PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors for their movie roles, has died. He was 88. Since Bob has never stopped racing (he still enters vintage events), he still has some sneaky moves his experienced instructors have never seen before. He then rose to the highest level in racing with Ferrari in Formula 1 and prototypes. [3][4], The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was the largest purpose-built driving school in the world. Jason Bondurant also told Jalopnik that he didnt lead the employee walkout, but rather gave Pat Bondurant a pre-planned ultimatum that Monday that either he was staying at the school or she was. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) -- Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors for their movie roles, has died. He kept racing, too. By 1970, the school relocated to the nearby Ontario Motor Speedway. When he made the decision to leave, he said, other employees went with him. Bondurant is the only American to bring home the World Championship trophy back to the U.S. while racing for Carroll Shelby. Bob Bondurant, champion driver and founder of the Bondurant Racing School, passed away Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88. This car become one of Bondurants most prized possessions after it was bought for him as a Christmas gift by his wife, you can read the story of this below: Bob Bondurants wife Pat searched for months and found her husband the best GT40 replica money could buy, a right-hand drive ERA GT40, almost identical to the GT40s he raced for Carroll Shelby back in the 1960s., Bob rubbed his eyes in disbelief when the transporter dropped this car off in the Bondurants driveway on Christmas morning. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake he moved the driving school to Phoenix, Arizona, where he enjoyed close ties to General Motors and Goodyear Tires. The aluminum Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe will start at $394,995. He raced factory Ferrari GTs and Porsche prototypes, had brief spells in. At 62, Bob grabbed a Third place podium finish at Road Atlanta in a Saleen Mustang in 1995. When Bob wasnt using the car on track it was stabled in the Bondurant Museum, where it was seen by countless thousands of visitors over the years. I checked the board to see where I qualified; I wasn't on the Novice board. ATS was formed by disenchanted team members who broke away from Ferrari, including Phil Hill. Located in the Catskills of New York, the Grand Prix was held at the "Glen" in 1961 and continued until 1980. The interior is an almost exact replica of the original, with the exception of the Bob Bondurant signature on the glovebox of course. Bob was told that the high-speed corner, Curve Grande, was taken flat-out. American racing legend Bob Bondurant has passed away aged 88. As Bob went through the corner the rear axle broke sending him off the course backward and down a ravine. "I talked my mom into letting me get a '32 Chevy roadster when I was in junior high; at 14 you could get a Junior Operating License. When I was handed that petition is when it really hit home to me how bad it had gotten company wide, he said. Bondurant taught stunt driving, competition driving, police pursuit driving, evasive driving for . In 1965, Bob Bondurant takes the wheel of a Ferrari Formula 1 race car during the US Grand Prix. Paul Newman and Robert Wagner were the third and fourth students to enroll in the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving for the movie "Winning". America's iconic World Champion Bob Bondurant has passed away in Paradise Valley, Arizona. (The two Yanks didn't realize the French national colors are blue, white, and red, which might have had something to do with the salute. By 14, he owned his first Indian motorcycle, and after the devastating death of his mother at 16 years old, he started racing flat track and even bigger Indians and Harleys. The founder, Bob Bondurant, began his career as a racing driver . The original was made from a lighter gauge mild steel. Pat Bondurant, again, vehemently denied claims from the former employees about the management of the school. At Le Mans he led the GT class until a wrist pin failed putting the car out in the early morning. Answering the call, on February 14, 1968, Bob founded The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. Mini Bio (1) Bondurant raced cars in the 1960s with some success until a crash at Watkins Glen, in New York curtailed his career. Bondurant sustained serious rib, leg, foot and, most seriously, back injuries in the subsequent accident in which his car flipped eight times. I had learned how to ride the bike by now. This is an ERA GT that was built for Bob Bondurant, it was driven by the famed American racing driver a number of times and kept in his private collection. He raced motorcycles on dirt tracks as a teenager before switching to cars in 1958 and racing for the Shelby American, Ferrari and Eagle teams. Hetrained the films lead actor, James Garner, to drive Formula cars in the race sequences. His steering arm broke at 150mph, and, lying in traction at the hospital, he vividly remembers his conversation with God explaining to Bob that he was needed more on Earth and to start a driving and safety school to save thousands of lives of those otherwise dying on the highways and in motorsports. Bob Bondurant was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1933. I handed them $5, they handed me a Competition License and said, 'Now you can go racing.' I was riding motorcycles but I hadn't driven a car yet. I was going with a girl who I liked a lot, but she said, 'If we're going to get married you're going to have to stop racing motorcycles. Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors for their movie roles, has died. Others followed suit, which forced the brief closure. It was in October 1965 that Bob drove a V-8powered Formula 1 Ferrari for the North American Racing Team entered by Luigi Chinetti, the U.S. Ferrari distributor. While recuperating from a race car crash, he came up with the idea of a high-performance driving school. By the time he was 18; he was racing an Indian Scout motorcycle, and moved to sports cars in 1956 at the wheel of a Morgan. Bob should be an inspiration to anyone who has a dream he followed his. We're blasting down the road in a red, white, and blue Corvette with the side exhaust pipes making a huge amount of noise down a lot of dirt roads. He also worked trained actors for race-car movies such as the 1966 "Grand Prix . Bob is living a hot rodder's fantasy; he can race anytime he damn-well pleases and the only red lights in his mirrors are the cop cars on the track taking his Law Enforcement training class. The Depression caused Mr. Bondurant (and Cord) to fall victim to hard times when he lost his business, telling the family, we're going to move as far west as we can. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving at the best online prices at eBay! This was an important race for the GT40 as it was the models first international victory, with GT40s finishing 1st and 3rd. Me and my buddies drove all over in that thing. PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) -- Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors for their movie roles, has. Shelbys faith in Bondurant was quickly justified as he won his first race at theContinental Divide Raceway in Colorado. Bondurant passed away at the age of 88 and is survived by his wife, Pat, President and CEO of the. Bob Bondurant, a race car driver and actor who coached actors as diverse as James Garner, Clint Eastwood and Heather Locklear through their careers, died at the age of 88. That's how I learned to ride motorcycles," Bob laughs. Bondurant also drove BRMs in five Grands Prix for Team Chamaco Collect, finishing 4th at Monaco. It's constantly changing; technology advances, drivers get better, and times get faster. Bondurant won a world championship while racing for Carroll Shelby. He was 88. In the June 1969 run of the grueling offroad Baja 500 race, Bondurant with co-driver Tony Murphy took first place in the passenger car class driving an SC/Rambler for James Garner's "American International Racers" team that was sponsored by American Motors Corporation (AMC). He didn't answer. INSIGHT: Has Alonso finally landed on another winner? The veteran F1 guys were spinning out; Bob being a newcomer to F1, but a seasoned dirt-tracker, weathered the storm, so to speak. Bob's father owned a car dealership that sold fast cars in nearby Chicago; very fast carsCords to be exact. The school closed a month later, though, with no information as to why and no indication of whether it would reopenor how the closure would affect existing agreements, like Bondurants customer obligations to the brands it works with. Bob Bondurant was a racing driver who founded the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, where he taught celebrities including Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in Orange County in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors how to drive fast for their movie roles,. Bondurant left the Formula 1 race series to race the even faster Can-Am cars with best friend and team driver, Peter Revson, in the Lola T70 Mark II. This story has been updated with allegations from the Bondurant schools former general manager, Tim Rose, and comment from FCA. "I decided that when I went to Europe, I was somehow going to get a testdrive in a Formula 1 car. By 12 years old, his parents were divorced, and he persuaded his mother to purchase a Whizzer electric bike to deliver his newspapers faster. Our. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc., 17030 Red Hill Avenue, Irvine, CA 92614, 949.417.6700 Bob Bondurant stepped back from the schools daily operations because he wanted to do the fun stuff later in life, Jason Bondurant said. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 2. Bondurant won a world championship while racing for Carroll Shelby. Here are allegations of more general derogatory comments, via the ClassicCars.com Journal report: Two years ago, on the advice of an external human relations company, Jason Bondurant said he sent his mother home for two weeks after a worker overheard her making racist comments. Right now, Bondurant's class sizes are about 60 percent full,. Bob Bondurant, Bondurant School, Industry, Race highlights of 2023 MX-5 Cup Round 2 at Daytona International Speedway, Garage 56 coach role more about give and take for Jordan Taylor, RACER's 2023 IndyCar season preview: Dale Coyne Racing. Racer.com traced his life story: [], [] driving school founder Bob Bondurant died Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88,Racerhas [], [] and driving school founder Bob Bondurant died Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88, Racer has learned.The son of a car dealer, Bondurant began racing in Corvettes on the West Coast in the [], Bob Bondurant, 1933-2021 RACER - Jakhala.com, Racing legend Bob Bondurant lifeless at 88 Abrar Gadget Shop, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 AutoSector.com , BOB BONDURANT 1933-2021 The Road Racing Drivers Club, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 - Aftermarket Alloy Wheels, Racing legend Bob Bondurant dead at 88 Born To Be Wild, All contents copyright 2023, Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved. Full Film: The Opposite of Death Curtiss Motorcycle Co. Now thats doing your business in luxury. If you put it that way, I have to race. ), "I had never been to Europe before so it was exciting to be able to race there," Guildstrand continues. Something went wrong. 26. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving was the largest purpose-built driving school in the world. Bondurant won 30 of 32 races in Corvettes from 1961-63, and he won the GT class at Le Mans in 1964, co-driving with fellow American Dan Gurney. The 88-year-old is among a handful of Americans who have competed in Formula 1, in NASCAR, in CanAm and at Le Mans, where he won driving for Carroll Shelby while sharing the ride with Dan Gurney in. "He made my profession easier," Lance Henriksen, who played the vampire Gomorrah on "The X-Files," told The Chicago Tribune. This marks the second driving school in just over. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 2. 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