What else, George?

Half a century ago, George Follmer was one of the most eclectic American racing drivers. He developed his skills on the road tracks of the TransAm series, shone briefly in IndyCar in 1969, first by winning the opening race on the oval of Phoenix at the wheel of his Cheetah powered by the stock-block Traco Chevrolet (picture above), then when he inherited the pretty Lotus 56, which turbine engine was replaced by the more conventional Plymouth V8 (picture below), for the final race of the championship at Riverside, the “Rex Mays 300”, where he finished fourteenth.

He then moved to the Shadow team to race in Can-Am, then in Formula 1, scoring a podium finish at his second attempt in Grand Prix, at Montjuich in 1973. Follmer meanwhile entered three consecutive times at the Indy 500, without much success. And its in the Can-Am Series that he shone again in the Team Penske-entered Porsche 917-10 and 917-30’s.