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Thread: 1974 Paul Newman 24 hour LeMans

  1. #1
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    1974 Paul Newman 24 hour LeMans


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    Member #226 R Gruppe Life Member #147
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    Did Newman own the car of did he just share driving. Wasn't that Dick Barbour car prepared by Garretson's.

  3. #3
    Road & Track article.
    It doesn't get much cooler than Paul Newman racing a Porsche. The movie star's racing career may be most famously associated with Datsun and Nissan, but Newman drove this Porsche 935 at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans, his very first outing at the legendary endurance race. With co-drivers Dick Barbour and Rolf Stommelen, he took 2nd place overall, drawing the largest attendance the race had ever seen.

    And now, Newman's very first Le Mans racer can be yours.

    Gooding & Co. will offer this 1979 Porsche 935 racer, chassis number 009 00030, at its Pebble Beach auction in August. It's a major piece of sports car racing history. After Newman's 1979 Le Mans debut, the car went on to be sponsored by Apple Computers, still one of the only race cars to wear the tech giant's logo. And in 1981 it scored overall victory at Le Mans with Bobby Rahal, Brian Redman, and Bob Garretson, with another first-place finish in 1983 driven by Wayne Baker, Jim Mullen and Kees Nierop.

    In 2006, the car was restored by Porsche guru Paul Willison, brought back to the 1979 "Hawaiian Tropic" livery it wore for Newman's Le Mans debut. In 2007, it won Best in Class at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.

    Gooding & Co. doesn't list an estimated price for the famous racer, but you can expect it to command between $4.5 and $5.5 million at auction next month. It's the perfect combination of star power and car power.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Curt Hammill's Avatar
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    Dick Barbour owned the red 935 along with a yellow and blue 935 all prepared by Bob Garretson 's team that ran at the 1979 24 hour LeMans race. My brother got to drive the car after the end of the race to the pits and transporter. The car was completely spent running on 5 cylinders.







    Last edited by Curt Hammill; 07-14-2016 at 10:51 AM.

  5. #5
    Member #226 R Gruppe Life Member #147
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    If I'm not mistaken the car had a big lead, but at the last pit stop for brakes? The wheel nut was seized and the whole corner had to be changed, giving up the win for 2nd place. Gordon

  6. #6
    Senior Member beh911's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gled49 View Post
    If I'm not mistaken the car had a big lead, but at the last pit stop for brakes? The wheel nut was seized and the whole corner had to be changed, giving up the win for 2nd place. Gordon
    Yes. That's what happened
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  7. #7
    Senior Member CurtEgerer's Avatar
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    A couple of my pics from Saturday qualifying at the 1980 Watkins Glen 6-Hour. The car was on pole (I think with Bobby Rahal at the wheel) but blew the engine in the race.

    sm wat glen 1980 Nr 71.jpg

    wat glen 1980 pits.jpg

    Barbour had 2 sister cars there as well:

    sm wat glen 1980 Nr 4.jpg

    sm wat glen 1980 redman.jpg

    The race was won by a Lancia!

    small lancia beta montecarlo Nr 32 wat glen 1980.jpg

  8. #8
    Senior Member Curt Hammill's Avatar
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    Photos of the 935's being unloaded for the 24 Hour LeMans race.








  9. #9
    Senior Member StephenAcworth's Avatar
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    Great photos, Curt...
    1966 911 Coupe - Slate Grey - 304598 - still in restoration!

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  10. #10
    Senior Member beh911's Avatar
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    For anyone interested in Paul Newman and his racing activities, there is a good documentary on Amazon Prime (read, free to watch if you are a member).

    https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Racin...dp/B00XBUEU48/
    1969 S Coupe #761
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