Up next in 10
CORVETTE TODAY #228 - The Story Of The Camoradi Corvette
0 views
Jul 12, 2025
When Corvette enthusiasts talk about Le Mans in 1960, they mostly talk about the 3 Corvettes that Briggs Cunningham raced there. There was a 4th Corvette that raced at Le Mans in 1960 - it was owned and raced by Camoradi Racing. Corvette photographer, Richard Prince, come back to CORVETTE TODAY with your host, Steve Garrett, to tell the story of this 4th Le Mans Corvette! Richard tells the story of the owner, the race team, how it did at Le Mans in 1960 and what happened to the car after the race. It's a truly amazing story - one that many Corvette enthusiasts don't know. Get the full story of the Camoradi Corvette and where it is today on this episode of CORVETTE TODAY.
View Video Transcript
0:00
[Music] Welcome to Corvette Today, the show that
0:06
talks about everything Corvette with your host Steve Garrett, lifetime member of the National Corvette Museum,
0:13
president of the Corvette Club of Kansas City, Missouri, and radio disc jockey at the number one radio station in Kansas
0:20
City for over 45 years. Here's Steve Garrett.
0:28
Thanks for listening and watching Corvette Today, the show that talks about everything Corvette and the only
0:33
current podcast dedicated to Corvette. I'm your host, Steve Garrett. I appreciate you tuning in. Corvette Today
0:39
is brought to you by Wheelcraft. Want to dress up your Corvette with bright chrome or black chrome wheels? Visit
0:44
wheelcraft.com and learn about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel
0:50
exchange for most models, and it comes with a 5-year warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or call them at
0:57
833-84-5334. You can listen to Corvette Today on all
1:02
podcast platforms. You can also listen on your smart device. Just say, "Hey Google," or "Alexa, play the podcast
1:09
called Corvette and you're connected." And be sure to visit the Corvette Today website. It's corvette.com.
1:15
You can access everything there, including the Corvette Today merchandise store. You can also join our Corvette
1:21
Today Facebook group there as well. Also, make sure you sign up for the Corvette Today emails, notifications,
1:26
and updates at corvette.k.page. And if you like YouTube, be sure to
1:32
subscribe to our Corvette Today YouTube channel. See all Corvette Today episodes on YouTube as well. And be sure to
1:38
patronize our flagship sponsors of Corvette Today, mid-engine Corvette forum.com, the forum that focuses on the
1:45
new mid-engine C8 Corvette. Meet a lot of fellow Corvette enthusiasts like yourself at midengine Corvette
1:50
forum.com. Soul Performance Products developed and manufactured in the United States. The Soul Performance Products
1:57
exhaust portfolio has been tailored to elevate the experience of the world's most exciting sports cars, including the
2:04
latest generation of the Corvette. Soul Performance Products at sulp.com,
2:09
the official performance exhaust of Corvette today. Aerolari wheels, a true forged wheel with over 20 unique styles
2:16
to choose from for your C8 and widebody versions of the C7, C6, and C5 Corvette.
2:22
It's an amazing value starting at only 23.88 for a set of four fully forged
2:27
wheels. And use the promo code CT111 and get $100 off your purchase. Visit
2:33
aerolari.com. That's a r o l r i.com. and use the promo code CT111 for your
2:41
$100 discount. Sioka Corvettes. If you're a Corvette enthusiast, and I know you are since you're listening and
2:47
watching Corvette today, then you need to know about Sioka Corvette. They're based in Atlantic City, where you can
2:52
find over 100 new and pre-owned vets on the lot and inbound. Seioca also ships Corvettes all over the country,
2:58
customordered to your specifications. They're staffed with experienced pros who can answer all your questions. So
3:04
don't compromise. Visit seiocorvette.com. That's ciocorvette.com
3:10
and find out more. Chevrolet together. Let's drive E5 Wheels. E5 Wheels is a
3:16
passionate and dedicated wheel company that serves only Corvette. They make spun forged wheels for your C8, C7, and
3:23
C6 Corvette. With the best fitment in the industry, E5 Wheels ensures your wheels complement the aesthetics and
3:29
functionality while optimizing the performance of your Corvette. Visit e5wheels.com or call them at 3059647429.
3:39
And a shout out to Canadian Corvette Forum and Corvette Forum welcoming Corvette enthusiasts from around the
3:45
world. When we talk about the 1960 Lama race, we usually talk about Briggs Cunningham's three Corvettes that raced
3:52
that year. What you may not know is there is a fourth Corvette that raced at Lama in 1960, the Kamarati Corvette. My
4:00
guest on today's show will talk about that fourth Corvette. Please welcome back with me to Corvette Today the
4:06
official photographer for Corvette Racing and a friend of mine and a friend of the show, Richard Prince. Richard,
4:12
welcome back to Corvette Today, buddy. Thank you, Steve. As always, it's truly my pleasure and my privilege to be here
4:18
with you. I know I speak for the entire Corvette community everywhere when I say that we really sincerely appreciate all
4:25
that you do for the hobby, buddy. It's a labor of love. And before we get into the show, congratulations to
4:31
you on getting voted into the Corvette Hall of Fame. Well, thank you very much. That is really a humbling honor, particularly
4:39
because it results from multiple rounds of balloting and the people who do the voting are sourced from throughout the
4:46
entire Corvette world, from the Corvette hobby, from Corvette businesses, and from General Motors. So, it is really
4:52
appreciated that I've been recognized in that way. And as I said, it's also very humbling. It's a huge congratulations to
4:59
you, my friend. I am elated and I will be able to be there for that honor to see you get inducted. All right,
5:04
Richard, let's start with this. Let's talk about the Comarat Corvette. It all started out with Lloyd Lucky Caster.
