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Roger Penske Mecom

John Mecom Interview Part 2

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Part 2

By Harry Hurst
Photos courtesy John Mecom collection
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At one point you were the Lola distributor for North America. How did that come about and how did it end?
The beginning was when I bought what I thought was the first Lola GT – the one I saw at the London Racing Car. We became the distributor and went to the races with spare parts and support. We probably sold more than 20 T-70s. We spent a lot of money representing Lola. We were very sincere about it. And from time to time we made sure Eric could go on to the next day of production. But Carl came along with a better deal and Eric took it. I, unfortunately, did everything by handshake. Our friendship was over after that happened.

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John Mecom: A Texas-sized Legend Part 1

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The Mecom Racing Team logo was designed by fellow Texan Bill Neale. Neale was a well-known automotive artist, providing illustrations for Car and Driver and Road & Track. He also was good friends with Texans Jim Hall and Carroll Shelby, penning the Terlingua Racing Team logo.

By Harry Hurst
Photos courtesy John Mecom Collection

John Mecom is one of the few people who can say that Roger Penske worked for him. Penske drove for Mecom Racing in 1962-63, arguably, the preeminent racing team in the United States at the time. Operating out of Houston, the team ran multiple cars in events in North America and Europe, with the world’s top drivers and mechanics. But racing was secondary to the main business of the John W. Mecom Company: oil wells, hotels, plastics, natural gas pipelines, chemicals, and more. Although he was only in his twenties, John Jr. played a major role in the company his father founded while he ran the racing team. After winning the Indy 500 in 1966 with Graham Hill, Mecom’s attention turned to another interest, professional football. He brought the Saints to New Orleans and was the majority shareholder in the team until 1984. Harry Hurst recently connected with Mecom to ask him about his racing years.

Before you started Mecom Racing there were other wealthy people involved in racing, like Briggs Cunningham and Lance Reventlow. With your background, did you treat racing more like a business?

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