DEARBORN, MI – Five individuals representing automotive racing, design, manufacturing, and management have been selected for induction into the Automotive Hall of Fame. The Inductee class of 2007 includes A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Charles B. King, Sergio Pininfarina, and Shoichiro Toyoda.
Every year the winners are culled from about 50 names that are reviewed by an "advisory panel" made up of journalists and historians, the people who truly know the history,” according to Jeffrey Leestma, president of the Automotive Hall of Fame. The board whittles the names to about five or six and comes up with a final slate of honorees that, “achieved greatness through inspiration, vision and hard work. “ The Inductees will be honored at a formal dinner on Tuesday, October 16 held at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn Michigan.
The goal is to inspire a new generation of participants and leaders and like baseball’s Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, you have to be retired or deceased to be honored. “Some think that's too harsh, but, Cooperstown doesn't induct anyone who is still playing the game. Induction is really meant to honor a lifetime or career achievement,” said Leestma.
They try to come up with a group of inductees that stands out. “Like most years, we like to have a good mix of inductees, from different disciplines of the industry, both living and deceased, and from different nationalities. This year's class fits that formula very well,” said Leestma.
The public is welcome to attend the event. “This is a great way for people to see, and perhaps meet, their "heroes."
Here are the “heroes” you might get to meet at this year’s induction ceremony.
A.J. Foyt (1935 - ) A.J. Foyt, Jr. is one of the most accomplished men to ever drive a race car. His Indy car driving records remain intact despite being out of the cockpit for over 10 years. During his fabled four-decade career, Foyt won 12 national titles and 172 major races, including wins in NASCAR, USAC stock cars, midgets, sprints, IMSA sports cars and of course, LeMans. Coincidentally, Foyt shares inductee honors with Dan Gurney, his partner in the 24-Hours of LeMans in 1967. As a team owner, Foyt has won the national Indy car title five times.
Dan Gurney (1931 - ) Dan Gurney has had 3 very successful careers: racing driver, racecar manufacturer and inventor, and team owner. Gurney’s racing career began in 1955 and spanned 15 years. By the time he retired in 1970, he had raced in 312 events in 20 countries with 51 different makes of cars winning 51 races and finishing on the podium an additional 47 times. Gurney has won 7 Formula One races, 7 Indy Car races, and 5 NASCAR Winston Cup stockcar races. Additionally he captured wins in Trans-Am, Can-Am and Sports Car races including the endurance classics at the Nurburgring, Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans.
Charles B. King (1869 – 1957) Considered by his peers to be the most technically capable of the automotive pioneers, King excelled as an engineer, artist, musician, poet, architect, and inventor. King received a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Cornell University, and in 1891 moved to Detroit. King drove the first car ever seen on the streets of Detroit, a car of his own design. King would later receive a medal from the national Chamber of Commerce honoring him as “one of the main contributors to the mechanical development of the automobile.” Kind died in 1957 leaving a legacy of some 70 patents, 40 of which were automotive related.
Sergio Pininfarina (1926 - ) Sergio Pininfarina began his career with the family firm, Carrozzeria Pinin Farina, in 1950 after graduating in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic of Torino. In 1960, he was named General Manager, and in 1966, upon the death of his father, was named Chairman of the company. In 2006 he became Honorary Chairman. During his fifty-plus years of work, the Pininfarina Group has enjoyed steady growth in both technical and production development. Production units increased more than 100 times from 524 to more than 53,000; the number of employees more than quintupled from 560 to 3000. Under his guidance, the Pininfarina Group designed many of the world’s most beautiful and sought-after automobiles.
Shoichiro Toyoda (1925 - ) Shoichiro Toyoda began his career with Toyota in 1952 upon graduation from Nagoya University with a degree in engineering and later earned an engineering doctorate. Dr. Toyoda became managing director at Toyota in 1961. After serving in a variety of managerial positions, Dr. Toyoda assumed the presidency of the newly integrated Toyota Motor Corporation in 1982, upon the merger of the sales and production organizations. He later served as chairman from 1992 to 1999. Dr. Toyoda became honorary chairman of Toyota in 1999. Automotive technology, quality control and factory management were primary emphases for Dr. Toyoda throughout his career, and he received the Deming Prize in 1980 for his contributions to quality control. He is universally recognized as the leader of Toyota’s quality, global expansion and environmental initiatives.
If you do make the trek to Dearborn for the ceremony you should stop in at Hall of Fame. It welcomes about 20,000 visitors a year and this year logged the 250,000th visitor since opening the doors in Dearborn ten years ago. While it’s not a car museum per se there is much to see and do at this 10,000 sq. ft. museum will loads of interactive exhibits, hands-on activities and a variety of automobiles and artifacts. “Anyone who enjoys automobiles and/or automotive history will find it a very worthwhile visit,” said Leestma.
For more information about the Automotive Hall of Fame, visit
www.automotivehalloffame.org .
And for Information about the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony call (313) 240-4000 Ext. 229
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