15 replies to this topic

[JacnGille]

Can Am racer and Auto World owner Oscar Koveleski has passed.

 Sports Car Racer Oscar Koveleski, 88 | SPEED SPORT

[10kDA]

Can Am racer and Auto World owner Oscar Koveleski has passed.

 Sports Car Racer Oscar Koveleski, 88 | SPEED SPORT

Very sad news. My interest in 1:1 scale racing came about through slot cars. Oscar's catalogs had stuff we never saw in the local hobby shops, page after page of car bodies, wild 'n' krazy kustoms which never existed in full scale but had shapes which lent themselves to vacuum forming, and oddities like the twin-Porsche powered Indy car that prompted me to buy some magazines about real cars to find out more. Years later when Oscar ran at Elkhart Lake it seemed everybody was in on the "Car 54" joke, not that it was something subtle or anything. It always seemed that he was determined to have a good time with his racing, no matter where he finished - never a sense of struggle nor striving, just sport.

I followed racing for many years and raced on two wheels myself. I have to reflect on how much of a push I felt from reading his and Elaine's catalogs way back when. I wish I had saved a few of them to revisit today. How many others did he and Auto World  push along in a similar way?

R.I.P. Oscar.

[ReWind]

A comprehensive obituary by Scott Walsh from the Citizen's Voice with this photo
showing him with Paul Newman.

[opplock]

I never saw Oscar Koveleski race but the name registered in my mind when I bought a slot car magazine. The front cover photo was a Can Am car with slot car track painted on it. The coolest paint job I'd seen up to that point.   

Edited by opplock, 30 December 2020 - 19:59.

[Bikr7549]

Another legend, Can AM racer and head pf the Polish Racing Drivers Club Oscar Koveleski has passed away.

 

https://www.autoweek...ski-dies-at-88/

[Jack-the-Lad]

OK was a real enthusiast in everything he did. He claimed an ancestral right to Pole position. What a character he was.

Rest In Peace.

[Tom Glowacki]

Another legend, Can AM racer and head pf the Polish Racing Drivers Club Oscar Koveleski has passed away.

 

https://www.autoweek...ski-dies-at-88/

Koveleski established four categories of people who were eligible for membership in PRDA;

 

a.  Polish racing drivers

b.  Polish non-racing drivers

c.  Non-Polish racing drivers

d. Non-Polish non racing drivers

  

Putting the fun aside, he ran a reasonably successful privateer team, with a McLaren M6B, later an ex-works M8B, and with fellow Pole, the late Tony Adamowicz as his driver.

 

Do widzenia, Oscar!

[Bikr7549]

 

Koveleski established four categories of people who were eligible for membership in PRDA;

 

a.  Polish racing drivers

b.  Polish non-racing drivers

c.  Non-Polish racing drivers

d. Non-Polish non racing drivers

  

Putting the fun aside, he ran a reasonably successful privateer team, with a McLaren M6B, later an ex-works M8B, and with fellow Pole, the late Tony Adamowicz as his driver.

 

Do widzenia, Oscar!

 

Tony A to Z was pretty a pretty cool guy too!

[Gene]

Oscar was one of the people in racing who not only was having more fun than a human should be allowed to have, but also made it just as much fun for the rest of us. He's one of the reasons I'm so glad I got into the business when I did and as it became less fun am now glad I got out when I did.

 

Rip Oscar, where ever you are I hope there's racing slot and full scale cars!

[DCapps]

Oscar was Something Else...!!!!!!!!!!! His visits to the Research Center (IMRRC) were ALWAYS -- to say the least -- memorable...

[Tim Murray]

Oscar always ran with #54 wherever possible and is indelibly associated with that number. His son Chris has just reported on social media that a Ferrari 857 Spyder once owned by his father sold at the recent Goodings auction at Pebble Beach for $5.4 million. How very fitting.

[Emery0323]

Oscar always ran with #54 wherever possible and is indelibly associated with that number. His son Chris has just reported on social media that a Ferrari 857 Spyder once owned by his father sold at the recent Goodings auction at Pebble Beach for $5.4 million. How very fitting.

Here's the auction listing from David Gooding Co:

https://www.goodingc...ST&pageNumber=9

 

The car had an interesting history of owners and drivers, including Carroll Shelby, Jim Hall (of Chaparral fame), Jack McAfee, Ritchie Ginther, Oscar Koveleski, Anthony Bamford, Olivier Gendebien, Maston Gregory, and artist Andy Warhol (?!) (a prior owner)

Oscar Koveleski appears to have been the last person to race the car in sanctioned competition in SCCA events during 1962-64.

 

Edit:  after reading through the full catalog description, here's the explanation for Andy Warhol's ownership:

"In 1966, the 857 Sport was sold to pop artist Andy Warhol. An unusual owner for an old racing Ferrari, Mr. Warhol wanted to make a parody of the film The Yellow Rolls-Royce. Chassis 0588 M was subsequently painted yellow with black wheels and a black grille. The film was never produced and the Ferrari was said to have been driven by Mr. Warhol’s agent around the streets of New York."

Edited by Emery0323, 19 August 2024 - 04:20.

[DCapps]

My original TNF badge was No. 54, which was fantastic, of course. I gave it to Oscar during one of his visits to the IMRRC and he wondered what it was. That it was "54" when I showed him the back of it got a loud hoot and a laugh from Oscar when I gave it to him.

[rl1856]

Is OK the only person to have competed in every Can-Am race from 1966-74 ?   I recall reading that obscure statistic somewhere.

[Emery0323]

Is OK the only person to have competed in every Can-Am race from 1966-74 ?   I recall reading that obscure statistic somewhere.

Based on racingsportscars.com,  it appears that Oscar K.'s participation in Can Am dwindled in 1971-72, with no races entered in 1973-74.

https://www.racingsp...eleski-USA.html

If there's a driver that competed in all Can-Am races 1966-74, it's probably Lothar Motschenbacher.

Edited by Emery0323, 19 August 2024 - 15:44.

[Rupertlt1]

Is this Oscar at Giants Despair?

https://library.revs...ll-climb/233011

RGDS RLT