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John Starkey is a self-confessed racing fanatic. He works as a consultant, researcher, and author, and has written over twenty-four books including his new book titled Lola GT: The DNA Of The Ford GT40, published by Veloce. Originally from Birmingham, England, he had dreams of Rock and Roll stardom and played guitar in several bands. Along the way, he opened for the Beatles in 1963 and became Jasper Carrott’s manager in 1971. John’s father’s love of fast cars is in his own DNA. Starting with the purchase of a Jaguar XK120 he bought in 1966 for just £120, he began to discover this heady world. After a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT TDF Berlinetta bought in the 1970s, life was never quite the same again. The racing bug bit hard when he first drove a Porsche RSR. This was followed by “a beast” of a turbocharged 935, and then a Lola T70 Mk 3b coupe and a March 84G. He raced these across Europe and America. His love for these cars led him to write his first book on sports and racing cars.
SHOW SPONSORS
American Collectors Insurance • Linkage Magazine • Techforce Foundation • RPM Foundation
INSPIRATION
Apart from the original design, the inspiration was that Carroll Shelby and Phil Remington were the reasons the GT40 succeeded at Le Mans.
CHALLENGES
There was a booklet within Ford about how to design projects, a book they guarded, and by great fortune Alan Grant got the rights to use parts of it to create the Lola GT.
SPECIAL VEHICLES
Lola T70 Mk 3b
BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Lola GT: The DNA Of The Ford GT40 by John Starkey*
The RAF’s Cross Channel Offensive by John Starkey*
WORDS OF INSPIRATION
“Always have someone else to blame.” – Michael Gray
SHARE THE INSPIRATION
If you enjoyed this show, please go to Apple Podcast and leave me a five-star review. That would help tremendously in getting the word out and help others to be inspired by Cars Yeah. * indicates a past Cars Yeah guest.