Bob Bondurant, champion race car driver, instructor dead at 88
Bob Bondurant dies: Bob Bondurant was a champion race car driver who also coached actors in movie roles about the finer points of driving. (Alvis Upitis/Getty Images)
By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — Bob Bondurant, a champion race car driver who later opened a driving school in 1968 and taught several top actors, died Friday. He was 88.
According to a news release, Bondurant died in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley. No cause of death was released.
Bondurant taught stunt driving, competition driving, police pursuit driving, evasive driving for chauffeurs and bodyguards, plus other skills, according to his school’s website. Some of the stars Bondurant taught for their movie roles included Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Nicolas Cage, Robert Wagner and Tim Allen.
“The team at Radford Racing School is saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Bondurant. We salute a man who channeled his passion, tenacity and talents into every endeavor,” Mike Kessler, the general manager at Radford Racing School, said in a statement. “A champion on the track, he earned a place among the pantheon of racing heroes when he helped America win its only FIA Sports Car World Championship. Bob dedicated his life to helping others develop their driving skills, both on the street and the track, training some of the biggest names in racing, celebrities, professional athletes, and everyday drivers who would go on to credit his teaching methods for keeping them safe behind the wheel.
Bob Bondurant will be missed and his legacy will live on for years to come.”
Bondurant won 30 of 32 races in Corvettes from 1961 to 1963 and won the GT class at Le Mans in 1964, according to The Associated Press. After his car’s steering arm g arm broke at 150 mph and caused a crash in 1967 at Watkins Glen, New York, Bondurant decided to open a high-performance driving school while he recovered, according to a news release.
In 1966, Bondurant helped coach Garner for his role in the movie “Grand Prix.”
He opened the school in early 1968 at California’s Orange County International Raceway and later moved it to Ontario, California, and then Sonoma, according to the AP. Bondurant relocated the school to Arizona after the 1989 earthquake in California.
Bondurant was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003. According to his website, Bondurant has been inducted into 10 different motorsports halls of fame.
Robert Lewis Bondurant was born on April 27, 1933, in Evanston, Illinois. His father, John Bondurant, owned two luxury car dealerships in Evanston. When he was 2, the family moved to Westwood Village, California, according to the news release.
Bob Bondurant was the 1959 Corvette driver of the year, and four years later he was working as a helicopter pilot when he was recruited to race Cobras.
Bondurant won the National Corvette title, the Le Mans GT, World Championship and Baja 500 races during his career. Between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races in Corvettes.
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant attends the last 70mm film festival series screening of 'Grand Prix' at AMPAS Samuel Goldwyn Theater on July 23, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/WireImage) (Tibrina Hobson/WireImage via Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant 1964 Times Grand Prix - Riverside. Bob Bondurant of Shelby American driving a Ford Powered Cooper Monaco-King Cobra.(Photo by Bob D'Olivo/The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images/Getty Images) (Bob D'Olivo/The Enthusiast Network via Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, Masten Gregory, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, 19 June 1966. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, Dick Guldstrand, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, 06 November 1967. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant DAYTONA BEACH, FL — February 28, 1965: Just before the start of the Daytona Continental at Daytona International Speedway, John Surtees, fast qualifier for the race in a Ferrari 330 P2 owned by Luigi Chinetti, Sr. (No. 77), and Bob Bondurant, second on the grid in a Shelby American Ford GT-40 (No. 72), stare each other down as the field gets set to roll off pit road. Bondurant and co-driver Richie Ginther would go on to finish third overall, while Surtees and his co-driver Pedro Rodriguez failed to finish. (Photo by ISC Images & Archives via Getty Images) (RacingOne/ISC Archives/CQ-Roll Call Group via Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, Chris Amon, Jochen Neerpash, Dan Gurney, Carol Shelby, Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe , 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, 22 June 1964. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, Carroll Shelby, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, 22 June 1964. Bob Bondurant with Carroll Shelby (holding the megaphone) during the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant WATKINS GLEN, NY-JULY 25: Bob Bondurant sits in his McLaren Chevrolet before USRRC race held on July 25, 1967 at Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Alvis Upitis/Getty Images) (Alvis Upitis/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bodurant tries to qualify the Lola T-192 at the Questor Grand Prix in which Formula One cars competed with Formula A cars on March 28, 1971, in Ontario, California. (Photo by Alvis Upitis/Getty Images) (Alvis Upitis/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, 20 June 1965. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant next to his Ferrari in his Grand Prix debut at the United States Grand Prix held October 3, 1965, at Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Alvis Upitis/Getty Images) (Alvis Upitis/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant in the Shelby Cobra brought by Patrick McNally which was a non-starter, Nürburgring 1000km. (Photo by Günther Molter/Klemantaski Collection/Getty Images) (Klemantaski Collection/The Klemantaski Collection via Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, BRM P261, Grand Prix of Monaco, Circuit de Monaco, 22 May 1966. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Racing driver Bob Bondurant with his assistant at the Grand Prix of Monaco, 1966. (Photo by Wolfgang Kuhn/United Archives via Getty Images) (United Archives / Wolfgang Kühn/Wolfgang Kuhn/United Archives via Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, Dick Guldstrand, Chevrolet Corvette, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, 06 November 1967. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, Eagle-Weslake Mk1, Grand Prix of Mexico, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Magdalena Mixhuca, 23 October 1966. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Pictured from left to right are Bob Bondurant, Johnny O'Connell, Harry Curtin and Andy Lee arrive at the Toyota Charity Ball on April 13, 2012 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Maury Phillips/WireImage) (Maury Phillips/WireImage via Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Pictured from left to right are Otto Nemenz, Bob Bondurant, John Stephens, Evans Evans Frankenheimer and Eva Marie Saint attend the last 70mm film festival series screening of 'Grand Prix' at AMPAS Samuel Goldwyn Theater on July 23, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/WireImage) (Tibrina Hobson/WireImage via Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant Bob Bondurant, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Le Mans, 22 June 1964. (Photo by Bernard Cahier/Getty Images) (Bernard Cahier/Getty Images)
Bob Bondurant AMELIA ISLAND, FLORIDA - MARCH 10, 2012 - Bob Bondurant, racing driver and businessman poses for a portrait at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance, in Amelia Island, Florida on March 10, 2012. (Photo by Rick Dole/Getty Images) (Rick Dole/Getty Images)