Daily Slideshow: Legend of the Corvette A.I.R Racing Program

1. The Origins of A.I.R.

Back in late 1967, a trio of Le Mans Blue Corvette convertibles, each with the L-88 engine option, began their journey from the production line to the West Coast. Their destination? American International Racing (A.I.R.), a company whose roots lie in, believe it or not, a movie - the legendary 1966 film Grand Prix. One of the movie's stars, James Garner, fell in love with racing after doing all of his own driving during filming. So he did what any movie star/aspiring racer would do - he formed his very own motorsports outfit.

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2. Change of Plans

The other three purveyors of A.I.R. were household names as well - Bob Bondurant, Dick Guldstrand, Irwin Sandin, and Donald Rabbitt. A common bond - to build, race, and have fun - brought them together. Their first effort centered around building a turbine-powered race car, but that fell flat after several sanctioning bodies changed their rules to make turbine engines less advantageous. So the A.I.R. team turned their attention to Corvettes, cars which both Guldstrand and Bondurant had a long history with.

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3. Time Is of the Essence

From the outset, financing the program turned out to be the biggest obstacle. But the team was able to scrape together enough cash to buy three cars - two for racing and one to use as a backup/promotional car. But time was another issue, as the team only had about a month to prepare the Corvettes for the 24 Hours of Daytona. As a result, Guldstrand, McDonald, and Perry actually picked the cars up from a local Chevy dealer and proceeded to drive them 1,800+ miles to California. 

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4. Fast Success

It was there, in Guldstrand's shop, that work began in earnest. All three L-88s came out to be blueprinted and race prepped while rollbars were installed. The suspensions, steering, and brakes were all fortified while anything not needed for racing was removed. The team was able to get in a few test sessions before hitting the trailer for Daytona. Amazingly enough, the #44 car scored a GT class pole, while the #45 car came in second. Sadly, however, that early success didn't carry over to the actual race.

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5. Over Before It Began

The #45 A.I.R. Corvette lost a head bolt and overheated 9 hours into the race. Hours later, the #44 car lost its bearings and gears after the rear diff overheated due to seal failure. The team repaired the issue three times, but the car didn't complete enough laps to be classified as a finisher. Undaunted, the A.I.R. team quickly set its sights on the 12 Hours of Sebring. But in the interest of attracting sponsors, Garner and Rabbitt decided they would be better off competing for overall wins instead of class wins, and proceeded to purchase two Lola T-70s. And just like that, the Corvette program was over. Leaving us to wonder - what could have been?

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