5:10
Talk about him to begin the show. Well, he is one of those epic characters
5:17
from days gone by. It seems like for whatever reason racing in general and sports car racing in particular
5:23
attracted these kind of larger than-l life figures and he certainly fits that mold. He was born in New York City in
5:30
1928 and went to the University of Miami, graduated in 1950 with a business
5:36
administration degree, but he had a burning interest in flying. So after college, he went through flight training
5:42
and he got his pilot's license and went to work for Pan-Amean Airways as a pilot. and he continued doing that until
5:49
1954. He was flying a South American route and they intended to change his
5:55
route. So, he had to fly Transatlantic and he didn't want to do it and he had other interests. So, he quit being an
6:00
airline pilot and went into the car business. He opened up a Cadillac dealership in Miami, sold new and used
6:07
Cadillacs and did reasonably well at that. And that helped fund his entree
6:13
into what he really wanted to do, which was sports car racing. He got involved in sports car racing in the mid50s that
6:21
led to the car that you mentioned among many others and really an incredible story alto together about his racing
6:28
activities and his team. One of the more interesting things about him was he
6:34
wanted to go racing in a really big way and couldn't afford to fund it himself. So he had to look to others for funding.
6:41
And by all accounts, one of his most important skills was the ability to convince other people to bend to his
6:48
will to do what he wanted. My favorite example of that is at one point he
6:53
convinced the Dowo Chemical Company, which at that time was the world's largest manufacturer of automotive
7:00
antifreeze to be the primary sponsor of his racing team. Huh. And at the time, his racing team had two
7:08
cars and they were both aircooled Porsches. He managed to talk the largest maker of automotive antifreeze into
7:14
sponsoring his aircooled Porsches. And that pretty much sums up Lucky Kasnner's perhaps his greatest skill in motor
7:21
racing which was again to convince anybody to do anything. Yeah. Now I know Lucky started Castner
7:27
Motor Racing in 1959 and in its abbreviated form which was camarad that
7:33
sounded Italian which was really good because all the high-end racing teams were owned and subsidized by wealthy
7:39
connected individuals like that wasn't it? Yeah. This was of course the era long before corporate involvement really got
7:46
involved in a very very big way. So a lot of the more memorable, more
7:51
successful sports car racing teams were funded by very wealthy sportsmen who
7:57
simply wanted to go racing. That included, of course, Briggs Cunningham and Lance Ferventll with the Scarabs. So
8:05
Lloyd kind of fell into that mold except again he didn't have the great wealth to fund it himself. He managed to talk
8:12
others into doing it. And one of his many poise for doing that was forming a race team that just had the sound of
8:19
aristocracy of old European involvement. Camaradi stood for Kasma Motor Racing,
8:25
the sound of an old Italian enterprise and he presumed that that would help him sell it.
8:30
Yeah. And his goal was really to race in Europe and more specifically Lamad. Wasn't that right?
8:36
Yes. at a an SECA event in March of 1959 that was held on a temporary circuit at
8:42
Apalaka Naval Air Base in Miami. He grabbed the announcers microphone, announced the formation of camaraderie
8:49
and invited those present to become quote members of his team and what he
8:54
was asking for was people to join the team and pay the team membership fee
8:59
which he would use to go big-time racing in Europe. The humorous part of that is he was speaking to a population of
9:06
racers. It was an SECA national and he was speaking to people who would have loved to go racing in Europe if they
9:12
could afford it and he was asking them to fund his race team to Cody Herb. So he was met with more than a little bit
9:19
of ridicule when he made this announcement. But there was one person in the audience who thought this was a
9:26
fantastic idea. He saw it as an epic adventure and he approached Lucky after Lucky made that announcement and made a
9:32
proposal to him. That man was Fred Gamble and Fred proposed that he would volunteer to help this program, help get
9:39
it off the ground and he would travel at his own expense. He offered travel with
9:44
the team throughout Europe and as a journalist, which is what Fred was at the time, he would raise a little bit of
9:51
money to help fund his way by writing a series of articles for car magazines about the team's efforts.
9:58
Yeah. And with Fred on board, he was able to secure Goodyear as a sponsor, which opened the door to other sponsors
10:03
like Chevrolet. Yes. Lucky saw something magical in Fred and he on the spot said, "I have a
10:11
better idea. Why don't you partner with me on this and together we can make this thing happen. And Fred was in his
10:17
mid20s, a racing enthusiast, a recent college grad with a journalism degree.
