1966 AAR Eagle MK2

What began as a shared London cab ride in late-1962 by Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby would evolve quickly into a team called the All American Racers (AAR) and customer cars dubbed 'Eagles' for USAC/Indianapolis and Grand Prix competition. Founded in 1964, the AAR team was comprised of many of the era's best designers, engineers, fabricators, and mechanics. The team initially participated in American sports car and Champ car races, along with Formula One competition until 1968. They raced the Plymouth Barracuda in the Trans-Am series in 1970, and in the 1980s, the team partnered with Toyota to develop the Celica for the IMSA GT championship. The team competed in the GTP category in 1988 with a modified Toyota 88C Group C and an Eagle HF89 racer. The team's greatest success in GTP competition was with the Eagle MKII, introduced in 1991, which won 21 of the 27 races it entered.

Dan Gurney was AAR's most successful driver during the early years, while Joe Leonard won the 1965 Milwaukee 150 for the team with a Halibrand Shrike, the first of many successes yet to come. By 1967, AAR became the first all-American racing team to score a Grand Prix victory (the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps) since 1921, when the Duesenberg brothers and Jimmy Murphy took the French GP. Success brought notoriety, attracting other talented individuals including Henry 'Smokey' Yunick, proprietor of 'The Best darn Garage' from Daytona Beach, whose Jim Rathmann-driven roadster won the 1960 Indianapolis 500. 'Smokey's' return to Gasoline Alley was very successful, with fast-rising Kiwi driver Denis Hulme piloting the Ford V-8 powered 'City of Daytona Beach' Indy Eagle to 4th Place and garnering 'Rookie of the Year' honors in the process. 1968 would prove to be another highly successful year for AAR, with Bobby Unser winning at Indianapolis, followed by Gurney in second and Hulme fourth in their Eagles. The 1969 Indianapolis 500 witnessed another engineering tour de force from the AAR team as Gurney finished second behind winner Mario Andretti, and Yunick's #44 'City of Daytona Beach' Eagle, driven by Indy veteran and future two-time USAC Champion Joe Leonard, finished sixth and solidly in the money.

The 1966 AAR Eagle MK1 Grand Prix Racer
The Mark 1, also known as the Eagle T1G, was the team's Formula One entry. It was designed by Len Terry who gave it a fully enclosed aluminum monocoque and initially installed a 2.7-liter Coventry Climax inline 4-cylinder engine. Although underpowered, Gurney was able to place fifth at the French Grand Prix. By the fifth round, a 3.0-liter Gurney-Weslake V12 had been installed which initially offered 360 horsepower. Further tuning would bring output well over 400 bhp.

Gurney's 1966 Formula One season included the 5th at the French Grand Prix, a 7th at the German Grand Prix, and a 5th at the Mexican Grand Prix. A year later, Gurney scored the team's only championship victory, winning the Belgian Grand Prix. By 1968, the team was running low on funds so the development of the Eagle MK1 was halted so they could focus their remaining resources on its successor, the projected MK6. At the end of the 1968 season, the team ended its Grand Prix program and concentrated its efforts on USAC competition.

The 1966 AAR Eagle MK2 Indianpolis Racer
The All American Racers Indy team had entered a four-car assault during the 1965 season with Joe Leonard, Lloyd Ruby, Roger McCluskey and Johnny Rutherford driving Halibarnds while Dan Gurney drove a Lotus 38. For the 1966 season, the team would enter six cars of their own design.

English racing car designer and engineer, Leonard E. Terry worked with Lotus, BRM, ERA, Aston Martin, and Eagle during his career. Among his creations were the rear-engined Lotus 29 which Jim Clark drove to a close second-place finish at the 1963 Indianapolis 500 and the Lotus 34 for 1964. He was also involved in designing the Lotus 33 Formula 1 car which Clark won the 1956 Drivers' World Championship. His Lotus 38 placed first at the 1965 Indy 500 and second in 1966, each time with Clark at the wheel.

