Mario Andretti in Vintage Motorsport’s May/June 2017 issue.

Posted on May 1, 2017 by

During my 30-year documentary career I made a number of motor racing films, including one on Mario Andretti. I called it “Mario at Indy” in 1971 and use that title again here as “Mario @ Indy” for my 7-page article in the current May/June 2017 issue of Vintage Motorsport magazine. It’s about Mario Andretti then and now as the racing legend he is, while also looking at his 29 Indy 500 races through the decades, the Andretti racing family, and speaking with Mario again today from his home in Pennsylvania. The above image and article’s 15 photographs by William Edgar.

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Dan Gurney’s Birthday! … Today! … And on April 13, 1958!

Posted on April 13, 2017 by

While celebrating Dan Gurney’s 86th Birthday today, let’s include his 27th Birthday on April 13, 1958 when Dan won the Palm Springs sports car racing main event driving Frank Arciero’s Ferrari 375 Plus, and in so doing put Carroll Shelby driving the John Edgar-entered Ferrari 410 Sport and the rest of the over-1500 cc modified field in Gurney’s mirrors at the checkered! This picture taken minutes after Dan’s win is a real prize, too. Dan’s on the right, the guy in a big hat is Sam Hanks, winner of 1957’s Indy 500. Next to Sam, with the buzz cut, is Dan’s lifelong friend and fellow racer Skip Hudson. The hatted man far left is Frank Arciero, and the young boy is Frank’s son. There’s another guy in the shot, seen between Dan and Sam, but his name has remained unknown, though his enthusiasm for Dan’s win is obvious. What a day that was! And there were many great racing days for Dan before that one and so many, many ever since! What a guy! … Photograph by Lester Nehamkin, Edgar Motorsport Archive since 1958. [To purchase a large photo print of this image, please see Contact page and email me.]

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Bobby Allison & Bobby Isaac article in Vintage Motorsport

Posted on April 6, 2017 by

The former documentary writer-director, William Edgar, chose to make a number of motorsport films during his television production years. One of them—“The Wildest Road”—took him in May 1971 to South Carolina NASCAR country at Darlington Raceway to meet legendary stock car drivers Bobby Allison and Bobby Isaac at the Rebel 400 Grand National. The two Bobbys’ stories, and this filming experience, are now featured in Edgar’s 5-page article for the March/April 2017 issue of Vintage Motorsport magazine. Isaac is the reigning series champion struggling to remain on top; Allison has spent his racing budget’s last five thousand dollars on a new engine to run this grueling Darlington 400-miler and stay in the show. 46,500 fans are there to witness the outcome. Photograph above of Bobby Allison’s Dodge at speed during qualifying time trials by William Edgar.

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When Ferrari racing cars came to 1950s America!

Posted on December 27, 2016 by

“THE FOUR HORSEMEN: An inside look at America’s quartet of leading FERRARI sports car racing teams in the 1950s, recalled by an author who was there in period” is the title and sub-head of my feature article in Vintage Motorsport magazine’s Jan/Feb 2017 issue currently in circulation. The four “Prancing Horse” principals are, alphabetically, John Edgar, James Kimberly, Antonio Parravano, and John von Neumann. The era/place is mid-20th Century United States and its offshore venues in words and photographs from when customer Ferraris were the latest and often greatest on our nation’s road racing and airport circuits. Read of the cars, owners and drivers in this 7-page time travel! Photo by John Edgar [To purchase a large photo print of this image (minus embedded title & caption), please see Contact page and email me.] 

 

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THE BABY BAT in BIMMER magazine’s Current Issue #144

Posted on December 26, 2016 by
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BIMMER magazine’s February 2017 Issue #144, currently in circulation, offers my feature article about Sam and Robin Moultrie’s 1976 BMW 2002 Schnitzer-bodied/equipped competition car’s European history, recent restoration, and comeback for vintage racing. It’s our story of The Baby Bat(mobile) and the enthusiasts involved in this rare car’s life, past, present and future. Check it out. Photography by William Edgar and Klaus Schnitzer

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Once upon a time, long before the Penske fleet …

Posted on September 16, 2016 by
edgar-ferrari-transporter-1956-edgar-motorsport-archive