10:22
He was the perfect balance to Lucky Casner who was really a wild man. He was out there. And Fred Gamble was highly
10:30
intelligent and very measured and it was just a perfect marriage, the two of them working together. Fred over the next
10:36
several weeks wrote a very comprehensive proposal that Lucky could then take to potential sponsors. Goodyear was, as you
10:44
said, the first to sign on with that. And once Lucky had Goodyear, that became
10:50
a selling point for additional corporate sponsors. It created certainly the illusion that this was a wellestablished
10:56
program and was on its way when a big global company like Goodyear Tire and Rubber was involved with it.
11:02
Yeah, buddy. Let's take our first break. When we come back, we're going to talk more about racing with Comarati
11:07
Corvettes. That's coming up next on Corvette Today. We all know that wheels make the car. Wheelcraft's PVD chrome
11:14
finish in bright chrome or black chrome will take your Corvette to new levels, and it comes with a 5-year warranty.
11:20
Durability is defining feature of the Wheelcraft finish. Their PVD chrome is superior to traditional chrome with a
11:26
finish that is brake dust resistant and cleans effortlessly with soap and water. Wheelcraft offers factory wheel exchange
11:32
for select C4 through C8 models. Or they can apply the PBD finish to your current wheels. No matter what generation you
11:38
own, Wheelcraft will transform the look of your Corvette. With every Corvette comes a unique story. And Wheelcraft has
11:44
embraced his idea. When you purchase your new set of wheels, you receive a lifetime membership to the Wheelcraft
11:49
Pit Crew, granting you access to your own page on Wheelcraft's website, where you can post pictures and tell your
11:55
Corvette story. Visit our website at wheelcraft.com or call 833639-4231.
12:02
Arrive in style with Wheelcraft. The National Corvette Resto Society is
12:07
celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. 50 years of affirming and promoting the preservation and
12:13
restoration of the Corvette. 50 Years is the foremost Corvette Collector car organization for building value with its
12:19
prestigious awards. Have you ever considered joining NCS? Over 70,000 people have. We're so much more than
12:26
just the nuts and bolts. The NCRS flight judging program can and often does increase the value of American sports
12:32
car by researching and publishing the leading tech manuals and judging guides for the 1953 through 2007 Corvettes by
12:39
training the best judges and by hosting local, regional, and national judging events. And when you join, you'll get
12:45
award-winning magazines like Corvette Restore and Driveline all throughout the year. Joining is simple and easy. Just
12:52
go to ncrs.org org and sign up. There are NCS chapters all throughout the US
12:57
and all around the world. Chances are there's a local chapter near you. So join NCS today at ncs.org.
13:05
We come for the Corvettes. We stay for the friendships made along the way. When you want to buy a Corvette or any
13:11
Chevrolet for that matter, get yours from Hendrick Chevrolet Shauny Mission located in Kansas City. Hendrick
13:16
Chevrolet is the largest Corvette dealership and showroom in the Midwest. With a knowledgeable sales staff and
13:21
Corvette sales specialists on hand, they'll help you build the Corvette of your dreams. And they ship nationwide.
13:27
With Corvette certified master mechanics on site and a huge parts department with over $24,000 parts and $2 million in
13:33
inventory, Hendrickk Chevrolet is well equipped to take care of your every need. From sales to service to collision
13:39
repair, Hendrickk Chevrolet has you covered. Visit chevusa.com or call 913-384-1550.
13:47
[Music] This is the Corvette Today podcast with Steve Garrett.
13:54
Thanks for checking out Corvette Today on podcast and YouTube. It's the only current podcast dedicated to Corvette.
14:01
Corvette today is brought to you by Wheelcraft. You want your Corvette looking its best, don't you? We'll dress
14:06
it up with bright chrome or black chrome wheels. Visit wheelcraft.com and learn about their advanced PVD chrome
14:12
finishing. They can refinish your wheels or do a wheel exchange. And you get a 5-year warranty, too. So, visit
14:18
wheelcraft.com today or give him a call 833-639-4231.
14:24
I'm your host, Steve Garrett. With me is my buddy and the official photographer of Corvette Racing, Richard Prince.
14:31
We're talking about the Kamarati Corvette that raced at Lama in 1960. Richard Caster got Corvette to sign up
14:38
with GM's general manager, Ed Cole, which is a big deal, and with Zora Arcus Dunto. Now, he received two 1960
14:45
Corvettes. Let's talk about those two Corvettes that were given to Comamarat Racing.
