Jerome C. Earl from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, in the Corvette SR2. Earl would later sell the SR2 to Jim Jeffords.

Words by Bob Birmingham
Photos by Glen Glendenning

A return to two SCCA race weekends made up Road America’s calendar for 1957, the first in June followed by early September. June offered four events, three on Saturday and a 38-lap feature on Sunday. All told the weekend was best described as fun-to-watch club racing.
1957 June Sprints, June 23
1957 SCCA Nationals September 7 (Saturday)
1957 Road America 500, September 8 (Sunday)

Branding the Road America 500. The 1956 September 6 hour endurance race, while interesting, was a bit confusing for spectators prompting Tufte with his team, and Chicago Region leaders, to make changes. The winning car in the 6 hour enduro completed 484 miles, and with that information, this year’s event would be offered as the Road America 500. Tufte was quoted as saying, “500, has a nice ring to it,” referring to the Indianapolis 500. Saturday’s program consisted of 3 races, each providing its share of enjoyable performances.

As usual, Glen Glendenning got around. Here he captured a famous guest of Road America. Janet Pilgrim (born Charlaine Edith Karalus; June 13, 1934 – May 1, 2017) was an American model who became a Playmate of the Month while employed at Playboy’s corporate office in Chicago. She was chosen as Playmate of the Month three times: July 1955, December 1955 and October 1956. We don’t know the identity of the guy with the goofy eyeballs.

Sunday morning brought sunny blue skies with occasional puffs of clouds as the swelling crowd, estimated to be in excess of 35,000, arrived and settled in to watch the 500 mile enduro. Blankets were spread, lawn chairs unfolded and the always welcome picnic baskets and beverage coolers at hand. The competition was tough as a steady run of drivers sought to improve the class positions but at the end of 125 laps it was Phil Hill’s Ferrari 315 first followed by Carroll Shelby’s Maserati 300S and Eddie Crawford’s Porsche 550 Spyder. All three soloed and as a side note the total winning time was 6:08:30, and they completed a few more laps than the 1956 Six Hour race.

A corner worker near the altered carousel with the drumlin now cleared to provide better vision of the upcoming corners.

The past few years had weighed heavily on Clif Tufte’s team but through it all they attracted a rapidly growing number of spectators new to sports car racing and perhaps just as important was the increase in earnings for Elkhart Lake and surrounding area merchants. The future looked rosy but before the first cars took to practice in June 1957, something would have to be done to ensure added safety to the long-over due carousel’s end – Friedman’s Corner. A portion of the drumlin* that dominated what would become the carousel was eliminated prior to paving in 1955 but not enough to provide a clear vision or understanding of what lay ahead for drivers continually at war with the never-ending off-road excursions after the carousel, and to that Tufte had an answer. In May of 1958 the remaining portion of the previously trimmed drumlin east of the track was excavated and removed to where drivers concentrating on the seemingly never-ending carousel could now see what lay ahead.

Glen Glendenning Gallery: June Sprints, 1957

Elisha Walker, Syosset, New York, Aston Martin DB2/4 entered by George Constantine.

Don-Warren, Alfa, Thiensville, Wisconsin

Elva, driven by Chuck Dietrich, Sandusky, Ohio

John-Middleton II, Barrington, Illinois, Ferrari TR (0622)

Loyal Katskee, Omaha, Nebraska, Ferrari 750 (0554)

Ebby Lunken, Cincinnati, Ohio, Ferrari TR (0658)

J. M. R. Lyeth, Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Ferrari 375 MM (0364)

Jerome Earl, Corvette SR2. Grosse Pointe, Michigan

Wilfred Gray, Kurtis, Indianapolis, Indiana

Don Skogmo, D Jag, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Mel Cavin, Corvette, Lincoln, Illinois

Max Goldman, Porsche, Ann Arbor, Michigan

*an oval or elongated hill believed to have been formed by the streamlined movement of glacial ice sheets across rock debris, or till. The name is derived from the Gaelic word druim (“rounded hill,” or “mound”) and first appeared in 1833.

Click to order…only $45.

