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Auf wiedersehen, Yogi Behr


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#1 lanciaman

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Posted 18 July 2013 - 18:40

Racer Stephen V. "Yogi" Behr died on July 10 from pancreatic cancer. He was my friend since our days as MadMen in Manhattan in the 1970s. Anyone who knew Yogi would attest to his originality. He co-drove with John Buffum in the Monte Carlo in the 1960s, after leaving the US Air Force as an officer; he stayed in Germany and went to work for Porsche Competition. Yogi co-drove to a GTU win at Sebring in 1973 and the next year gained fame by driving a borrowed Cadillac in the famed "Cannonball Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash," winning the non-stop run from mid-town Manhattan to California. He competed in IMSA in a 914-6 and BMW "Batmobile," raced a motorcyle at Daytona, earned a patent on his bell-crank suspension system, frightened himself in an ill-behaving F5000 car, and turned his Indianapolis home into a shop where he worked on his Daytona Prototype long after the specs and reality changed. At one time he was building a midget in his garage attic, the DP car in his living room and had a racing motorcycle in his bedroom. He drove a RHD Ford Fairlane (1960s vintage) that he said once belonged to the US Ambassador to Hong Kong. He was ever entertaining, a raconteur, and will be sorely missed. Yogi was never married, and had no children, and I know of no services for him, sadly.

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#2 gfastr

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Posted 18 July 2013 - 18:48

Racer Stephen V. "Yogi" Behr died on July 10 from pancreatic cancer. He was my friend since our days as MadMen in Manhattan in the 1970s... He was ever entertaining, a raconteur, and will be sorely missed. Yogi was never married, and had no children, and I know of no services for him, sadly.


Thank you,albeit sadly, for passing along this news. I'll also remember Yogi for the IMSA All-American GT Chevy Monza he raced, with sponsorship from Champale, which had a taste like nothing else that has ever touched my lips :well:

There were also more than a few colorful escapades, on and off the track, at the (in)famous Car & Driver Showroom Stock Sedan Challenge race in the mid 70s at Lime Rock Park.

Edited by gfastr, 18 July 2013 - 18:56.


#3 JacnGille

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Posted 19 July 2013 - 01:31

Sad news. I got to see him several times at the IMSA races.

#4 Eaglenindy

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Posted 19 July 2013 - 02:51

Yogi. or as I addressed him "Herr Behr" was a good friend. He always had a GREAT story. It seemed as though Yogi knew everyone and had been at every major event since the 60's. Whether it was about running into Jean Todt's car or the of June 67 of LeMans and Spa, he kept everyone attention and in stitches.

Several of our friends wanted me to work with Yogi and write a book about him. I'll always be sorry that I didn't. I could have written a tome about him. The joke among our local group of friends was who Yogi didn't know. Kind of a 1st degree of Kevin Bacon thing.

I'm sure once the Elkhart Lake paddock once word gets out of Yogi's passing, there will be many Yogi stories and plenty of beverages toasted to him. Seibkins should memorialize a table for him. He would have liked that and would have had great stories about everyone toasting him.

Edited by Eaglenindy, 19 July 2013 - 03:07.


#5 lanciaman

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Posted 20 July 2013 - 21:51

Yogi. or as I addressed him "Herr Behr" was a good friend. He always had a GREAT story. It seemed as though Yogi knew everyone and had been at every major event since the 60's. Whether it was about running into Jean Todt's car or the of June 67 of LeMans and Spa, he kept everyone attention and in stitches.

Several of our friends wanted me to work with Yogi and write a book about him. I'll always be sorry that I didn't. I could have written a tome about him. The joke among our local group of friends was who Yogi didn't know. Kind of a 1st degree of Kevin Bacon thing.

I'm sure once the Elkhart Lake paddock once word gets out of Yogi's passing, there will be many Yogi stories and plenty of beverages toasted to him. Seibkins should memorialize a table for him. He would have liked that and would have had great stories about everyone toasting him.



Yogi was curiously private about some aspects of his personal life. He never liked to reveal his age and when I took him to the hospital for arrythemia treatment, he swore me to secrecy because he thought it might keep him out of a racecar- though he was then in his sixties. He was part of our family gatherings for years and I regret that he wasn't there last Thanksgiving. I hope the mortgage holder on his home recognizes that there is automobilia of interest and value and doesn't just back a dumpster up to the door; I don't know if he had a trustee and I still find no signs of an obit or services listed. He saved everything and whenever I was at his place it was simultaneously a challenge to find a place to sit, and a strong desire to poke around amongst the car parts and DP bits and magazines and miscellany of a lifetime.

#6 Magoo

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Posted 21 July 2013 - 13:27

Sorry to hear. He was a genuine personality.

#7 pete3664

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Posted 22 July 2013 - 23:07

I just talked to some of Yogi's friends in Indy and plans are being made to have a memorial service later in the year, possibly around the PRI show, to remember Yogi and share stories. Also Yogi's "stuff" is not being thrown away, it is being cataloged and saved. More in the future as it comes available..

#8 lanciaman

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Posted 23 July 2013 - 00:01

I just talked to some of Yogi's friends in Indy and plans are being made to have a memorial service later in the year, possibly around the PRI show, to remember Yogi and share stories. Also Yogi's "stuff" is not being thrown away, it is being cataloged and saved. More in the future as it comes available..


I have learned through Dave Sutton that Chuck Cornelison of VDS Engines (for whom Yogi did some work) is the trustee and will organize an obit and memorial service. Yogi's lifetime memorabilia will not fall into the hands of Philistines. Sutton says there's discussion about burying Yogi at Crown Hill in Indianapolis, near Cannonball Baker, which would be fitting. (I had the date of Yogi's Cannonball win wrong- it was 1972, not '74.) I once watched the "Cannonball" movie with him and some friends, who asked him to contribute insights at the screening; it was a riot.

Edited by lanciaman, 23 July 2013 - 00:02.