Bob Wallace (test driver)

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Bob Wallace (born October 4, 1938 in Auckland , New Zealand ; † September 19, 2013 in Phoenix , USA ) was a New Zealand auto mechanic and restorer , best known for his work for the Italian sports car manufacturer Lamborghini . Wallace was the company's first test driver, which was founded in 1963, and played a key role in the development of Lamborghini's early twelve-cylinder sports cars.

biography

Bob Walace at work on a Maserati Birdcage

Beginnings as a racing mechanic

Wallace worked as a mechanic for various regional motorsport teams in New Zealand in the 1950s. In 1960 he moved to Europe. Wallace initially worked as a mechanic for Colin Chapman's Team Lotus before moving to Italy in 1961. His first point of contact was the Camoradi Racing team founded by the American Lloyd Casner . Wallace prepared Casner's Maserati Birdcage, among other things, for the 1000-kilometer race at the Nürburgring in May 1961, which the Camoradi team boss won. A little later, Wallace moved to Scuderia Ferrari , for which he was the chief mechanic in charge of the Ferrari 156 , with which Phil Hill became Formula 1 world champion that year .

Lamborghini

Replica of the Lamborghini Miura Jota
Lamborghini Jarama "Bob"

In the fall of 1963, Wallace was signed by the tractor manufacturer Ferruccio Lamborghini , who had recently founded his own sports car brand. Wallace was one of the first mechanics in the newly built plant. He was involved in revising the Lamborghini twelve-cylinder engine designed by Giotto Bizzarrini , which was unsuitable for everyday use, so that Lamborghini could start series production. A little later, Wallace led the assembly of the first Lamborghini 350 GT .

From 1964, Wallace, who had experience in setting up racing cars but had never participated as a driver in motorsport competitions, also took on the role of test driver for Lamborghini. In his own words, he got this job by chance "because Lamborghini had no other". Wallace practically took over a substantial part of the chassis development and tuning. Wallace had a free hand in this regard at Lamborghini: his recommendations, which were based on high-speed test drives on public roads in the Italian Terra dei Motori , were adopted unchanged in series production. He became one of the most influential people, especially in the development of the mid-engine sports car Miura . Wallace especially influenced the creation of the extremely sporty special version Jota , which remained a unique piece and was later destroyed in an accident, and the Miura SV, which was produced in a few copies. In addition, on his initiative, the Jarama Sport (alternative name: "Jarama Bob") was created, a racing version of the Gran Turismo model Jarama, which remained a one-off, as well as the Urraco "Bob" model, which was also realized as a one-off .

After Ferruccio Lamborghini sold his company in 1974, Wallace parted ways with Lamborghini in 1975 after 12 years. His successor at Lamborghini was Valentino Balboni .

Sports car restorer

After a short stay in New Zealand, Wallace settled in the USA in 1977. In Pheonix he founded an automobile workshop specializing in Lamborghini and Ferrari vehicles. The company's services include looking after older and classic vehicles from these brands. Wallace restored the vehicles according to customer requirements and prepared them for participation in classic car races.

literature

  • Wolfgang Blaube: The last word from Bob . Short biography and interview with Bob Wallace. In: Oldtimer Markt, issue 12/2015, p. 22.
  • Matthias Braun, Alexander Franc Storz: Typenkompass Lamborghini: Sports car after 1964. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3613026452 .
  • Decio Carugati: Lamborghini. Mondadori Electa, 2010, ISBN 978-8837067632
  • David Hodges: Lamborghini. The Legend . Smithmark Publishers, London 1998, ISBN 978-0765108463 .
  • Hans-Karl Lange: Lamborghini. All sports cars since 1963. Verlagsunion Pabel - Moewig, Rastatt 1991, ISBN 3-8118-3063-5 .
  • Anthony Pritchard: Lamborghini. The history of the supercars from Sant'Agata. Heel, Königswinter 2006, ISBN 3-89880-574-3 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b James Elliot: Legendary Lamborghini test driver Bob Wallace dies. classicandsportscar.com, October 3, 2013, accessed January 10, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Mark Smeyers: Famous Lamborghini Test Driver Bob Wallace Passed Away. lambocars.com, September 23, 2013, accessed January 10, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Hans-Karl Lange: Lamborghini. All sports cars since 1963. Verlagsunion Pabel - Moewig, Rastatt 1991, ISBN 3-8118-3063-5 , p. 14.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Blaube: The last word from Bob . Short biography and interview with Bob Wallace. In: Oldtimer Markt, issue 12/2015, p. 22.
  5. ↑ Thoroughbred & Classic Cars, January 2000 issue, p. 60 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Wallace, Bob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand automobile designer
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Auckland , New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH 19th September 2013
Place of death Phoenix , United States of America