Len Terry applied his engineering talents in designing the All American Racer's Formula 1 and Indianapolis racers for 1966, and both cars received a similar design. The Formula 1 entry was dubbed the Mark 1 while the Indianapolis entry was known as the Mark 2. A total of four Mark 1s and 6 Mark 2s were eventually built.

With many similarities shared with the Lotus Type 38 design, the Mark 1 and Mark 2 received a full-length monocoque chassis formed from two layers of aluminum to ensure proper rigidity. The rear suspension used a conventional arrangement of reversed lower wishbones, trailing arms, and a single top link on each side. The front had its dampers and springs mounted in-board and actuated by rockers. Both the front and rear suspension components were mounted directly onto the monocoque. The steering was by rack-and-pinion and the brakes were Girling discs.

Mounted behind the cockpit was a 4.2-liter quad-cam aluminum Ford V8 that had powered the previous year's Indy 500 winner. With its Hilborn fuel-injection system, it produced upwards of 500 horsepower and was backed by a Hewland four-speed gearbox. The F1 cars had a Hewland DG300 5-speed manual gearbox.

The styling of the AAR's Formula 1 and Indy racers shared similarities including the beak-shaped air-intake at the front, personifying the Eagle name. Both cars had a 96.4-inch wheelbase with the Indy cars weighing approximately 1,350 pounds.

Lloyd Ruby drove the Mark 2 at its racing debut at Trenton where it qualified second but was forced to retire early due to engine issues. At the Indianapolis 500, Gurney, Ruby, and Leonard drove the AAR-entered MK2 cars, while Jerry Grant drove a customer car for John Klug. Roger McCluskey piloted the Lindsey Hopkins-entered Eagle, and Gordon Johncock drove the Eagle entered by Frank Wilseck and Sidney Weinberger.

An accident on the first lap of the race involved sixteen cars, eliminating eleven of the thirty-three starters. By the end of the race, only seven cars were still running, the fewest finishers ever at the Indy 500. Jim Clark in his Lotus spun twice during the race but managed to finish second. The car driven by Dan Gurney was one of the eleven that was eliminated on the opening lap, having started from the inside of row 7. Leonard sat inbetween Gurney and McCluskey. Ruby was in the middle position of row 2 and Johncock was next to him (outside, row 2). Clark was in the middle of row 1, and Mario Andretti was on the inside of row 1. Johncock was involved in the first-lap accident but was able to restart the race. Billy Foster had nearly touched wheels with Johncock during the opening lap, and he lost control of his vehicle, and spun directly into the outside wall, triggering the pileup.

Lloyd Ruby led for the early half of the race but lost a couple of laps during a bad pit stop. When he re-entered the circuit, he was seated in 11th position. Jackie Stewart went on to lead 40 laps during the second half of the race and was poised to take the checkered flag, but his car retired with ten laps to go. Graham Hill went on to lead the final laps and won the race, just 13 seconds over second-place Jim Clark.

Gordon Johncock finished the race in 6th place in the Number 72 Eagle, and Leonard was classified in 9th place ahead of Grant in 10th. Ruby was in 11th and McCluskey in 13th, having retired early due to an oil leak.

While the AAR team focused much of their efforts on Can-Am and Formula 1 for the remainder of the 1966 season, Leonard and McCluskey actively campaigned in USAC events. McCluskey won at Langhorne (AAR's first victory) and finished second at Milwaukee.

A few of the MK2's were occasionally called into service following the 1966 season, competing as late as mid-1970. Gurney won at Riverside in November of 1967 and Ronnie Bucknum won the inaugural Michigan race in 1968. Rutherford placed third in 1970 at Michigan.

The Mark 2 had shown tremendous potential and speed, and only minor modifications were made to create the Mark 3 of 1967. The most successful Mark 3 was Bobby Unser's Rislone/Leader Cards entry which won two races.

by Daniel Vaughan | Mar 2022