Review by Pete Vack
Photos by Glen Glendenning courtesy Dave Rex

For years, the name Jim Jeffords was just that, a name on a car, a program, a result. Like many of the low key but successful SCCA race drivers, and unlike the international racing stars, Jeffords did not get much publicity on a personal level. After his death in 2014, however, there appeared much more information about this hard driving, multitalented Milwaukee resident whose brief career, according to the SCCA bio, may not have been the longest but almost certainly unmatched.

And now, thanks to the help of Jim’s four sons, Robert Birmingham has written a short (113 pages) but stellar biography of Jeffords, perhaps best known for his B production victories in the Purple People Eater Corvette. Birmingham has brought Jeffords exploits and successes to life in this informative book. Unlike what is posted on the internet, Birmingham is able to put Jeffords’ career in context, explaining even the most obscure events such as the Williams Bay Hillclimb on the shores of Lake Geneva.

Born in 1926, Jim Jeffords’ father was a great influence on him. His father, known as Jeff, ran a service garage in Milwaukee, where the young Jim learned to drive and no doubt learned a lot about cars. Jeff often took him to the Wisconsin State Fair Park, where they would watch the likes of Mauri Rose, Wilbur Shaw and other stars race in the AAA sponsored events.

But instead of taking over his father’s garage, Jim took a different path, becoming a car salesman, then establishing a successful ad agency, followed by a string of imported car dealerships. And like their father, Jim’s four sons, Patrick, Michael, Kerry and Jimmy, became involved in racing as well, and helped Birmingham put together Jeffords’ biography.

Birmingham tracks Jeffords’ competition successes year by year, event by event, as a Jag XK120 was replaced by a XK120 MC, replaced by a series of Corvettes with which he won two National Championships in the B Production class. He was fast, but tough on cars…either he won or broke down. Driving the one of three Corvette SR2s, Jeffords did well in the B Modified class but faster machinery dominated. He did a stint for Nickey Chevrolet, Camoradi and, as Willem Oosthoek related in VeloceToday, a run with Frank Harrison in the Maserati Birdcage.

Jeffords, the ad man, also figured out a way to attract the attention of the press, first by colorful paint combinations, driver’s suits and helmets, but might be most remembered as the guy who drove the Purple People Eater, an outrageously purple Corvette that took him to a National Championship in 1958. The name came from a popular song by Sheb Wooley: Purple People Eater…“It was a one-eyed, one-horned, flyin’ purple people eater..” about a space alien who came to earth to play in a rock ‘n roll band.

In 1959 at Sebring, Jeffords tried to do his friend John Norwood a favor by signing on to drive one of the FDR Team Roosevelt Fiat Abarths. Lance Reventlow found Jeffords in the paddock and asked him “What in the hell are you doing in that little piece of crap?” Poor 6 foot 2 inch Jeffords had to have the seat modified to fit his frame, in essence, giving him only a metal platform to sit on. Jeffords, driving almost solo, still placed 30th overall and 3rd in class.

Jeffords was a man of many talents. After a very busy and successful seven years behind the wheel, Jeffords retired due to health issues but stayed active in the sport, managing a team of AMC Javelins, and was elected to the Road America Board of Directors.

According to his son Pat, Jeffords had a chance to meet famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright, inspiring an interest in architecture, and he provided input to several homes designed by the Taliesin architects. Later, Jeffords moved to Palm Springs, California and had Taliesin West design a new home. The “Boat House” as it was called, is still a remarkable architectural site. Jeffords died there in 2014 at the age of 87.

Thanks to Birmingham for this well done, too short biography. Much like Jeffords himself.

Glendenning Gallery: These photos of Jim Jeffords were found in the Glendenning archives and do not appear in the book:

Jeffords in a borrowed 300SL.

Wisconsin GP, May 25 1957, another first in B Production

June 23 SCCA National Road America, Jeffords behind the wheel after another win in B Production.

September 6 1957, RA 1st in B Production, with the Purple People Eater.

September 7, 1958 with SR 2, RA. DNF

September 7, 1958 with SR 2, RA. DNF

Bob Birmingham began racing in the 1960s, knew Jim Jeffords but was not a close friend. Bob later served as the SCCA board member and Drift editor.
Bob has authored the following books:

Mis-Shifting: Fast Cars, Fond Memories, Fine Friendships 2014
Augie Pabst Behind the Wheel 2016
Brook Stevens and the Stevens Family Legacy 2019
Bill Wuesthoff: Smooth and Fast 2020
Fred Wacker-Gentleman Racer
Milwaukee Region SCCA, The First 20 Years

The fabled car’s first glimpse of daylight in 25 years. Note the color and also, to the left of the front wheel, and below the side view mirror, a Pabst Motors sticker.

