Bob Holbert

The Porsche 718/4 RS Spyder , with Masten Gregory and Bob Holbert fifth overall at the 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans was

Robert McCormick "Bob" Holbert (born November 25, 1922 in Warrington ; † November 12, 2007 ibid) was an American entrepreneur, racing team owner and racing car driver and the father of Al Holbert .

Origin and youth

Bob Holbert grew up in a small town in Bucks County in the US state of Pennsylvania . When he was born, Warrington had a population of less than 1,000 (compared with 24,227 in 2016). His parents ran a hardware store and general store on the town's main square . In his youth, he repaired bicycles in the courtyard of his parents' business and trained as a mechanic after finishing school . During World War II he served in the United States Navy in the Pacific War . His job was the maintenance of the V12 engine of the PT Schnellboot .

Porsche dealer

In the late 1940s, Bob Holbert opened his first motorcycle and automobile repair shop next to Holbert's Hardware , his parents' shop . In 1951 he opened a workshop for sports cars across from the old location, Holbert's Garage . In 1954 Holbert became the second Porsche dealer in the United States. The Volkswagen and Audi brands were added later. Holbert Porsche became one of the most famous Porsche dealers in North America. Many racing drivers bought their first Porsche there. Roger Penske began his long motorsport career in a Holbert Porsche .

His older son Al Holbert, a three-time Le Mans and two-time Sebring winner , ran the company in the 1970s and 1980s. After his death in a plane crash in 1988, his brother Larry was managing director of the company for 25 years. In 2016, Porsche Warrington was sold to the Sloane family.

Racing career

Bob Holbert's driving career began in 1953 on an MG TD in the SCCA National Sports Car Championship . His third race start ended with a win. In the 1950s it won five national sports car championships and made its debut in 1958 at the Sebring 12-hour race. Holbert had a small racing team and only registered Porsche racing cars in the respective races. However, he also started for other teams and drove cars like the Maserati 300S , the Saab 93 and in 1963 a Shelby Cobra for the team of Carroll Shelby .

His best international results were overall victory in the 1962 Bridgehampton 400 km race , a championship race of that year 's World Sports Car Championship , and second place in the 1960 Sebring 12 hour race . His only participation in Le Mans ended in 1961 with fifth place and class victory in the works - Porsche 718/4 RS Spyder , together with Masten Gregory . After the fatal accident of his longtime friend and teammate Dave McDonald in the Indianapolis 500 mile race in 1964 , he ended his driving career.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1961	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 718/4 RS Spyder	Masts Gregory	5th place and class win

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1958	Marshall Motors	Porsche 550 RS	Charles Wallace	Skip Hudson	Rank 25
1959	Cyrus Fulton	Porsche 718 RSK	Don Sesslar		Rank 4
1960	Brumos Porsche Car Corp.	Porsche 718 RS 60	Roy Schechter	Howard Fowler	Rank 2
1961	Brumos Porsche Company	Porsche 718 RS / 61	Roger Penske		5th place and class win
1962	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 356B Carrera Abarth GTL	Dan Gurney		Rank 7 and class win
1963	Porsche System Engineering	Porsche 356B Carrera Abarth GTL	Don Webster		Rank 9
1964	Shelby American Corp.	Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe	Dave MacDonald		Rank 4

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
1958	Marshall Motors	Porsche 550	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
				25th
1959	Cyrus Fulton	Porsche 718	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	RTT
			4th
1960	Brumo's Porsche	Porsche 718	BUA	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM
				2
1961	Brumos Porsche Porsche	Porsche 718	SEB	TAR	ONLY	LEM	PES
			5			5
1962	Bob Holbert Porsche Chuck Cassel	Porsche 718 Porsche 356	DAY	SEB	SEB	MAY	TAR	BER	ONLY	LEM	TAV	CCA	RTT	ONLY	BRI	BRI	PAR
			7th		7th										1	DNF
1963	Porsche Carroll Shelby International	Porsche 356 Shelby Cobra	DAY	SEB	SEB	TAR	SPA	MAY	ONLY	CON	ROS	LEM	MON	WIS	TAV	FRE	CCE	RTT	OVI	ONLY	MON	MON	TDF	BRI
			7th		9																			DNF
1964	Carroll Shelby International	Shelby Daytona	DAY	SEB	TAR	MON	SPA	CON	ONLY	ROS	LEM	REI	FRE	CCE	RTT	SIM	ONLY	MON	TDF	BRI	BRI	PAR
			DNF	4th

literature

• Ken Breslauer: Sebring. The official History of America's Great Sports Car Race. David Bull, Cambridge MA 1995, ISBN 0-9649722-0-4 .
• Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .

Web links

Commons : Bob Holbert  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Bob Holbert at Historic Racing
• Bob Holbert at Motorsport Magazine
• Bob Holbert at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ About Porsche Warrington (English)
2. ^ Sports car race Thompson 1953