Dick Barbour Automotion Roadster #3
On Memorial Day weekend 1968 Barbour and co-driver Dennis Sherman entered the Roadster in a 6 hour enduro race at Riverside Raceway. The car was still silver, but Barbour had added blue to the front valance, up over the headlights and back to a tear drop on top of the fenders
Well into the race, Dennis was exiting from a pit stop and was waved out of the pit road by a track worker who thought an oncoming car would clear the end of the pit exit before Dennis got there. The two cars collided; the Roadster was hit hard in the door and knocked out of the race.
The Internet and email are amazing tools; they have been invaluable in finding photos and information on the Roadster. Surfing the web I discovered Frank Sheffield’s web site where he has documented much of Southern California’s 1960’s car racing and track history.
I emailed Frank to inquire if he remembered the car and he replied, “You’ve made a very good purchase. That is, and was, an excellent car. I spent many happy hours at racetracks where Dick Barbour was the entrant and driver of that car. He was very much involved in the San Diego SCCA region during those years. Dick was partner in Automotion, a repair, preparation and accessories business in San Diego, where ‘local tech’ took place.
At one Holtville event he was contesting the overall win with another, similar car, and they rubbed fenders more than a little. I was an observer on Turn Five, where a good deal of the action took place. After the race, while helping the marshals police the track, I found a “Super 90″ emblem from Dick’s car. It was bent and twisted, and roughed up considerably. It was no good to him, so I kept it on the wall of my workshop for years. I’ll bet it’s still around here.”
Another Porsche Roadster driver and racer, John Straub, reports that Barbour wanted to use a door off of his Roadster to continue the race. John took the accompanying photo at the enduro race, prior to the accident (thank you!).
Frank was able to supply scans of the Gridlines magazine and the emblem above to help document the cars history (thank you!).
In early 1969 Barbour received a 904 race car from Germany and sold the Roadster to another San Diego Porsche enthusiast, Don Trueblood. Barbour has provided a letter documenting his ownership, as well as Dieter Vongehr’s and Don Trueblood’s.
Barbour went on to become one of the legends of endurance racing. Driving the renowned Porsche 935, Barbour and his co-drivers had three consecutive class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1978, 79, 80).
In 1980 Barbour, his team and the 935 proved to be almost unbeatable with 14 wins including Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring, Road Atlanta Grand Prix, Mosport 1000K’s, Daytona, Sears Point Grand Prix, Grand Prix of Laguna Seca, Portland Grand Prix and others. The Barbour team walked away with the overall IMSA Championship and was the first American team to be awarded the coveted Porsche Cup (dickbarbourracing.com).
