Bobby Isaac came late to the brutal, cut-and-thrust world of NASCAR, says Paul Fearnley, but he certainly made his mark
This prototype stereotype of nascent NASCAR was the eighth of nine children. Fatherless at five and orphaned by 12, he spent a shoeless childhood in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He worked in a mill and a pool hall, delivered ice in summer and drilled for oil in winter. Married at 19, it lasted a year. Hungry in every sense, he had to win, be it the race or the brawl afterwards – and is thought to be the most-fined in US stock car history.
Robert Vance Isaac had throughout the 1950s won heaps on the shade-tree short tracks of the Carolinas and Georgia, against the likes of future multiple NASCAR Grand National champions David Pearson and ‘Gentleman’ Ned Jarrett.
“Our backgrounds were similar,” says Jarrett. “He delivered lumber to Dad’s yard and I checked it in. His upbringing had not required him to speak much; he said what he felt needed to be said. A regular guy in a regular job, but he had a God given ability to get everything out of a race car.”
This hardscrabble hard man already felt the need to shorten his age when at last he reached the majors in ’61. But though he drove for several big names – ‘Smokey’, ‘Junior’ and ‘Cotton’ – he failed to hit pay dirt. He did, however, strike a reporter who mocked his lack of schooling.
“Education doesn’t help you race a car, but it does help you to deal with circumstances,” says Jarrett. “That had something to do with Bobby’s slow progress. He was not the type to knock on doors. He just waited until it came to him.”
Denne historien er fra December 2017-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
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Denne historien er fra December 2017-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring