Yesterday, the Corvette Owners Club of Houston (“COCH”) and the Lone Star Region of the Porsche Club of America (“LSR”) sponsored a joint outing. There were about 20 people and 10 or so cars that were able to participate: two C6 coupes, a C5 Z06, my ZR1, a 997 twin-turbo, a 997 Carrerra, a BMW 528, a Mazda Miata, a Chrysler Crossfire SRT6, and a couple of SUVs. All accompanied by a nice crowd !

This was my first outing with COCH, having recently joined the organization. We met north of Houston, and drove to AJ Foyt Enterprises in Waller, TX where we were hosted for a private tour of all facilities by none other than Larry Foyt (the youngest son of A J Foyt Jr.). Larry is in-charge of the operation in Waller.

The facilities are amazing: several very large buildings, machine shops, paint booth, and all as expected were immaculately trim
& clean. The main building had about a 15 or so race cars from the past: Indycars, Grand Prix cars, Carts, etc. all presented in their respective original liveries ! Of course, most of the engines (and seats) had been removed. We were able to actually sit in one of the relatively recent Indy cars… and, the two 2011 season Indycars just retired were there as well (couldn’t sit in those !).

Larry told us the new Indycars will be available to all the teams around mid-December. All chassis will be by Dallaria, with Honda, Chevrolet and Lotus supplying about 10 teams each with engines.

Two complete tractor/trailer car haulers were there, opened & connected to the local power grid. The walls were covered with facsimiles of checks the team had received over the years for sponsorships, prizes, charities, etc. Trophies were everywhere, all neatly displayed/organized. But what really was impressive were the pictures: huge, blown-up mega-poster size pictures of the 1st place finishes (by AJ Foyt Jr.) at Indy in 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977. Also another one from the same race in 1969. A huge poster-picture of the Wheaties cereal box with AJF Jr. on the same—I remember that one from when I was a child !

And sitting against one of the side walls, in the back of the building, was a Ford Model A sedan (hardtop with all the window glass—not sure of exact model) from the late 1920’s…it looked like you could just start it up and drive it away…fully-inflated tires on its wire-wheels ! How peculiar, I thought…

Then Larry led all of us into the front showroom, which was also packed with vehicles: a couple of Indycars, two NASCAR vehicles (one car & one truck), several Harley-Davidson motorcycles, and a 2006 Ford GT (red w/white stripes !). Of course, more pictures/paintings: the 1967 Le Mans winning car (Gurney/Foyt Jr.); a photo of AJF Jr. driving his “last lap” (solo) at Indy in 1993 when he retired as a driver; and a framed under glass photograph (w/engraved mounting trim) of AJF Jr. and the then Vice-President of the United States, George H. W. Bush.

All-in-all, a very inspiring visit, hosted by a true gentlemen ! Larry Foyt was quite gracious with his time and answered many questions. As we were leaving the showroom, we walked past a hallway containing what must have been some of the executive offices of the company. There were more photos on the walls, so some others and I took a look.

There were some very old framed pictures, in good condition. One was labeled: Foyt Bros. Garage circa 1928 the Heights, Houston. The building looked like a very large barn and had a big Texaco logo painted on the side. Streetcar tracks were visible in the street. Next to this picture was another taken at the same time: five men, dressed in dark slacks & workshirts, with a couple of them wearing fedoras (inside that same building).

The captioning identified three of the men as the grandfather, father and uncle of AJF Jr., with the other two being unknown. Then it hit me—that old Model A sedan in the back of the shop must have belonged to AJF Jr’s grandfather ! (and I’ll bet it’s still running…)

These last two photos were pictures of the men, in their humble beginnings, that launched the Foyt family racing dynasty…
I’m sure they could not have imagined the legacy of success that would eventually be achieved !

 

Pics or it didn't happen!

 

cliffs

 

yeah, I'm totally lame with camera stuff...didn't take any pics. My bad...

 

Sounds like a great outing. The detail in the way you told the story I could almost visualize being there. Thanks for sharing.

 

Way cool. Nice write up.

 

Awesome and any pictures

 

I guess that explains why we have to visualize being there....

 

...glad I'm a good writer...!!

 

All that writing and NO pictures...WTH. Lol

 

Gary, sounds like a cool experience. Thanks for sharing.