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BOB WINGATE passed Sunday 9-15-19 from heart complications. He was born August 17, 1936 and lived a good long life in Glendale, California.
It was Bob himself who was the guy on the ground promoting Corvette in the early days. Wingate was ''THE West Coast Pioneer at the grass roots level where the action was''
Starting in 1956 as a salesman for Clippinger Chevrolet, in California, Wingate sold Corvettes and got involved in all kinds of Corvette activities from 1958-1974. In 1959, he created his first Corvette club at Clippinger and in 1966 was one of the founding fathers and first President of Western States Corvette Council, [WSCC]. Many Clubs from Canada to Mexico were created with Wingate’s guidance.
Autocross, slalom and road racing events were also a big part of the West Coast Corvette culture. Bob was a leader who helped mold the national SCCA rules for autocross and slalom racing. No wonder Southern California Corvette sales skyrocketed. The guy was everywhere promoting Corvette. Wingate says, “It didn’t hurt that I got full support from my dealership and became good friends with Joe Pike and Zora Duntov.” But Wingate’s positive attitude was the key to sales.
By the mid-1970’s, BobWingate’s name drifted east and was THE name in “old” Corvettes along with Buxbaum in Chicago and Wasserman in New Jersey. We’d never met them, but by their names commonly seen in magazine ads, everyone knew, “they must be somebody really important”.
Turns out, they really were important!
BOB also found and sold the three 1968 L-88 Corvettes to the JIM GARNER ''AIR'' RACING TEAM from Gledhill Chevrolet. In these Hi Performance days Wingate sold many Camaro's, Corvairs, and passenger cars with high performance engines and transmissions. THIS WAS the TIME of ''GLORY YEARS OF HEARTBEAT OF CHEVROLET in AMERICA'', and Bob was a big person in the history of the Corvette and Chevrolet. Services will be private with family members.
Not many are aware of the role Bob played in putting together James Garner's American International Racing Team, 1968 L88 Corvette deal either.
Bob, James and the group around Bob's aluminum head L89 fire breathing street car.
Thank you.for the post update photos. The last photo is in front of DICK GULDSTRAND'S first shop on Jefferson Blvd., Culver Cty, CA. Old ''THUNDER ALLEY''. It was JIM GARNER and the AIR L-88 cars that Dick and his crew prepared, that got ''Guldstrand Engineering'' started in business..
WINGATE supplied the cars, and not from Clippinger Chevy, but GLEDHILL Chevy. It was BOB'S connections at Chevrolet with JOE PIKE and ZORA that led him to the cars. Only 80 L-88's were made in 1968, and they got three of them. Two to race and one for back up, which they used for parts at Daytona. I could write a book.
Does anyone know what Richard Buxbaum is doing these days? I heard that when he stopped selling old Corvettes and muscle cars he began importing antiques from Europe to the USA?
Does anyone know what Richard Buxbaum is doing these days? I heard that when he stopped selling old Corvettes and muscle cars he began importing antiques from Europe to the USA?
Wingate every time I was anywhere around him, he drew a crowd, and was the guy people seemed to want to bond with, hang out with. As such, I never had any type of true in depth conversation with him, just casual passing each other nods, an introduction once, a few handshakes afterwards only! He came over would look over one of our cars, and attempt some discourse, seemed like he would have explored more talk, but then someone would spot him and engage him, and off he went to continue to mingle! He drew that event celebrity type thing, a pioneering type guy organizing, directing, officiating, advice fatherly type to all, within our Corvette culture. I kind of felt bad for him, as he belonged to the crowd. At events he definitely wasn’t lonely, he seemed that popular!
Seemed like a cool guy! Never got to know him at all. Just ran across him at events back in the day! RIP
I will have to find something good to post, on him from my private horde of literature!
Last edited by TCracingCA; 09-25-2019 at 10:56 PM.
I hope a RIP thread isn’t closed, but reading the opener and seeing the two names (Buxbaum and Wasserman), it sounds like they also left us! If I knew either one, I would ask also!
So RIP to them also!!!!!
But this thread should go back to being about Jim’s friend, a Corvette guy icon! I think I found something cool to post! Let me try to get that posted.
Last edited by TCracingCA; 09-26-2019 at 04:25 PM.
09-25-2019, 01:31 PM
RIP Bob Wingate
