Daniel Sexton Gurney was born on 13 April 1931, in Port Jefferson, Long Island, to Metropolitan Opera star John Gurney and Roma Sexton. After high school, his family relocated to Riverside, California, where Dan honed his driving skills, weaving through Southern California orange groves. He graduated from Menlo Junior College and served two years in the United States Army, primarily overseas in the Korean War.
| Nationality | American |
|---|---|
| Born | Daniel Sexton Gurney April 13, 1931 Port Jefferson, New York, USA |
| Died | January 14, 2018 (aged 86) Newport Beach, California, USA |
Dan Gurney had three highly successful careers: Racing Driver, Racecar Manufacturer/Inventor, and Long-term Team Owner. In the spring of 2002, Dan surprised the automotive world by launching a new venture: the revolutionary single-cylinder Alligator motorcycle, a project two decades in the making.
Gurney’s racing career began in 1955 with a Triumph TR2 and spanned 15 years. During this time, he became a top road racing star in America and one of the most popular F1 Grand Prix drivers ever. He made a name for himself with thrilling battles against drivers like Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jack Brabham, Graham Hill, and Phil Hill on classic road tracks such as the Nurburgring, the Targa Florio, and Monte Carlo. He remains the only American driver to win a Grand Prix in a car of his own construction.
By the time he retired from active driving in 1970, Gurney had raced in 303 events across 20 countries with 25 different makes of cars, winning 48 races and finishing on the podium an additional 41 times. His most notable victories include 7 Formula One races (four Grand Prix World Championship events), 7 Indy Car races, 5 NASCAR Winston Cup stock car races (all 500-mile races in Riverside, California), and two second-place finishes at the “Indy 500.” He also won in Trans-Am, Can-Am, and sports car races, including endurance classics at the Nuerburgring, Daytona, Sebring, and Le Mans. He claimed 37 career pole positions and started on the front row of the grid an additional 58 times. Many races that “got away” due to mechanical issues, where Dan was leading by a significant margin, added to his fame and popularity.
Gurney was the first driver to win races in the four major categories of motorsports: Grand Prix, Indy Car, NASCAR, and Sports Car. He is one of only two drivers in history (the other being Mario Andretti) to accomplish this feat.
At the 1966 Belgium Grand Prix at Spa, driving his new car, the Eagle, Gurney faced an unusual downpour and the call of nature. Unable to wait until the end of the race and not wanting to spoil his new car, he stopped by the side of the track and relieved himself in front of surprised spectators. He then re-entered the race but was unclassified as he had not completed enough laps.
Gurney’s second and third careers as a race car manufacturer of the Eagles and as a team owner of All American Racers (AAR) began while he was still actively driving. After retiring in 1970, he bought out AAR co-founder Carroll Shelby and became the sole owner, chairman, and CEO. Over 30 years, AAR designed and manufactured race cars, winning 8 Championships, capturing 78 victories and 83 pole positions, including the Indy 500 and the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Daytona. Between 1965 and 2000, 66 drivers from around the globe raced for AAR, including Dan’s son, Alexander Gurney.
Eagles purchased by customers achieved significant success on the Indy circuit and Formula A/5000 circuit, notably winning the Indy 500 twice with Bobby Unser in 1968 and Gordon Johncock in 1973, along with three Championships in Indy Cars and Formula A.
In 2002, Gurney was recognised as the only man to build and race a winning F1 car, a winning Indy Car, a winning sports car, and a revolutionary motorcycle.
Gurney pioneered several racing innovations. In 1971, he developed the Gurney Flap, which the automobile racing and aviation industries have widely adopted. He was the first race car driver to introduce a full-face helmet to Indy Car and Grand Prix racing. He was instrumental in launching the rear-engine revolution at Indianapolis in 1963. He is the only American in modern Grand Prix racing to build and race his own Formula One car to victory (1967 Grand Prix of Belgium). His gesture of spraying champagne into the crowd from the victory podium at Le Mans has been emulated by winners worldwide.
Gurney, a founding member of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), coined the name and acronym. He helped bring Monte Carlo-type street car racing to the United States and co-founded the Long Beach Grand Prix in 1974, where he served on the Board of Directors for 24 years.
Gurney was also a member of the Screen Actors Guild since 1965, appearing in motor racing films such as ‘Winning,’ ‘A Man and a Woman,’ and ‘Grand Prix.’ His win of the ‘Cannonball Run’ across the United States in 1971 inspired his friend and co-pilot Brock Yates to write the screenplay for the ‘Cannonball’ movies. His long-term relationship with Toyota began in 1982 with TV commercials for the Supra, resulting in three Drivers and three Manufacturers’ championships for the automaker.
An avid reader of political and military history, Gurney enjoyed old movies, opera, cigars, travelling to historical places, and riding motorcycles. Gurney and his wife, Evi, a former junior executive in Porsche’s public relations/press department and a well-known motorsports journalist in Germany during the sixties, had two sons. Dan had four grown children from his first marriage and four grandchildren. They lived in Newport Beach, California.
Dan Gurney passed away on 14 January 2018, after a long battle with pneumonia at the age of 86. His wife, Evi, announced his death in a statement from All American Racers, Inc. “With one last smile on his handsome face, Dan drove off into the unknown just before noon today,” the statement, signed by Evi Gurney, the Gurney family, and AAR teammates, read.
