Legends of Speed

I’m looking forward to “car season” in Scottsdale, which usually begins to idle with the cool weather after Halloween, and revs up to full-song with the car auctions and related events in January. To start it up for me this year, I made a short drive over to our neighboring city to the west, to preview the Legends of Speed exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Curated by Gilbert Vicario, with assistance from PAM board co-chair Carter Emerson, and racing driver Lyn St. James, the Legends exhibit spans from a 1911 Franklin which raced from Los Angeles to Phoenix, to the 1977 “John Player Special” Lotus in which Mario Andretti won his Formula 1 championship.

Here are some of the highlights:

1962 Ferrari 250GTO
Ford GT40 driven by Jacky Oliver and Jackie Ickx, after winning a tough battle against Porsche drivers Hans Herman and Gérard Larrousse in the 1969 24 Hours of LeMans race.
Dan Gurney’s Eagle Mk1 Formula One car.
Dan Gurney’s Eagle Mk1 Formula One car.
Mark Donohue’s Porsche 917/30 CanAm car.
1961 “Birdcage” Maserati
1929 Bugatti Type 35 driven by Helen Delangle.
1934 Alfa Romeo P3, raced by Scuderia Ferrari before Enzo built cars under his own name.
1914 Duesenberg Indy Race Car driven by Eddie Rickenbacker, who would become America’s highest-scoring fighter pilot of WWI. I guess the term “wind screen” originated with installations like this one!
1927 Miller front-wheel-drive racer that won the Monza Italian Grand Prix.

Legends of Speed is open now through 15 March, 2020. It would be a great detour for your out-of-town friends who are visiting for the holidays or the auctions, and there are some special events scheduled in conjunction with the exhibit.

In particular, I’m interested in:

Speed Sisters (A film by Amber Fares)
Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 15 | 1pm

Public Lecture: Lyn St. James, Racing Legend
Saturday, February 1 | 1 pm

Admission to Legends of Speed is free for PAM Members, veterans and active-duty Military, and youth aged 5 and under. Membership to PAM includes unlimited free General Admission for two adults, and other benefits, starting at $80; with family memberships for $90. Otherwise, General Admission as follows:

$23 — Adults
$20 — Senior Citizens (Ages 65+)
$18 — Students (with ID)
$14 — Youth (Ages 6-17)

Reduced admission is available on a limited basis:

This exhibition is open to the public for $8 (adult) / $5 (youth) during voluntary-donation, pay-what-you-wish hours from 3–9 pm each Wednesday, from 6–10 pm on the first Friday of each month, and from noon–5 pm on the second Sunday of each month through December 2019.

More info: http://www.phxart.org/exhibition/legendsofspeed

The PAM Museum Store is well-stocked with Legends of Speed items, too, for great gifts and stocking stuffers: https://store.phxart.org/collections/legends-of-speed

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