Daytona  24 Hours

      Feb 5, 1977

     It seemed racing was at a stand still in popularity due to the energy crunch.  In the midst of the dry spell, I began to sell cars, eventually went to Dick Barbour Datsun in Cypress, where I ran into John Cannon selling there as well.  Dick was not into racing heavily yet, although he himself was "Huge" even back then.  He liked having racers around his dealership, even had Tommy Larkin of Drag Race fame working in the parts dept.

     Otto Zipper took notice and persuaded me to drive a Ferrari 365 GTB Coupe with John Cannon at the 1977 Daytona 24 Hours. 

It turned out to be the very same car, SN #15685, that Sam Posey and I drove to second in class at Le Mans in 1972!  Ken Starbird acquired the car in 1973.  He drove it on the street, so it was not prepared for the long race.  We were doing well until an unusual engine failure turned John and I into spectators.  Thankfully, I was back into racing, and Otto started working on some better Daytona rides for the future.

Starbird's car was the same one I'd driven at Le Mans in 1972.

     Few Ferraris have greater presence than the lightweight competition-bodied 365 GTB/4 Daytona, and its splendidly imposing 4.4-liter 4-cam V12 engine.

     After 3½ years away from racing, Tony once more drove a Ferrari fielded by Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team (NART).

     This was SN #15685's fourth 24-hour race, and the drivers on February 5-6, 1977 were the capable trio of Dick Barbour, John Cannon and Tony Adamowicz.  Under race number 66 this time, they placed 30th overall after having been forced out of the event after 286 laps.
     The car was subsequently returned to Ken Starbird and used by him on the public highways in California until 1988 when it was finally sold to Dr. Jurg Heer of Zurich, a former director of the Swiss city's Rothschild Bank and avid car collector.

     On Jan. 5, 2004, it was sold once again for an estimated $2,020,000  U.S. Dollars.

S/N #15685 looks as potent today, as when Tony drove it thirty years earlier

Another view of the car in modern times

Tony Adamowicz, Gary Wheeler, Tony a2z, Tony Adamowics, a2zRacer, Gary Wheeler, Tony Adamowicz

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