14:50
Sure. Uh, yes. In the summer of 1959, Lucky Kner met with Ed Cole and Zur
14:55
Donttov. And at the time, Zur's title was Chevrolet director of high performance. He was not yet called the
15:01
chief engineer, but he obviously was the point person for all things Corvette. Chevrolet agreed to provide Lucky Kasner
15:08
and Kamarati with two brand new completely competition ready Corvettes. So they had the high compression solid
15:15
lifter fuel injection engines, four-speed transmissions, posy rear, heavy duty brake and suspension, and
15:22
they were equipped initially with the regular production option 24-gallon fuel tanks. Because Chevrolet was still
15:29
committed to the June 1957 AMA ban on all forms of motorsport, they had to
15:35
phrase the relationship in a different way, as was often the case back then. Chevrolet was providing those cars
15:42
through a Miami dealership called Don Allen Chevrolet to Camarad Racing. And
15:47
with the cars came a contract through Don Allen Chevrolet for heavy duty field
15:52
test and development. So Camarad was not quote racing the cars. They were running
15:57
the cars through the ringer and providing feedback to Chevrolet on what parts needed to be strengthened, what
16:04
could be done to improve the cars. So that's how that all got going. Those cars were delivered at the very
16:11
beginning of 1960. The first outing was at Daytona International Speedway where
16:16
the cars would just run through a shakedown. I believe that was an SECA event at Daytona. And then in February
16:23
of 1960, both cars were loaded on a ship and sent to Havana, Cuba for what was
16:29
then called the Grand Premier de La Havana, which was a race that attracted top competitors from America, South
16:36
America, Central America, and even Europe. It was the final race in Havana
16:41
because of the revolution that had just taken place. So there was one more race February of 1960 and Camaradi brought
16:49
his top drivers and the whole team there. Jim Jeffs drove one of those cars
16:54
to the win in the all GT race which was as the name implies a race for Glan
17:00
Terresim Mo production sports cars. Jeff drove the same car to eighth overall in
17:06
the main event. First in GT class, but eighth overall against purpose-built sports racing cars, more like prototypes
17:13
as we would call them today. So, it was a great success for the team. They were really off to a fabulous start. The cars
17:19
and the spares and all the equipment came back to the US and preparations were made for the next outing which took
17:26
place in March in the central Florida city of Sebring. So they were going to Sebring for the 12-hour race in 1960.
17:34
That was the second outing for the cars. And Jeff had some really good teammates like Dan Gurnie, Carol Shelby, Sterling
17:41
Moss. Well, that's another another kind of interesting and humorous part of the Lucky Casner story. As part of his
17:48
fantastic salesmanship, he at the beginning when the team was being created, he represented that his team
17:56
included some of the top driving talent of the era. And he had a long list that included, as you said, besides Jim
18:03
Jeffs, Dan Gurnie, Carol Shelby, Sterling Moss, Masten Gregory, Jim Wrathman, who had just won the Indie
18:10
500. Wow. etc. And I I could find no evidence that this incredible roster of drivers was
18:16
actually at that time contracted to Camarad, but it certainly lent a certain
18:23
air of credibility to the team. So Lucky Kasnner could go into a meeting with Ed Cole, general manager of Chevrolet and
18:29
Zora Duntov and say this is what we intend to do and this is who we are. We have this incredible roster of drivers.
18:35
Goodyear tire and rubber is our primary sponsor etc. And there was no question about it. you can have two Corvettes.
18:42
And Lucky Kasner more or less did the same thing with Maserati and became the de facto representative for Maserati
18:49
racing Maserati bird cage prototypes alongside the Corvettes both in America
18:55
and in Europe. So yes, the list of drivers was an important part of the story. And then came Lama. Let's talk about
19:01
that race and how Comamat Racing did at Lama with that Corvette. Well, let me just explain how they ended
19:07
up at Lama with one Corvette. They intended to race two Corvettes at Le Man throughout the entire season in Europe.
19:14
Unfortunately, Sebring was an interesting outing for them. The two cars were entered and one car had the
19:21
lead drivers that included Jim Jeffs. Again, the other car was more or less a backup car. At the very beginning of the
19:28
race, the Jeff car was damaged. Likely something in the valve train was damaged and the car would not rev over 5,000
19:35
RPM. So, it was down on speed. The other car was being driven by Fred Gamble, the
19:40
same Fred Gamble who helped launch the program and he was the team manager at that point. He told me last year when I
19:47
spoke with him that he never intended that he would actually drive at Sebring. He would have loved to drive, but he was
19:53
the team manager, not really one of its drivers, but he put himself down as a reserve driver on the entry forms. He
20:00
really did it just for a laugh just so that he would see his own name in the program.
20:06
Well, one of the contracted drivers at the last minute backed out, didn't show up, and had it left a seat open for Fred
20:13
Gamble. So, Fred started the race. When the Jim Jeffs car got damaged, when the engine got damaged and wouldn't rev
20:19
above 5,000, Fred was called in and directed to turn his healthy car over to
20:25
Jim Jeffs and the Star lineup. Initially, Fred thought, "Well, that stinks. This is the end of my Sebring
20:31
drive," which he was enjoying very much. Lee Lily, who was the team's chief mechanic, said to Fred, "Well, the other
20:38
car is still running. If you want to get in it and trudge around, don't rev it over 5,000 RPM and might hold up a
20:45
little while and you can drive a little bit until the engine blows up." Fred Gamble got in the other car, drove
20:51
very conservatively. That car never missed a beat, and driving solo finished
20:56
the entire 12-hour race. To my knowledge, I believe he's the only the second person in history to drive the
21:03
entire 12 hours of Sebring by himself. Wow. Nowadays, and for many years, that's not
21:09
even permissible anymore for obvious safety reasons. They don't want exhausted drivers out there driving the
21:14
race solo. So, that was quite an accomplishment for Fred Gamble. The
21:19
other car also finished the race, but had some mechanical problems. The car
21:25
that Fred drove suffered a fuel line failure. One of the lines broke. They sourced a replacement fuel line out
21:32
of a production car that was in the parking area. They borrowed a fuel line, put it in the car. Fred finished. That
21:39
evening after the race, they gave the fuel line back to the Corvette owner who loaned it to them. Wow.
