Quote:
Originally Posted by Bored5000
Yikes, I just looked at one of "youwin1415"'s other amazing autograph auctions that ended on Wednesday night. I did not have a snipe in for this one, but it is also incredible -- with autographs of open wheel racers Marshall Teague, Jimmy Bryan, Bill Vukovich, Carl Scarborough and more. Just the four names I listed all died prior to 1961.
As awesome as the item is, the ending price of $3,350 left me stunned.  The same buyer won both this item and the one listed above.
From those not familiar, Scarborough died of heat exhaustion during the 1953 Indy 500. Bill Vukovich dominated the race en route to winning (then was killed while leading at Indy going for his third straight win two years later). After winning the '53 race (in which nearly a dozen drivers were treated for heat-related issues), Vukovich climbed out of his car in Victory Lane and remarked: "You think this is hot? You ought to drive a tractor in Fresno in July."
Numerous relief drivers had to be used that day due to the heat. Vukovich also commented following the race: "Every time I passed a car, it had a different driver in it."
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-CART...p2047675.l2557 |
Loved your write-ups, Eddie. While I am not into autographs much at all, I must say that the names you mentioned among the autographs were immensely impressive. Rarity is not good enough to describe how difficult it would be to find autographs of these long-deceased auto racing greats. Racing drivers are wonderful with their fans, and do sign easily for the most part, but some of these guys have been gone since before I was born, or at least over 50 years.
Great story on Bill Vukovich, which I well remember reading on the 1953 500. The official film called that race "The Hottest 500". In the film Carl Scarborough is seen driving slowly into the pits, for the last time. The look on his face was terrible. What struck me was that he was wearing a solid black uniform, which would exacerbate the effect of the sunlight on him, contributing to his demise. How sad.
The autograph that struck home the most was Dave MacDonald, one of the greatest Corvette racers of all time, as well as that of the Cobra, King Cobra, and the Cobra Daytona coupe. I dearly wish he had taken Jim Clark's advice to him to just get out of that car and walk away from it, referring of course to the infamous Mickey Thompson car that took his life, and was the worst-looking accident in Indy history. To think he survived the accident, and died in the hospital a few hours later.......
Hope you're doing well, Eddie, and thanks for buying my book, and contributing to the thread of appreciation for it. I'm mighty grateful, my friend. Best regards, Brian Powell