and had a flow bench to develop special manifolds for Buicks such as Webers for Buick and designed cams with the legendary Winfield and in 53′ he entered in his modified 32′ Ford Roadster channeled and with a Buick motor racing at the Pebble Beach Sports Car GP races being almost banned for being or appearing not safe but opened the doors for Road Racing Special and his Old Yeller II broke existing track records at Riverside with Dan G and at Road America with Carroll Shelby and CS understood the Max “concept” and called AC for a light weight body and chassis only and put in a Ford and the Cobra was born…priceless innovation and contribution to Motorsports beyond most… and never looked for credit
The list could be a lot longer but regardless of the length should include Duntov, Mickey Thompson, Deloreon and Harley Earl.
Juan Manuel Fangio, 5 times World Champion for Alfa, Maserati 2x, Ferrari and Mercedes. “El Maestro”.
No one before or since has been that smooth and that fast
Gotta say Harley Earl. The father of some of the most beautiful cars ever designed.
Yeah… There will never be another Harley Earl
Great article, great picks and heartfelt comments.
Thanks.
Jimmy Clark Devoted farmer and the smoothest driver that ever lived . And let’s not forget John Surtees .Formula 1 and world championship motorcycle at the same time ! Walked away from Ferrari and with good reason. Ps I worshipped Dan Gurney as well !
I’m a regular guy. No trust fund, my dad wasn’t a auto exec or drinking buddies with racers or builders.
Still, I have managed to:
– meet (in no particular order) : Shelby, Jim Hall, Dan Gurney, Phill Hill, Foose, Barris, and a few car-centric cableTV guys.
-Drive my Bearcat around the IMS and talking my way into driving it through Gasoline Alley in May.
-Meeting the famed Duesenberg Racer, the “Mormon Meteor” on a golf cart track in the IMS infield.
-Walk most of the Monaco circuit. Going through the tunnel under the hotel, you can imagine the howl of the F1 cars.
-Coming across a McLaren F1 parked by a curb in front of an auto parts store in Abilene, Texas. It was locally owned, the owner’s son was driving it before it was handed over to its new owner, a well known collector. Earlier, I had seen it displayed at a local kid’s pizza place as a fundraiser for a Mexican orphanage organized by a young cancer survivor. There are a lot of good people in the car world.
-Parked a couple of spots down from a new Ferrari Enzo at the opening of the Chaparral museum.
-Was with a friend as his CAV GT40 received the best non-Ferrari award at a regional Ferrari show. When he started it to leave, the Ford small block’s roar received a round of applause.
-Arranged for the same car to be displayed at the local multiplex for the opening weekend of “Ford vs Ferrari”.
-On an English country lane on a fall day, seeing D-type Jag coming towards me, its driver clad in a Battle of Britain-style leather and sheepskin flying jacket. Yeah, the car was probably a replica, but still cool.
-Driving a late model Rolls. Buying a new Mustang and when older, a Mercedes.
-Driving an Air Force airport crash truck and shooting its water cannon.
-Driving an old CJ-5 as a daily driver in Texas for several years.
Nothing fancy, certainly not high performance or luxurious, but the right vehicle at the right time. Sometimes that’s enough.
So, the moral of the story is you don’t have to be well connected to experience automotive high points.
Amen squared and cubed, John.
Since I live on the tiny planet Aircooled VW, I pick Gene Berg. He was a brilliant and inquisitive man who developed a broad range of outstanding VW performance parts.
How about Paul Newman, a great driver and person
Yep – Paul Newman. Plus his salad dressing is great (is it 10w-30?).
I met Paul Newman in the 70’s when he was driving in a SCCA event at Pocono. Great thrill, good driver, good owner, but not on my list.
I would choose Gordon Murray…….Extraordinary man