The Shelby American (Fall 2021)

reattach its tail section which blew off on the Mulsanne Straight. The car re- tired with a broken transaxle after making just 12 laps in four hours. As an aside, the car never raced again, but was used on the show circuit be- fore being donated to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 1968 where it resides today, the last unmod- ified MK II extant. (October 12, 1937 – May 26, 1969) Robert Paul Hawkins (“Hawkeye” to his friends) was born to a motorcycle racer-turned-minister and, like many Aussies, was popular on the race cir- cuit as a colorful character who also held a wide command of the “best” parts of the English language. He com- menced racing in Australia in 1958 with an Austin Healey Sprite and moved to England in 1960 where he found work as a mechanic for the Don- ald Healey Motor Company. He was soon racing again, first appearing in England in April 1960 where he won his class at the Aintree 200. Just a month later he was at the Nürbur- gring 1000KM where he co-drove the Sprite to 38th OA, 6th S1.15. The young man was either a prodi- gious talent or just a good “mate,” or both, because Hawkins started 1961 at Sebring paired with Sterling Moss where they came home 7th OA in the four-hour preliminary and the next day, paired with Cyril Simson, finished 37th OA, 66 laps behind the winner. While on its face not a great result, the pair was in an Austin Healey Sprite and that day they beat 28 other cars driven by some very big names. The wins started to come his way in 1962 in a Lotus 23 and at the end of 1963 Hawkins was in South Africa in a Galaxie, paired with Jack Sears, for John Willment Racing. The next day Hawkins won the 20-lap Kyalami GP in CSX2137, one of the 1963 LeMans entrees built at AC Cars. Hawkins next appears in a Ford at Nürburgring 1000KM in May 1964 (CSX2130, 47th OA, 3rd GT+3.0) and in a Ford Cortina at Brands Hatch a month later. June 1965 found Hawkins back at LeMans in an Austin-Healey Sprite where he and his co-driver brought the diminutive car home 12th OA, 1st P1.3 some 70 laps behind of the win- ning Ferrari 250LM. If we can specu- late for just a second, imagine driving an A-H Sprite, flat out down the Mul- sanne Straight at night, being over- taken by cars going about 100 mph quicker. Terrifying comes to mind. In any event, stints at various big races in a Ferrari 250LM, a Porsche 906 and Lola T70 filled the gap before we find Hawkins paired with Mark Donohue at LeMans in 1966. How that unlikely combination oc- curred is of interest. Donohue had been racing a GT350R (5R105) in 1965 with good results so was invited to Ford’s annual motor sports banquet for any driver who had won a race with a Ford engine. Donohue was pals with Walt Hansgen, who introduced his younger friend to Ford brass at the dinner, with an eye toward a factory ride. Hansgen talked Donohue onto the Holman-Moody drivers list for 1966.With Hansgen’s crash and death at LeMans during the April test days, Holman-Moody had to go a reserve driver and Hawkins was the choice. Paul Hawkins was again a reserve for Holman-Moody at Daytona in 1967, but by then he had purchased AMGT-2, a MK I GT40 that had been built for Alan Mann in 1966, which be- came the most famous GT40 in the world over the next two years. In 1967 and 1968 Hawkins took AMGT-2 to 24 podium finishes in 33 races in Europe. He was back at LeMans, for SAI this time, in 1967 with Ronnie Bucknum in P/1047 (DNF). His skill and success in World Sports Car Championship racing was never doubted; he won the 1967 Targa Florio in a Porsche 910, the next week- end he took 2ND OA at the Nürbur- gring 1000 KM, in August he won the Zeltweg 500 KM race in his Ford GT and in October 1967 he paired with Jacky Ickx to win the Paris 1000KM race in P.10003, a Mirage, for J.W. Au- tomotive. In April 1968 he paired with David Hobbs in P/1074 to win the Monza 1000KM, again for J.W. Auto- motive. Three months later they paired again in P/1074 for 2nd OA at the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and that fall they were a DNF in the car at Le- Mans (engine failure at 107 laps). May 1969 found Hawkins at the RAC Tourist Trophy where he was credited with 7th OA, but he did not survive a late-race crash in his own Chevy powered Lola T70 MK IIIB GT. He was 31. (March 18, 1937 – August 19, 1975) Early in his racing career Mark Dono- hue was known as “Captain Nice” for his neat personal appearance, sharp sense of humor, meticulous prepara- tion and fair racing (although not nec- essarily car prep – he was prone to acid dipping his cars). But his competi- tors were not fooled; he was always well-prepared, he was smart, and he knew how to get a car to the finish line. Donohue grew up in Summit, NJ and went to Brown University to earn a degree in mechanical engineering in The SHELBY AMERICAN P1032. Paul Hawkins MarkDonohue Fall 2021 74