OCTOBER 31, 2014

Wednesday evening, I was privileged to be in attendance at the Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan as Dan Gurney was presented with the Edison-Ford Medal by Edsel Ford, II.

Dan was only the second recipient of this exclusive award honoring individuals who "fully leverage the creative, innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that resides in every one of us."

The first was W. Edwards Deming back in 1989.

The evening's festivities were set amongst the Henry Ford's extensive collection of significant automobiles, including Jim Clark's 1965 Indianapolis 500 winning Lotus 38-Ford, Barney Oldfield's '999', 'Million Dollar' Bill Elliott's 1985 Ford Thunderbird and the recently restored (by All American Racers, of course) 1967 LeMans winning Ford Mk IV - on display for the first time with two of the trophies won at LeMans in 1967.

In attendance was a mix of the sport's luminaries including Roger Penske, Sir Jackie and Lady Helen Stewart, Leonard Wood, Bruce McCaw & Ray Evernham, the Gurney Family; wife Evi, sons Justin, Alex, James and Danny, AAR MVP Kathy Weida with husband Mark, other motor sport industry leaders and 5 life-long Dan Gurney fans from Chicago.

Dan Gurney Edison-Ford Medal Tribute Film

Before the Presentation, Master of Ceremonies Charlie Rose introduced a special Tribute film, produced by the Henry Ford and narrated by Brian Williams of NBC News (above).

After the Presentation, Rose conducted a delightful interview of the Guest of Honor (which will hopefully be available on YouTube sometime in the future).

For a Charter Member of the All American Racers Eagle Club, it was an unforgettable evening. I've posted a photo set to the Motorsport Collector Facebook Page if you'd like to see more.

Continuing our theme:

Stance & Speed is about to release the 5th in a series of books profiling classic racing cars. The subject of this Monograph is the iconic Gurney Eagle-Weslake F1 car. It features the photography by Peter Harholdt, a text by Bob Varsha and a Foreword by the All American Eagle himself. A limited number of copies will be flown in for Holiday delivery. Priced at just $17.95 plus shipping, it could be the bargain book of the season. Reserve HERE.

And one last thing: There's still time to pre-order a 1/43 scale Spark Model of another iconic Dan Gurney racing car - the 1967 Rex Mays 300 winning Olsonite Eagle:

s2396 - Dan Gurney / AAR Eagle / 1967 Rex Mays 300 Winner

$80.00 Pre-Order HERE

Have a great weekend. We'll be back with more early next week!

- Paul