Story by Bob Birmingham

Read Part 1

After his impressive drive at Marlboro, finishing a close second to the Alfa engined Cooper, there occurred a major renovation to Dick Eisenmann’s Cooper.

From time to time, he frequented a foreign car repair shop just down the road from his office. In anticipation of a lengthy business trip, he took his Cooper there for a little “mechanical sweetening and anything else that was needed.” Upon returning, he found the car painted — a tomato orange had replaced the historic Team Cunningham blue over white.

In early 1965, he returned to Elm Grove Wisconsin, and opened Interstate Safety and Fire Company, a time-consuming effort that limited his racing activity. His biggest overall win occurred on a wet track during the 1965 Road America 500 weekend. A front row starting position was followed by a first lap off-road spin in a downpour at Corner 5’s lefthander, with another one at Corner 8 to follow. But in spite of these excursions, he fought back to victory. Years later, Dick recalled the car and performance. “It was very forgiving. Anybody with limited racing experience could buckle up and drive the wheels off of it without worrying about it breaking loose. If you went into a corner too fast, it might drift a bit, but easily corrected. It was very solid while racing in the rain.” For that performance, friends dubbed him the ‘Rain Meister.’

The end of the Cooper Fiat.

Later that year for the Milwaukee Region’s annual Oktober Rennen at Lynndale Farms Raceway 20 miles west of Milwaukee, a competitor locked up his brakes entering corner one and ran into Dick’s backside damaging the Citroen/DeTomaso transmission case and ring and pinion. Unable to find a replacement, he parked the car in a large Quonset hut used to store commercial business inventory, equipment and a few other classic cars.

A further career

After his stint with the Cooper, Dick went on to race other cars including Ham Vose’s Lightweight Corvette, also the ex-Harry Heuer MeisterBrau Chaparral and the ex-Cliff Phillips Lotus 27 Formula Junior, both owned at the time by Erwin “Ike” Uihlein, Jr. It was in the Lotus 27 that Dick, for the second time, finished first overall among all Formula cars during the 1967 Road America June Sprints weekend.

In addition, starting in 1968, he purchased, prepared and campaigned an NSU TTS D Sedan in which he twice qualified for SCCA’s American Road Race of Champions (ARRC) National Runoffs. At Daytona International Speedway in 1969, he qualified 12th on the grid and finished 3rd. The following year at Road Atlanta, he started 11th and finished seventh.

Dick served SCCA as a National Chief Steward for over 50 years and during the seventies/eighties era was Chief Steward for the pro-Mini Indy Robert Bosch Super Vee series, co-sanctioned by SCCA and USAC. As such, he was the top series official at Michigan International Speedway, Indianapolis Raceway Park, Road America, Wisconsin State Fair Park, Long Beach, California, Watkins Glen, NY and Trois Riveres, Quebec, Canada.

Suddenly, 25 years later

Meanwhile, the Cooper Fiat had been stored in the Quonset hut for nearly 25 year,s collecting dirt and grime until about 1990 when Dick pulled it out into daylight, assessed its condition and set about to locate needed parts. His company was doing well and, with a little free time, he decided to pull and rebuild the engine and transmission. Says Dick, “By phone I found and purchased an acceptable transmission housing from someone in Pennsylvania, installed it onto the engine, and then returned it back to dead storage.”

At speed, having fun.

By the year 2002, vintage sports car racing events were flourishing all over the country and Dick’s interest in racing was rekindled. With that, he entrusted his Cooper T56 to Dennis Eide’s Competition Prep in Zenda, Wisconsin for a complete ground up restoration and what a job they did! Upon arriving to pick it up and return to Elm Grove, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it looked in the original Team Cunningham trim.

A trip to Blackhawk Farms for his initial return to competition resulted in the same old transmission problem. Now, with Internet capabilities, he found and purchased 2 cases from a source in Europe and, after receipt, completed the necessary repair. He chose to return the car to storage, this time in his airplane hangar at Crites Field near suburban Waukesha, where today it greets visitors when entering the side door.

