{"id":494110,"date":"2014-11-01T00:03:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-01T07:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=8714"},"modified":"2024-01-08T14:24:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T14:24:14","slug":"dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The man known as the \u201cFlying Dentist,\u201d Dr. Dick Thompson, has died of natural causes at the age of 94. Thompson didn\u2019t begin racing until he was in his 30s, but despite a lack of formal training or mechanical background, he was a natural who competed for nearly 20 years, driving primarily Corvettes, but also a variety of other cars including Maseratis, Jaguars, Cobras, GT40s, Mustangs and the Howmet Turbine for entrants such as Briggs Cunningham, Grady Davis, Carroll Shelby and John Wyer.<\/p>\n

\"Photo:<\/a>
Photo: GM Media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Along the way he collected a remarkable seven SCCA National Championships, five of them in Corvettes, one in a Porsche 356 and one in an Austin-Healey. Thompson\u2019s work with the early Corvettes\u2014his five Vette National Championships came in four different classes\u2014helped Chevrolet\u2019s engineers apply the lessons learned from racing to their road-going models to make a better car.<\/p>\n

Despite his passion for speed on the edge of control, Thompson is remembered as a kind and gentle man both on and off the track. To his wife, family and his many friends in the sport, Vintage Racecar offers its sincerest sympathies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The man known as the \u201cFlying Dentist,\u201d Dr. Dick Thompson, has died of natural causes at the age of 94. Thompson didn\u2019t begin racing until he was in his 30s, but despite a lack of formal training or mechanical background, he was a natural who competed for nearly 20 years, driving primarily Corvettes, but also a variety of other cars including Maseratis, Jaguars, Cobras, GT40s, Mustangs and the Howmet Turbine for entrants such as Briggs Cunningham, Grady Davis, Carroll Shelby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":710922,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,18114,18330],"tags":[18323,17152,18435,18107,16791],"class_list":["post-494110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-culture","category-people","category-profiles-car-culture","tag-2010s-all","tag-car-culture","tag-people","tag-people-profiles","tag-profiles"],"yoast_head":"\nDr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)<\/title>\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\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The man known as the \u201cFlying Dentist,\u201d Dr. Dick Thompson, has died of natural causes at the age of 94. Thompson didn\u2019t begin racing until he was in his 30s, but despite a lack of formal training or mechanical background, he was a natural who competed for nearly 20 years, driving primarily Corvettes, but also a variety of other cars including Maseratis, Jaguars, Cobras, GT40s, Mustangs and the Howmet Turbine for entrants such as Briggs Cunningham, Grady Davis, Carroll Shelby […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/\" \/>\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:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.natale1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-01T07:03:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-08T14:24:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/n6-201411-p2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"930\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"919\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Natale\" \/>\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=\"Steve Natale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve Natale\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49\"},\"headline\":\"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-01T07:03:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-08T14:24:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":199,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/n6-201411-p2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2010s All\",\"Car Culture\",\"People\",\"People Profiles (All)\",\"Profiles (All)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Car Culture\",\"People\",\"Profiles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/n6-201411-p2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-01T07:03:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-08T14:24:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/n6-201411-p2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/n6-201411-p2.jpg\",\"width\":930,\"height\":919},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Supercars.net\",\"description\":\"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49\",\"name\":\"Steve Natale\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png\",\"caption\":\"Steve Natale\"},\"description\":\"Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stevenatale.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/steve.natale1\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/stevenatale\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@SteveNatale\\\/videos\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/steve100530\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)","og_description":"The man known as the \u201cFlying Dentist,\u201d Dr. Dick Thompson, has died of natural causes at the age of 94. Thompson didn\u2019t begin racing until he was in his 30s, but despite a lack of formal training or mechanical background, he was a natural who competed for nearly 20 years, driving primarily Corvettes, but also a variety of other cars including Maseratis, Jaguars, Cobras, GT40s, Mustangs and the Howmet Turbine for entrants such as Briggs Cunningham, Grady Davis, Carroll Shelby […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/","og_site_name":"Supercars.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.natale1","article_published_time":"2014-11-01T07:03:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-08T14:24:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":930,"height":919,"url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/n6-201411-p2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Natale","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@supercars_net","twitter_site":"@supercars_net","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Natale","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/"},"author":{"name":"Steve Natale","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49"},"headline":"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)","datePublished":"2014-11-01T07:03:24+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-08T14:24:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/"},"wordCount":199,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/n6-201411-p2.jpg","keywords":["2010s All","Car Culture","People","People Profiles (All)","Profiles (All)"],"articleSection":["Car Culture","People","Profiles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/","name":"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/n6-201411-p2.jpg","datePublished":"2014-11-01T07:03:24+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-08T14:24:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/n6-201411-p2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/n6-201411-p2.jpg","width":930,"height":919},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/dr-dick-thompson-1920-2014\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dr. Dick Thompson (1920\u20132014)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/","name":"Supercars.net","description":"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49","name":"Steve Natale","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png","caption":"Steve Natale"},"description":"Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.","sameAs":["https:\/\/stevenatale.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.natale1","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stevenatale\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@SteveNatale\/videos"],"url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/author\/steve100530\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}