Dan Gurney Formula One World Championship career
| F1 Career | 1959–1968, 1970 |
|---|---|
| Teams | Ferrari, BRM, Porsche, Lotus, Brabham, Eagle, McLaren |
| Entries | 87 (86 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Podiums | 19 |
| Career points | 133 |
| Pole positions | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 6 |
| First entry | 1959 French Grand Prix |
| First win | 1962 French Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1967 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1970 British Grand Prix |
Dan Gurney Teammates
| 21 Teammates | Involvement | First Year | Last Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tony Brooks | 4 | 1959 | |
| Jean Behra | 1 | 1959 | |
| Olivier Gendebien | 2 | 1959 | |
| Phil Hill | 6 | 1959 | 1966 |
| Cliff Allison | 2 | 1959 | |
| Jo Bonnier | 21 | 1960 | 1962 |
| Graham Hill | 7 | 1960 | |
| Hans Herrmann | 2 | 1961 | |
| Edgar Barth | 1 | 1961 | |
| Jack Brabham | 27 | 1963 | 1968 |
| Denny Hulme | 7 | 1965 | 1970 |
| Giancarlo Baghetti | 1 | 1965 | |
| Bob Bondurant | 3 | 1966 | 1967 |
| Richie Ginther | 2 | 1967 | |
| AJ Foyt | 1 | 1967 | |
| Bruce McLaren | 3 | 1967 | |
| Ludovico Scarfiotti | 1 | 1967 | |
| Jochen Rindt | 1 | 1968 | |
| Jacky Ickx | 1 | 1969 | |
| Peter Gethin | 2 | 1970 | |
| Andrea de Adamich | 3 | 1970 |
Race Wins
| Win Number | Grand Prix |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1962 French Grand Prix |
| 2 | 1964 French Grand Prix |
| 3 | 1964 Mexican Grand Prix |
| 4 | 1967 Belgian Grand Prix |
Complete Formula One Results
Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Scuderia Ferrari | Ferrari Dino 246 | Ferrari 155 2.4 V6 | MON | 500 | NED | FRA Ret | GBR | GER 2 | POR 3 | ITA 4 | USA | 7th | 13 | ||||
| 1960 | Owen Racing Organisation | BRM P48 | BRM P25 2.5 L4 | ARG | MON NC | 500 | NED Ret | BEL Ret | FRA Ret | GBR 10 | POR Ret | ITA | USA Ret | NC | 0 | |||
| 1961 | Porsche System Engineering | Porsche 718 | Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 | MON 5 | BEL 6 | FRA 2 | GBR 7 | GER 7 | ITA 2 | USA 2 | 4th | 21 | ||||||
| Porsche 787 | NED 10 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1962 | Porsche System Engineering | Porsche 804 | Porsche 753 1.5 F8 | NED Ret | MON Ret | FRA 1 | GBR 9 | GER 3 | ITA Ret | USA 5 | RSA | 5th | 15 | |||||
| Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel | Lotus 24 | BRM P56 1.5 V8 | BEL DNS | |||||||||||||||
| 1963 | Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT7 | Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 | MON Ret | BEL 3 | NED 2 | FRA 5 | GBR Ret | GER Ret | ITA 14 | USA Ret | MEX 6 | RSA 2 | 5th | 19 | |||
| 1964 | Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT7 | Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 | MON Ret | NED Ret | BEL 6 | FRA 1 | GBR 13 | GER 10 | AUT Ret | ITA 10 | USA Ret | MEX 1 | 6th | 19 | |||
| 1965 | Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT11 | Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 | RSA Ret | MON | BEL 10 | FRA Ret | GBR 6 | NED 3 | GER 3 | ITA 3 | USA 2 | MEX 2 | 4th | 25 | |||
| 1966 | Anglo American Racers | Eagle T1F | Climax FPF 2.8 L4 | MON | BEL NC | FRA 5 | GBR Ret | NED Ret | GER 7 | MEX 5 | 12th | 4 | ||||||
| Eagle T1G | Weslake 58 3.0 V12 | ITA Ret | USA Ret | |||||||||||||||
| 1967 | Anglo American Racers | Eagle T1F | Climax FPF 2.8 L4 | RSA Ret | 8th | 13 | ||||||||||||
| Eagle T1G | Weslake 58 3.0 V12 | MON Ret | NED Ret | BEL 1 | FRA Ret | GBR Ret | GER Ret | CAN 3 | ITA Ret | USA Ret | MEX Ret | |||||||
| 1968 | Anglo American Racers | Eagle T1G | Weslake 58 3.0 V12 | RSA Ret | ESP | MON Ret | BEL | FRA | GBR Ret | GER 9 | ITA Ret | 21st | 3 | |||||
| McLaren M7A | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | CAN Ret | USA 4 | MEX Ret | ||||||||||||||
| Brabham Racing Organisation | Brabham BT24 | Repco 740 3.0 V8 | NED Ret | |||||||||||||||
| 1970 | Bruce McLaren Motor Racing | McLaren M14A | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | NED Ret | FRA 6 | GBR Ret | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | MEX | 24th | 1 |
Sources: Wikipedia.com, fandom.com, statsf1.com and historicracing.com
