Bob Bailey, the founder of Racemark International, a manufacturer of automotive-interior products and a member of the RRDC since 2015 told this story Wall Street Journal contributor A. J. Baime about being reunited with his 1968 Porsche 911L.
“I grew up in a little town in upstate New York called Burnt Hills and started racing cars when I was 18. In 1968, the Porsche factory built a small number of 911 “Lightweights” specifically to compete in the Sports Car Club of America Trans-Am Series in the U.S. According to my records, my car was the first of these imported, and I got it through Bob Holbert, a famous racing driver and Porsche dealer at the time. I got it about three weeks before the Trans-Am race at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut, and I immediately started work to get it ready.
“This car came from the factory with all lightweight equipment. We put in a roll cage and a fuel cell. My teammate, Jim Locke, and I took it to Lime Rock and came in fifth overall and second in the under 2-liter class.
“We raced this car all over the country for two years. The Trans-Am series during this era was some of the greatest racing of all time, with Mark Donohue and Parnelli Jones—two of the best drivers of the era—competing. Then we formed a team with Porsche of America, painted the car white with blue stripes and raced it for another two years, including at the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Daytona against drivers like Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, and the actor Steve McQueen [the latter race, now called the Rolex 24, was held last weekend].
“In those days, we never realized that these beat-up race cars would be worth anything. When I sold this car, I got whatever I could for it. I never imagined that I would see it again.
“Some years later, I got a phone call from a movie director and producer in Los Angeles named Michael Scott, who had purchased the 911. He knew I was the original owner, and I sent him press clippings and photographs. He spent years restoring this car to how it was originally when I raced it in the ’60s, with my name painted on it and everything. The work was done by Alberto Ferroni at Ital Meccanica in Huntington Beach, Calif., and he did an excellent job.
“Then, one day, Scott called me and said he was going to put the car up for auction. But he asked me, did I want to buy it? Scott was amazing, and he sold it to me for about what he had put into it. I think it was $155,000, about 10 years ago. Old race cars like this, with competition history, have skyrocketed in value.
“My son, Cannon, and I have raced the 1968 Porsche in vintage races around the country, and it has been amazing taking it back to the racetracks where I competed in it decades ago, like Sebring in Florida, Road America in Wisconsin and Laguna Seca in California. We have taken it on classic car rallies, like the Colorado Grand, a multiday tour for vintage cars crisscrossing Colorado on back roads.
“It is an incredible feeling to see this car and remember all the trials and tribulations we have been through together. And we are not done yet.” – As told to A.J. Baime, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 27, 2025.
