Bob Grossman

The Ferrari 250 GT LWB Spyder California by Bob Grossman at the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans was the start

Robert "Bob" Grossman (* 1923 in Philadelphia ; † May 27, 2002 in Branford ) was an American racing car driver and illustrator.

Career

Bob Grossman trained as a painter and draftsman at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art before World War II . After the war, he began to work as a draftsman and designed a wealth of sports drawings and magazine covers. In the 1950s, he got into the auto trade and exported sports cars from Europe. His motorsport career began in 1952. Grossmann competed in sports car races.

He won several championships in different classes of the SCCA and made his debut in 1959 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans . By 1973 he had competed nine times in this endurance race. In 1959, as a partner of Fernand Tavano , he drove a Ferrari 250 GT California of the North American Racing Team to fifth place in the overall standings. Along with fifth place in 1971, it was Grossman's best placement on the Sarthe. In 1971 he started again for the NART team. This time it was Luigi Chinetti Jr. , the son of the three-time Le Mans winner and team owner Luigi Chinetti , his partner.

In 1963 he became president of the Road Racing Drivers Club. Grossman, who also had a professional baritone vocal training , died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 79.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1959	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 GT California	Fernand Tavano	Rank 5
1960	Briggs Cunningham	Chevrolet Corvette	John Fitch	Rank 8 and class win
1961	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 GT SWB	André Pilette	Rank 6
1962	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 GTO	Fireball Roberts	Rank 6 and class win
1963	Briggs Cunningham	Jaguar E-Type Lightweight	Briggs Cunningham	Rank 9
1964	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 GTO	Fernand Tavano	Rank 9
1966	Ford France SA	Ford GT40	Guy Ligier	failure	malfunction
1971	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 365GTB / 4	Luigi Chinetti junior	5th place and class win
1973	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 365GTB / 4	Lucien Guitteny	failure	malfunction

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1955	Dr. Dolph Vilardi	Jaguar XK140 MC	George Rice		Rank 26
1959	Bob Grossman	Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV	Bob Rubin	Louis Comito	Rank 42
1960	AC Cars Ltd.	AC Ace	Mike Rothschild		Rank 21
1961	David Ash	Aston Martin DB4 GT	Duncan Black		failure	Bearing damage
1962	North American Racing Team	Ferrari Dino 246S	Alan Connell		failure	no oil pressure
1963	Abarth Corse	Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero	Ray Cuomo		failure	Engine failure
1964	NART	Ferrari 250 GTO LMB	Dick Thompson		Rank 14
1965	Scuderia Bear	Ferrari 330P	Skip Hudson		failure	differential
1966	Scuderia Bear	Shelby Cobra Roadster	Ed Lowther		Rank 10 and class win
1967	Autosport International	Ford GT40	William McNamara		Rank 8
1968	Randy's Auto Body	Ford Mustang	Bob Dini		failure	Engine failure
1969	Best Photo Service	Chevrolet Camaro Z / 28	Donald Yenko		Rank 10 and class win
1970	Marlbank Racing Team	Chevrolet Camaro	Donald Yenko		Rank 17
1971	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	Harley Cluxton		Rank 12
1972	NART	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	Luigi Chinetti Jr.		Rank 8
1975	Marty Hinze	De Tomaso Pantera	Marty Hinze		failure	malfunction

Individual results in the sports car world championship

season	team	race car	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd
1955	Dolph Vilardi	Jaguar XK 140	BUA	SEB	MIM	LEM	RTT	TAR
				26th
1959	Bob Grossman North American Racing Team	Alfa Romeo Giulietta SV Ferrari 250 GT	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			42			5
1960	AC Cars Briggs Cunningham	AC Ace Chevrolet Corvette	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
				21st			8th
1961	David Ash North American Racing Team	Aston Martin DB4 Ferrari 250 GT	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
			DNF			6th
1962	North American Racing Team Bob Grossman	Ferrari Dino 246S Ferrari 250 GTO Fiat-Abarth 1000	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
					DNF					6th					3	2
1963	Abarth Briggs Cunningham Scuderia Bear	Abarth-Simca 1300 Bialbero Jaguar E-Type Ferrari 250 GTO	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
				DNF	DNF							9												10
1964	North American Racing Team Harry Theodoracopoulos Scuderia Bear	Ferrari 250 GTO Alfa Romeo TZ Ferrari 250LM	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
			3	14th							9	DNF								3	3
1965	North American Racing Team Scuderia Bear Harry Theodoracopulos	Ferrari 275P Ferrari 330P Alfa Romeo TZ	DAY	SEB	BOL	MON	MON	RTT	TAR	SPA	ONLY	MUG	ROS	LEM	REI	BOZ	FRE	CCE	OVI	ONLY	BRI	BRI
			DNF	DNF																	8th	4th
1966	Ford Scuderia Bear Ford France	Ford GT40 AC Cobra	DAY	SEB	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	MUG	CCE	HOK	SIM	ONLY	ZEL
			14th	10					DNF
1967	Dockery Ford Inc. Autosport International	Shelby Mustang Ford GT40	DAY	SEB	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	HOK	MUG	BRH	CCE	ZEL	OVI	ONLY
			DNF	8th
1968	Randy's Auto Body North American Racing Team	Ford Mustang Ferrari 275 GTB	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	ONLY	SPA	WAT	ZEL	LEM
			23	DNF						9
1969	Best Photo Service Yenko Sports Cars	Chevrolet Camaro Z / 28	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
			12	10							DNF
1970	Mamie Reynolds Gregory Marlbank Racing Team	Chevrolet Camaro	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	TAR	SPA	ONLY	LEM	WAT	ZEL
			DNF	17th							10
1971	Baker Motor Company North American Racing Team	Chevron B16 Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
				12	12						5
1972	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	BUA	DAY	SEB	BRH	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
					8th
1973	North American Racing Team Bob Grossman	Ferrari 365 GTB / 4	DAY	VAL	DIJ	MON	SPA	TAR	ONLY	LEM	ZEL	WAT
			5							DNF		15th
1974	FJ Maka Racing	De Tomaso Pantera	MON	SPA	ONLY	IMO	LEM	ZEL	WAT	LEC	BRH	KYA
									DNF
1975	Grossman Motors	De Tomaso Pantera	DAY	MUG	DIJ	MON	SPA	BY	ONLY	ZEL	WAT
											DNF
1976	John Wood	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	MUG	VAL	ONLY	MON	SIL	IMO	ONLY	ZEL	BY	WAT	MOS	DIJ	DIJ	SAL
												18th

Web links

Commons : Bob Grossman  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Bob Grossman at Racing Sports Cars