One of the very first Big Race Car Transporters on the racing scene, parked here at the Palm Springs Airport in November 1956. The hot-rodded GMC tractor hauled this Fruehauf trailer designed to carry three race cars and fitted with stove, refrigerator, sink, well-stocked liquor and Champagne bar, and four pull-down sleep bunks. The two John Edgar-owned Ferraris are (left) the former factory 1954 Le Mans-winning 375 Plus s/n 0396AM (rebodied by Scaglietti) and the 1955 Carroll Shelby-driven Palm Springs-race winning 410 Sport s/n 0598CM. An Edgar 550 Porsche Spyder rests snugly inside the famous, gleaming rig topped with observation deck from which Gary Cooper, among others, watched the Palm Springs sports car road races. Edgar Motorsport Archive Photo by Lester Nehamkin. [To purchase a large photo print of this image, please see Contact page and email me.]

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Nobody does IndyCar team racing quite like Roger …

Posted on September 15, 2016 by
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The other day we were at Sonoma Raceway (Sears Points for those who remember it as such) while doing a photo shoot on a vintage BMW racing car when Roger Penske’s TEAM PENSKE multi-wheeled armada of six transporters rolled in from the east coast for this weekend’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Stopping everything to grab this shot was irresistible. Photo by William Edgar [To purchase a large photo print of this image (minus embedded cation), please see Contact page and email me.]

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October 2016 Issues Trifecta: 3 feature articles coming out in July.

Posted on June 25, 2016 by
Ex-Busby 320 Turbo - Photo courtesy owner Cory Muensterman

BIMMER magazine: “SHOWTIME!”  If ever a BMW race car lit up the motorsport stage in the U.S., it was the 320 Turbo. Freshly restored by Jim Busby for a star turn at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion this August, the ex-Jim Busby Racing IMSA 320 Turbo chassis #005 takes a bow. Story by William Edgar, Photography by Nate Hassler. (This photo: Courtesy of the car owner, Cory Muensterman)

Busby Moretti Porsche 935 - Photo Courtesy Jim Busby Racing

EXCELLENCE magazine: “BUZZ BUSBY”  Porsche wasn’t the only marque in Jim Busby’s competition career, but it’s arguably the make that awarded him the most of what he wanted from racing, along with his greatest number of podium finishes as both driver and entrant. Story by William Edgar, Photography by Porsche and Jim Busby Racing. (This photo: Courtesy of Jim Busby Racing)

Moeller 312 T5 - Photo William Edgar

FORZA magazine: “SECOND LIFE”  Retired by the factory after the 1980 F1 season, this Ferrari 312 T5 chassis #046 has found a new career in over 20 years of vintage racing under owner Bud Moeller, who will drive the car at Elkhart Lake in July, and at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion in August. Story and Photography by William Edgar. [To purchase a large photo print of this image, please see Contact page and email me.] 

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Jim Busby’s Ferrari 400i GTC is alive, mean, and loud of song!

Posted on June 21, 2016 by
Jim Busby Ferrari 400i GTC - Photo courtesy of Jim Busby Racing

See the 20th Anniversary June 2016 Issue of FORZA magazine for William Edgar’s 6-page feature article “Competition Conversion: Jim Busby builds the 400i race car that Ferrari never did”, with article photography by Nate Hassler. The one-off Ferrari Special was trophied at Bruce Meyer’s June 19, 2016 Rodeo Drive Concours in Beverly Hills, and will be seen again in Gordon McCall’s Motorworks Revival at the Monterey Jet Center on August 17th and at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering in Carmel Valley on August 19th. The Ferrari’s Jim Busby Racing transforming restoration story, from 1982 tired road car to vibrant “GTC” version that Enzo Ferrari might have built in period, is the narrative of Busby’s dream to create this car and feed his passion. (This photo: Courtesy of Jim Busby Racing.)

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Peter Revson in March/April 2016 issue of Vintage Motorsport

Posted on February 5, 2016 by
Revson McLaren M8F - William Edgar photo

Days of Glory is William Edgar’s 6-page feature article that profiles Peter Revson in the coming March/April 2016 issue of Vintage Motorsport magazine. After taking pole at the Indianapolis 500, but failing to win the race, Revson scored big in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup series then moved to F1 Grand Prix, where death cut short a stunning racing career. The author recalls those times firsthand. Revson is seen here in the factory Can-Am McLaren M8F at Road Atlanta on the day of his first Can-Am victory in July 1971. William Edgar Photo

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