21:45
The next morning, one of the team mechanics got in that car to move it. It was in a warehouse on deceiving property
21:51
that Kamari had rented for the team. He cranked the engine. There was no fuel line. So the fuel pump sprayed fuel all
21:58
over and it caught fire and that car burned to the ground. It was destroyed by fire. Wow.
22:03
So only one car survived Sebring. That's how they ended up with one car at Lama in June.
22:09
How did that car do at Lama then? Well, that car is one of only two cars
22:15
to finish the race at Lama. It ran a conservative pace. Fred Gamble drove the
22:20
car with Lee Liy. By that time, Fred and Lee were a little bit at odds with one another.
22:26
Fred was more interested in finishing the races, all the races. And Lee Liy was more interested in hammering the car
22:33
and trying to go as fast as he possibly could. And that reached a little bit of a pitch at Nurburg Ring where Lee was
22:40
really flying in the car. Nurburg Ring was then as now one of the most difficult circuits in the world because
22:47
of its length and its elevation changes and a lot of it is on public roads and
22:52
the roads are rough in places. Leel ended up breaking a wheel bearing by getting airborne in a certain area of
22:59
that circuit where the car was pitched sideways a little bit, got up airborne and would come down and really slam the
23:06
suspension and load up the wheel bearings unreasonably and it broke one of the front wheel bearings and that was
23:11
the end of their race at the Nurburg Ring. So Fred Gamble was adamant and almost physically threatened Leilly, we
23:18
are going to run a conservative race here and they did and they did finish. They finished in 10th overall position,
23:25
which was a remarkable accomplishment of course for solid axle Corvette. It's the first year that Corvette ever
23:31
participated at Lama. And of course, we all are familiar with the Cunningham team cars, the three team cars. Two of
23:37
those cars didn't finish. Their third car, of course, won the class in the hands of John Fitch and Bob Gman. So,
23:44
two of the four Corvettes entered finished and one of those was the Kamari car.
23:49
There you go. All right, buddy. It's time for our final break. When we get back, we're going to talk about what happened to the Kamarati Corvette after
23:56
Lama. Coming up next on Corvette Today. Are you ready for a better insurance
24:03
policy without the Corvette tax? With agreed value protection, the value of your collector vehicle will never
24:08
change. Plus, you'll save money. Get a quick quote at ncm insurance.com.
24:14
Hey honey, are you awake? I am now. I can't sleep. Since turning 50, I keep
24:20
dreaming of a red door and a blue door. somehow knowing there are only choices for retirement.
24:25
Okay. Through the red door, we outlive our money. We have to rely on our kids. We're stuck on a fixed income. It's
24:31
terrifying. Yeah, that would suck. But through the blue door, our money outlives us. We retire on our terms. Our
24:38
kids stay our kids, not our caretakers. We make work optional. Yes, that's much better. That's what I
24:44
want, too. But what do we do? We call True Wealth and Company at 913-6538783.
24:51
They specialize in helping successful people make work optional. They're our fiduciary blue door personal wealth
24:56
managers. Hey, where are you going? It's 3:00 a.m. I can't sleep. I'm going to check out
25:01
True Wealth & Company online at retirewithr.com. That blue door is going to be our retirement.
25:06
9136538783. Visit us online at retirewithtr.com. Investment advice offer through company
25:12
LLC, a registered investment adviser in the state of Kansas. vetfinders.com is the internet's original Corvette
25:18
classified ads website with classified ads starting at just $25 and every ad
25:24
runs until your Corvette is sold. If you're in the market for a Corvette, vetfinders.com has over 500 Corvettes
25:30
for sale from all around the USA and Canada and covering all eight generations. Visit vetfinders.com, the
25:37
internet's destination for buying and selling Corvettes. That's vefinders.com.
25:45
Rev up your ride with the ultimate upgrade. The Radiator Grill Store is your go-to destination for top-notch C8
25:53
Corvette Stingray Z06 and -ray accessories. Elevate your style with custom painted engine bay covers, sleek
26:00
front splitters, and side skirts that scream sophistication. Keep your C8 protected with premium radiator grills.
26:08
Stand out from the crowd at car shows and beyond. Use code CT10 for an exclusive 10% discount off your total
26:15
purchase at radiator grillilstore.com. Don't miss out on turning heads. Upgrade
26:21
your Corvette today. You're enjoying the only current podcast
26:26
on Corvettes. Corvette today. Thanks once again for listening and watching Corvette Today, the show that
26:33
talks about everything Corvette. Corvette Today is brought to you by Wheelcraft. You want your Corvette
26:38
looking its best, don't you? will dress it up with bright chrome or black chrome wheels. Visit wheelcraft.com and learn
26:43
about their advanced PVD chrome finishing. They can refinish your wheels or do a wheel exchange and you get a
26:50
5-year warranty, too. So, visit wheelcraft.com today or give them a call. 833639-4231.
