{"id":489818,"date":"2008-02-01T06:30:44","date_gmt":"2008-02-01T14:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=58238"},"modified":"2024-03-06T16:22:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T16:22:57","slug":"tough-ray-heppenstall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tough-ray-heppenstall\/","title":{"rendered":"Tough Ray Heppenstall"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='memberful-global-teaser-content'>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As the years pile up, I find myself learning more about people I used to know than I ever appreciated at the time. So it is with Ray Heppenstall, the brusque, raw-edged racer from Pittsburgh, PA.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">My first impression of him was a little alarming. It was at Sebring in 1968, when I was a young journalist and his car was guaranteed to fascinate me: the Howmet Turbine. This was a McKee Can-Am roadster fitted with a coupe roof and an experimental Continental gas-turbine stuffed into the engine bay.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n        .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{\n            -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n            mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n        }\n    <\/style>\n<div class='memberful-global-marketing-content'>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-title\">No Subscription? You&#8217;re missing out<\/h2>\n<p class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content\">Any Text Here<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"a07online-global-marketing-prompt\" href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/checkout?plan=86696\">Get Started<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">\n<h4 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">Already a Member? <a href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/account\">Sign in to your account here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the years pile up, I find myself learning more about people I used to know than I ever appreciated at the time. So it is with Ray Heppenstall, the brusque, raw-edged racer from Pittsburgh, PA. My first impression of him was a little alarming. It was at Sebring in 1968, when I was a young journalist and his car was guaranteed to fascinate me: the Howmet Turbine. This was a McKee Can-Am roadster fitted with a coupe roof and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":187,"featured_media":600700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,11272,261,18207],"tags":[12308,11807,2727,18322,17152,17140,548,13054,12190,1148,524,592,11493,11471,11933,17143,12728,181,17204],"class_list":["post-489818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-culture","category-members-only","category-motorsport-racing","category-special-feature","tag-fia-federation-internationale-de-lautomobile","tag-scca","tag-1960s","tag-2000s-all","tag-car-culture","tag-members-only","tag-motorsport","tag-bob-mckee","tag-ray-heppenstall","tag-24-hours-of-le-mans","tag-daytona","tag-sebring","tag-watkins-glen","tag-can-am","tag-formula-vee","tag-special-feature","tag-stp","tag-volkswagen","tag-vrr-column-fast-lines"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tough Ray Heppenstall<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pete Lyons finds new-found admiration for the many achievements of Howmet-creator Ray Heppenstall.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tough-ray-heppenstall\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tough Ray Heppenstall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pete Lyons finds new-found admiration for the many achievements of Howmet-creator Ray Heppenstall.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tough-ray-heppenstall\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-02-01T14:30:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-06T16:22:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/02\/FL200802-p1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"718\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pete Lyons\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pete Lyons\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tough-ray-heppenstall\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tough-ray-heppenstall\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pete Lyons\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dee0dc3e0ea3204e52a659a117d5f67f\"},\"headline\":\"Tough Ray Heppenstall\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-02-01T14:30:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-06T16:22:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tough-ray-heppenstall\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":948,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tough-ray-heppenstall\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2008\\\/02\\\/FL200802-p1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"(FIA) Federation Internationale de l\u2019Automobile\",\"(SCCA) Sports Car Club of America\",\"1960s All\",\"2000s All\",\"Car Culture\",\"Members Only\",\"Motorsport &amp; 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