Things you didnt know
3 Legendary All American Racers Are for Sale
By Aaron Miller Published On 08/07/2014
@aaron_m_miller
By Aaron Miller @aaron_m_miller Published On 08/07/2014
In any list of American motorsport legends, Dan Gurney's name belongs next to those of Carroll Shelby, Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, and Phil Hill. Even more impressive and long-lasting than his driving exploits, however, is his All American Racers squad, and the vehicles it developed. AAR was co-founded by Gurney and Shelby with a hefty helping of support from Goodyear, and over the years, the company built a string of highly advanced racers that won in Formula 1, Trans Am, and at the Indy 500. There was even a bike (more below.)
At this month's RM Pebble Beach auction, not just one, but four AAR vehicles have popped up, so we thought we'd take a closer look.
1969 AAR Eagle-Santa Ana Indianapolis
In 1967, Gurney won at Spa-Francorchamps in Formula 1 to become the first—and, to date, only—man to win in an American car, and in 1968, a Gurney Eagle won both the Indianapolis 500 and the IndyCar Championship. Hopes were obviously high for 1969, so AAR brought four cars to Indy. This one was actually the spare car, and among its sister cars was the identical number 48 driven by Gurney to a second place finish behind only Mario Andretti. [More pics...]
1972 AAR Eagle 7200 Indianapolis
The 7200 Indianapolis obliterated everything in its path in a way very few cars ever have. Gurney hired some of the best aerodynamicists straight from the defense industry to build a car that would cut through the air. His engineers then took the 750 hp turbocharged four cylinder and made it an integral part of the chassis. The result? A car that annihilated the record books. Within a year, nearly two thirds of the IndyCar field was comprised of Eagles. [More pics...]
1981 AAR Eagle Indianapolis
Compared to its predecessors, the 1981 Eagle was somewhat ordinary in that it wasn't revolutionary and didn't conquer the world. It was nonetheless a very competitive car, and this particular one notched multiple top-10 finishes, including one at Indy. [More pics...]
2002 AAR Aligator
By the turn of the century, AAR had begun work on a sport bike that, at the time, was intended to be a revolution in bike dynamics. With your feet pointing forward, you actually sit down into the bike, which had the effect of getting the center of gravity as low as possible for better handling. A limited run of just 36 were ever made, and for various reasons, the concept never really caught on. [More pics...]
Aaron Miller is the Rides editor for Supercompressor. His dad owned the first Dan Gurney Cougar in the City of Dallas, back in the sixties.