26:58
I'm your host, Steve Garrett. With me is my buddy Richard Prince, the official photographer of Corvette Racing. We are
27:04
talking about the Kamarati Corvette from Lama in 1960. In this final segment,
27:10
we're going to talk about what happened to that car after Lama Richard. A Corvette enthusiast named Lauren
27:15
Lundberg started searching for the Comarat Corvette and ironically it had been crashed on the way from Sweden to a
27:22
race in England. Talk about that crash and what happened to the car. Well, yes, that's correct, Steve. The
27:28
car was raced in Sweden on a circuit called Koga. The day after that race, a
27:34
Swedish Formula 1 driver named Joe Banier drove the car to several new Swedish national speed records for
27:42
production cars on public roads. It became quite famous in Sweden. Joe Bier was Sweden's first Formula 1 driver, the
27:49
first Swedish Formula 1 driver to win an F1 race. So, he was quite famous. The car became quite famous. And after
27:56
Bonnier drove it to the new speed records, Fred Gamble, the team manager, and the team's mechanic at that point, a
28:03
guy named Bob Wallace, were scheduled to bring the car to England to Goodwood for
28:09
the next race to indicate what big-time sports car racing was like back then.
28:14
They didn't own a transport truck or even a trailer. Wow. So, the car went from one race to the next under its own power. So Bob Wallace
28:21
was driving the Corvette and Fred Gamble was in the support vehicle, which was a Ford station wagon that was full of
28:27
tools and some spares. And unfortunately, while still in Sweden, Bob Wallace fell asleep at the wheel of
28:34
the Corvette, went off the road, went into a ditch. The car rolled several times and ended up back on its wheels,
28:41
but it was effectively destroyed. It was a mess. Bob Wallace went off to the hospital, checked out okay. He had no
28:47
injuries. He was just bruised and bumped up a little bit. The car got towed to a local repair shop in this small town in
28:54
Sweden. Fred Gamble and Bob Wallace looked at it, realized that it was hopeless. The car was gone. They took
29:00
the engine and transmission out of it and they gave the remains to the policeman who had shown up at the
29:07
accident scene and written the report. Wow. and they assumed that he would maybe keep a few pieces off of it as
29:13
souvenirs or maybe make a few dollars selling pieces of the car to locals because again it had become somewhat
29:20
famous all of a sudden in Sweden as this new national speed record holder. Yeah.
29:26
So that was the end of the Corvette. The team was still racing with Maseratis through the end of the year. By the end
29:33
of 1960, Kamarati itself was nothing but a distant memory. The team disbanded and
29:39
everybody went their separate ways. Wow. Now, Lauren Lundberg found the owner of the car in 1994. I know he
29:46
wrote to him expressing interest in buying the car. What happened with all that then, Richard?
29:51
Well, how Lauren Lunberg got to that car is an absolutely unbelievable and fascinating story. Lauren Lundberg was a
30:00
passionate Corvette enthusiast. He lived in a town called Glendale, Arizona. In
30:05
oh, I believe it was 1990. Lauren was asked to help put together a display for
30:13
an NCRS show, a Southwest Regional NCRS show, and was given the task of putting
30:19
together a historic Corvette race car display. So, on his list of people to contact was a man named Mike Pillsbury.
30:26
Mike Pberry lived in California and he owned one of the 1960 Cunningham Lama
30:31
Corvettes which he had found in a salvage yard in California. Recognized that it was a big break, heavy duty
30:37
brake, 37gallon fuel tank Corvette that had done some serious racing. He researched it, discovered that it was
30:44
one of the Cunningham Lama entries and he restored that car. So Lauren called him to see if he'd be willing to bring
30:50
the car for this Southwest Regional MCRS display. And in the course of the conversation, Pillsbury said, "Ah, you
30:57
live in Glendale, Arizona. That's pretty close to Phoenix, isn't it?" "Yeah, you must know Bob Wallace." Lon Lunberg
31:03
said, "I don't." "Who's Bob Wallace?" And Doveberry said, "Bob Wallace was one of the mechanics for the Camarad team at
31:11
Lama in 1960. And he's got a shop in Phoenix, Arizona. You ought to go see him. He's probably an interesting guy."
31:17
So after camaraderie disbanded at the end of 1960, Bob Wallace went to work
31:22
for an Italian team racing Ferraris and in 1964 he went to work for Lamborghini.
31:29
Initially as a mechanic, he quickly became their chief test driver and was a very influential person at Lamborghini.
31:36
He had a direct role in every vehicle that Lamborghini created from 1964 until
31:41
he left the company. He left in 1975 when Fuio Lamborghini sold the company.
31:47
Bob Wallace didn't want to stay on so he quit and he and his wife considered staying in Italy. They considered going
31:54
back home. He was a Kiwi originally. Out of the blue, he and his wife decided that they would go across the ocean and
32:00
move to the United States of America. They literally looked at a map and thought, "Well, Arizona looks good. It's
32:07
warm. It's dry. There's a strong car culture there." and he intended to open an independent repair shop specializing
32:14
in Lamborghinis and Ferraris. So he and his wife moved to Phoenix in 1975 and
32:19
Lauren Lindberg lived 10 miles away coincidentally. So Lauren did in fact at Mike Pillsbury suggestion go see Bob
32:26
Wallace and Bob Wallace pulled a photo of the wrecked Corvette out of his desk drawer and said, "This is the last time
32:32
I saw the Kamarati Corvette." He told Lauren the story. It crashed. We gave it to the cop and I'm sure it was thrown
32:40
away. And Lauren said, "But are you sure? How do you know it was just scrapped?" And Bob Wallace said, "Well,
32:46
actually, I don't know. I just assumed it was. Look at it. It was a disaster." Lauren said, "Well, maybe it didn't get
32:52
thrown away." And Bob Wallace said, "If you're really interested, go find Fred Gamble. He really would be the key. He
32:58
ran the team and he knows more about the car and about the program than anybody." Bob Wallace had not stayed in touch with
33:04
Fred Gamble. Didn't know where he was. The only thing he remembered was that Gamble was a ski advocate, very
33:10
passionate about skiing, and he thought he ended up in Colorado doing something with skiing. So with that little clue,
33:16
Lauren Lunberg was off and running. Of course, this was before the internet, so you couldn't put people's name in a
33:22
search engine and find where they were, right? He had to do things the oldfashioned way with the telephone and letterw writing.
