Dan Gurney – The Ultimate Racer
By Karl Ludvigsen
Mention the name Dan Gurney and what comes to mind? The only postwar Grand Prix victory by an American in an American-built car? The first champagne shower in victory circle? A true American racing icon? Right you are, on all counts. With a list of accomplishments spanning every major professional racing discipline, it’s no wonder that Karl Ludvigsen chose Dan Gurney as the subject for his fourth book in a series on the world’s greatest racing champions. Ludvigsen breaks Gurney’s racing career down into chapters revolving around key races and periods in his life. Some of these include Gurney’s early California racing days, Indy, Formula One, Le Mans and even his near dominance of racing at his hometrack, Riverside Raceway.
While the book is predominantly a photo essay of Gurney’s life (with excellent photographs from a number of noted sources), each chapter also includes 6-10 pages of text which tell Gurney’s story both through his own quotes and those of others during the period. Interestingly, it is this last detail that has generated a certain amount of controversy about the book.
When asked by VRJ to comment on the book for this review, Mr. Gurney’s office issued the following statement, “Mr. Gurney is dismayed about not being consulted about his own life story. Many of the quotes (some he deems insensitive) attributed to Dan Gurney are not his. Mr. Gurney has no financial participation in the proceeds from this book.”
I have to confess that this stern condemnation piqued my interest to the point that I read the book, cover to cover, in one sitting! However, I was hard pressed to find any statements that I thought would have cast Mr. Gurney in an insensitive or unsympathetic light. Despite this apparent “falling-out” between the author and his subject, “Dan Gurney: The Ultimate Racer” is a brief, but thoroughly enjoyable look at the racing career of one of the true legends of motorsport.
