In 1965, Datsun awarded their East Coast race team to a relative upstart: Connecticut’s Bob Sharp Racing. In 1967, Sharp gave the brand their first SCCA national championship by winning the F Production race in a Datsun roadster.
The driving roster–and the wins–would expand and include names like Sam Posey, Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Tom Cruise, Scott Sharp, Paul Newman and
Mixed feelings here.
Paul Newman would be the closest thing I ever had to a hero - 3 words Cool Hand Luke. Racing, philanthropy etc etc. I'll watch any of his films anytime.
OTOH, I was running SCCA H-Prod when Mr. Cruise had a Sharp car in the 80s. It seemed odd because we were at Holtville and Sharp was an east coast team. We were in a run group that included almost everything with fenders SSA to GT1 - I knew to be very mirror savvy. As I recall Mr. Cruise had no other cars in his class. Yet he managed to get in the way of or foul up almost every other driver's race. A loud pit area meeting ensued and the stewards came over to limit the "scope" of the meeting. I don't recall ever seeing him again.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Sharp and hearing him speak several times at Lime Rock. Cool guy, easily approachable, always willing to chat.
Which Datsun is this? Looks right up my alley.
GIRTHQUAKE said:Which Datsun is this? Looks right up my alley.
I am not a Datsun expert but I think it's a 610. It's hard to read but it also says so on the side. Here's a pic of a 610.
I remember reading an interview with Paul Newman years ago when he was reminiscing about his time with Bob Sharp and Fitzgerald. He said that because of his and Fitzgerald's ages the team actually made a sponsorship pitch to Geritol, but were turned down because Geritol said they were too old to fit their target demographic!
We went to the SCCA races at Watkins Glen, Pocono and Lime Rock back in the 70s. Bob Sharp and Bob Tullius racing C Production was always close and exciting. PL Newman also generated a lot of interest.
You'll need to log in to post.