33:29
Over the next four years, he was absolutely relentless and would not let
33:35
any little lead or any little clue go. It was just an absolutely unbelievable
33:41
sequence of events that led Lauren to find the car. The car did in fact survive. The shop owner kept it for a
33:48
little while. He sold it to a guy who attempted to put it back together. That guy got the car basically running and
33:55
driving again. He had it for some number of years and ultimately sold it to another Swede and that man took the car
34:03
apart and was planning to do a better quality restoration and got no further
34:09
than taking the car apart. So it was disassembled through again an unbelievable unlikely sequence of events
34:16
and strange coincidences. Lauren Lundberg contacted everybody from the
34:21
Swedish embassy to local police jurisdictions throughout Sweden to a Swedish member of the Chrysler Town and
34:28
Country Club who his brother was acquainted with found Fred Gamble through a letter to the editor that Fred
34:34
had written to Road and Track magazine. Wow. Lauren ended up greatly helped by a
34:40
young policeman in Sweden who was a car enthusiast who took all the information
34:45
Lauren had put together and invested a great deal of his time and effort and
34:50
actually found the car. It was in Stockholm in a garage disassembled. Thankfully, it was essentially all
34:56
there. The first man who had put the car back together, he just literally put it back together. He glued back, bonded
35:03
back together all of the shattered pieces of the original body. When Lauren found the car, it still had
35:09
its original chassis, what was left of its original shattered body, its heavy duty brake and suspension setup, its
35:16
very, very special 37gallon fiberglass fuel tank that was created by Chevrolet
35:21
engineering. The only significant pieces missing were the engine and transmission, which Bob Wallace and Fred
35:27
Gamble had taken out of the car after the crash. And of course, Lawrence set out to try to find those pieces, too.
35:33
The transmission disappeared, and he could not determine what happened to it. The engine for the Corvette ended up in
35:40
a Maserati Grand Prix car. Wow. And that's another interesting story. The Maserati Grand Prix car was owned by
35:48
a New Zealander who had sent it to an agent in Italy. And the agent was supposed to be an intermediary between
35:54
the car owner and the Maserati factory and was supposed to forward the car on to the factory and supervise its rebuild
36:01
there. Instead, he had Fred Gamble and Bob Wallace install the Corvette engine into it, modify it to accept the
36:08
Corvette engine, and then he sold the car to another New Zealand racer. So, he sold a car he didn't own and had no
36:13
right to sell. Wow. The man who bought the car crashed it, total the car, and the engine was
36:18
taken out again and put into an offshore racing boat. That boat ultimately sank
36:24
with the engine. So, the original engine for the Kamarati car is at the bottom of the ocean off the coast of New Zealand.
36:31
Yeah, that's crazy. All right, so Lauren Lunberg bought the car. Talk about the process of purchasing it and then
36:37
getting it back to the United States. Well, again, this was pre- internet and Lauren Lunberg was not in the import
36:43
export business. So, it was quite complicated. He had a lot to learn and of course, he had to trust people who
36:50
were literally on the other side of the ocean. He found the car. He contacted the man who owned it. The man was
36:56
willing to sell it. Lauren never told me how much he paid for the car, but he described the asking price as shocking
37:03
given the condition of the car. But, of course, he'd been searching. This was into his fifth year at that point and he
37:09
finally found this treasure. He certainly was not going to let it go because the price was too high. So he
37:15
organized the trip with his wife and a couple of friends. They went to Europe. They went to Sweden. He looked at the
37:21
car, confirmed that it was in fact the car. In fact, he took photos back to Bob Wallace and had Bob Wallace examined and
37:28
confirmed that it was in fact the car. Lauren also at that point had, I believe, paperwork from the acco showing
37:34
the chassis number for the Kamarati car, which also further confirmed that it was in fact the car. So Lauren bit the
37:42
bullet and ponyied up the asking price and he bought the car and then had to
37:47
arrange to ship it back to the US. And adding to the difficulty of that was the fact that the car was disassembled. So
37:53
it was very hard to move a car that couldn't roll under its own power and there were parts everywhere. And once
37:58
again, the police officer who had helped him find the car was of tremendous help.