Meeting Peter Jackson

In September of 2005, Dick, along with Milwaukee Region SCCA friends, traveled to the UK to take in the annual Goodwood Revival. While there, he chanced to meet a Brit by the name of Peter Jackson, who is a former racer, author and historian on all things related to Cooper Formula Juniors. Jackson writes of the meeting:

“In 2005, as usual I was watching the traditional cricket match whilst waiting for the driver’s briefing to start, enjoying the Veuve Clicquot Champagne. I was wearing a shirt emblazoned with a Cooper badge, as is my habit at historic racing events. The chap next to me casually glanced aside, noticed the badge and engaged me in conversation enquiring if I had a Cooper, which model, and if I was I racing it here. I explained all about my car. We introduced ourselves and that’s how I got to know Dick Eisenmann, or more fondly now, Racer Dick. He mentioned that he also had a T56 in USA and told me about it.

“This was pretty exciting because I did actually know a little bit about Dick’s car because he had joined the Cooper Car Club many years previously and there were a few notes in our file. It was a very memorable moment for me, meeting the owner quite unexpectedly. We chatted animatedly about Coopers and particularly the virtues of the all-conquering T56 model. However, eventually I was dragged away into the large marquee for the obligatory drivers briefing, but next day by arrangement Dick found his way over to the Formula Junior paddock where he sat in my car for a quite a while and said that it felt much the same as his car but the colour scheme was reversed – my car was the period French owner’s blue with white stripe, whereas his car was white with blue stripe Cunningham livery. Thus began an enduring (albeit distant) friendship brought about only by a pure chance meeting in a crowd of people, although I did shorten the odds by wearing a conspicuous Cooper badge.”

Peter Jackson with his T56 Cooper.

Of the same meeting, Dick put it this way:

“As part of our Goodwood Revival Tour, we visited Lord March’s estate to take in a cricket match being played by retired British racers of note with the likes of Stirling Moss, Dickie Atwood and others. Nearby stood a gentleman who had on white overalls adorned with a Cooper patch. Playing the dumb American, I asked him to tell me the meaning of the patch and he politely said Coopers were highly successful British race cars. Next, I asked several dumb follow-up questions as to what kind of car, what model is it and how many people can fit in it. Being the classy guy that Peter is, he answered every query and added that he owned one of only 22 Cooper T56s made. At this point, I admitted to owning a T56 and identified it with my serial number and with that began the start of a close friendship, albeit one that spans the Atlantic Ocean.

“Just picture it, 2 guys meet by chance, each an owner of a limited Cooper T56 Formula Junior, standing side by side, drinking Pimms Cups at a cricket match. Days like this only happen once in a lifetime.”

At Monterey

Mazda Raceway, Monterey, California 2006: Each year featured race cars line up for an official photo shoot. Dick proudly stands next to his Cooper as the cars were being arranged.

In 2006, after the car was a winner at several nearby concours events, Dick was invited to participate in the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile race event at Mazda Raceway in California. Cooper race cars were the featured marque and it clearly was important for Dick to join in the celebration.

A few years later in 2010, Dick took the car to Elkhart Lake for the 60th anniversary of the famous event where Walt Hansgen had won the F Jr. race in 1960 with the Cooper Fiat in only it’s second time out.

Osthoff’s Resort, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 2010: Dick Eisenmann and early American sports car racing legend John Fitch with Cooper-Fiat T56. Fitch was the featured speaker during the Historic Circuits of Elkhart Lake’s 60th Anniversary Dinner.

The Cooper Fiat today

And so today, as you read these words, the fabled ex-Team Cunningham Cooper-Fiat T56 Formula Junior, s/n FJ10-61 is in repose near the entrance of Dick’s airport hangar at Crites Field, near Waukesha, Wisconsin, among his collection of cars and motorsports memorabilia.

Crites Field, Waukesha Airport, May 2006 Tour d’ Garage visit: Among other classic cars, the first noticed upon entering is the Cooper-Fiat. Tour regulars L to R: Sandy and Bill Schley and Fred Thomas enjoying the affair.