38:03
Lauren went home and the police officer helped supervise the gathering of all the parts, the packaging of everything
38:10
and the loading of the car. It was put into a shipping container and trucked initially from Sweden to Germany. And in
38:19
Germany, it was loaded on a cargo ship. Off it went to the port of Long Beach in
38:25
California. Lauren with a group of his friends had towed a trailer to the port of Long Beach to pick the car up. They
38:32
did. The DSR Asia was the name of the cargo ship. And when that reached California, Lauren and his buddies were
38:38
there to take delivery. Wow. Lauren loaded it up on his open car trailer, drove across the state of
38:45
California, across the desert, and halfway across Arizona to get to Glendale. It was at that point 45 years
38:54
and 5 and a half thousand miles later after the car had left the United States
38:59
that it came home. That's amazing. Now, unfortunately, Lauren died in 2021. What happened to
39:05
the Kamari Corvette after that? Well, Lauren restored the car in his own garage with his own two hands after he
39:12
bought it. It took him several years. Wow. He absolutely adored the car and he adored sharing the story about the car
39:19
with others. So, he was a regular participant in NCRS events and Carile
39:25
and other Corvette shows around the country. He loved that car right up until the day he died in 2021.
39:32
Shortly thereafter, his family decided to sell the car and a man named Dominic
39:38
Ta, a New Yorker, bought it. He'll readily tell you that he didn't fully
39:44
understand what he was getting involved with when he bought the car. He just knew that it was a Lama race car and
39:50
that it was on the road and ready to go. He thought it would be fun. He's a Corvette enthusiast. He's got several
39:56
other Corvettes and has been a car enthusiast his whole life. It just sounded like an adventure to him. When
40:02
he went to pick the car up, he was surprised when Lauren's widow said, "Oh,
40:08
I've got a bunch of boxes of stuff for this car. I'm just going to throw it out, so if
40:13
you have any interest in it, please take it." Dominic was shocked by about a dozen file boxes, stuff full. Lauren had
40:20
saved every stitch of paper, every single thing that he had gotten related to the car. Photographs, Chevrolet
40:28
engineering documents, acco documents, race entry forms, race result forms,
40:33
every bit of correspondence, all related to his search for the car, the police report from the initial accident. Wow.
40:40
It was just unbelievable. And Dominic was overwhelmed. Then realized that he
40:45
had bought far more than just a car. He had bought an epic story. He brought the car back to New York. This was about 27
40:54
or so years after Lauren had bought the car and restored it. The car was showing
40:59
its age again. Dominic decided it deserved a complete and thorough and
41:05
highquality restoration. So, he brought it to a place called JTM Motorsports here on Long Island, which has great
41:12
expertise in vintage car restoration. and our Corvette specialist JTM did a
41:18
100% body off the chassis restoration, returning the car to exactly the
41:23
configuration it was in at Lama in 1960. That's an incredible story. It really is. Let me say this. I've been
41:30
writing and photographing Corvettes for about 33 years. I long ago lost count of
41:36
how many magazine stories I've written, but it's somewhere between 2 and a half and 3,000 magazine stories. Yeah.
41:44
And I can say with certainty that I have never written a more interesting story
41:49
about a more unbelievable car. Just the fact that this car survived is unbelievable in and of itself and then
41:57
this incredible sequence of events that brought Lauren Lunberg in contact with the car is equally unbelievable. And his
42:04
utterly relentless pursuit of it, he just would not give up trying to learn the disposition of the car. And when he
42:11
found out the car was still alive, he had to have it. He brought it back to the US. It is really an unbelievably
42:18
fascinating story. It really is. Richard, thank you so much for coming back on Corvette today. This
42:23
has been an epic epic story. Well, thank you, Steve. As I said at the beginning of our discussion today, I
42:29
know I speak for everybody in the Corvette hobby and in the Corvette community when I say that we deeply
42:35
appreciate all that you've done to enhance our enjoyment of Chevrolet sports car, a car that we all love very,
42:41
very much. Thanks again for listening and watching Corvette Today. And be sure to tell your family, friends, and other Corvette
42:47
enthusiasts about the Corvette Today show. And thanks to our sponsors, Wheelcraft. Want to dress up your
42:52
Corvette with bright chrome or black chrome wheels? Visit wheelcraft.com to learn about their advanced PVD chrome
42:58
finishing. They can refinish your wheels or offer a wheel exchange for most models, and it comes with a 5-year
43:03
warranty. Visit wheelcraft.com today or call 833639-4231.
43:09
Sold performance products at sulp.com. The official performance exhaust of
43:15
Corvette today. Seioa Corvette at ciocorvette.com.
43:20
E5wheels at e5wheels.com. True wealth and company at retirewithtr.com.
43:26
Also, Aerolari wheels. Get $100 off your purchase with the new promo code CT111
43:32
at aerolari.com and Hendrickk Chevrolet in Kansas City at chevusa.com.
43:38
Thanks for checking out Corvette Today on podcast and YouTube. If you'd like to contact Steve with ideas for Corvette
43:45
today, you can email him at stevegared djgmail.com. Garrett has two Rs and two T's. That's
43:53
Steve Garrett DJ@gmail.com. Also, sign up for email notifications at
43:58
corvettetoday.k.page. Follow Steve and the show on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
44:06
LinkedIn, and threads at Steve Garrett DJ. Thanks again for listening and
44:11
watching Corvette today. [Music]