24 replies to this topic

[David M. Kane]

There was an Elden Formula Ford driver back in the '70s named Johnny Gerber. Was he related to the baby food company? Did he not do some F3 and
other higher forms of racing?

[Joe Fan]

Johnny Gerber was Mexican so I doubt that he was related to the baby food maker Dan Gerber, who raced Shelby Cobras and Mustangs in the 1960's.

[Ralliart]

According to the Motorsport Yearbook of 1973, Johnny Gerber was born 7 December 1949, unmarried, lives in London. 1972 was Gerber's first year in motor racing and it finished with a superb victory for this wealthy and personable young man from Mexico City. It was Gerber who gained a Formula Three car in the World Championship Formula Ford Final with his Ippokampos-sponsored Elden. Formerly a junior racing motor cycle champion in Mexico, Gerber arrived in Britain in May and learned extremely fast. Now his younger brother Axel is following in his footsteps. Gerber has decided to forsake F3 however, and jump straight into F2 with a Rondel Motul.

[ensign14]

There was a sprint car driver from the 20s and 30s called John Gerber as well.

[Vicuna]

There was no way Ford wanted a controversy in the FFworld cup.

The Elden Gerber drove to victory was as bent as a banana.

He won a F3 car and never went any good in 1973.

[Doug Nye]

Originally posted by Vicuna
The Elden Gerber drove to victory was as bent as a banana...

What??? In well-regulated Formula Ford???? Shock, horror...some mistake, surely???

[Pedro 917]

I took this picture of Johnny Gerber during practice at Silverstone 1973 (GP weekend). With Pedro gone, I was glad to see that there was another Mexican rising star. I believe he won the race that weekend. I recently asked Carlos Jalife if he knew where he was and why he didn't make it and he told me that Gerber just ran out of money and that he lives in Mexico City now where he sells Hoosier tires to the Vintage racers.



Portrait + autograph :

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by Doug Nye
What??? In well-regulated Formula Ford???? Shock, horror...some mistake, surely???

It's okay Doug...

They were in training for F3 that day.

[Rowland777]

There was no way Ford wanted a controversy in the FFworld cup.

The Elden Gerber drove to victory was as bent as a banana.

He won a F3 car and never went any good in 1973.

Interesting comment considering that the Rowland Engine had won every championship since 1970  and went on to dominate the Belenux championships for another 20 years. Perhaps you don't remember the famous strip down at Mallory park in 1969  where Fittipaldi was the only legal engine in the first six. Bent were the works Lotuses with engines from Titan Holbay Chris Steel BRM Mike Spence Scholar etc etc. Colin Chapmans comment to me was that I would find out sooner or later that cheating was a part of motor racing and the only disgrace was getting caught. I never subscriber to that logic and spent at least 10 more years selling engines all over the world before moving on to a higher plain. That division of Lotus went bankrupt shortly afterwards.

Oh Yes Gerber... My share of the World Cup prize was a month in Acapulco. He's was not a rich kid but a lad from Mexico City who found a little sponsorship from a Greek shipping millionaire that he met on a skiing holiday. Sorry, but he like all the others was squeaky clean. 

Another voice from the past was Colin Vandervell who won every single round of the Championship in 1970 and was stripped so many times that I lost count. I have had the great pleasure of meeting up with him recently after all those years. 

[Rowland777]

I do recall that Gerber was expected to only finish third but Ian Taylor who should have won easily, typically cause a major shunt at Druids on the first lap. 

Edited by Rowland777, 06 May 2015 - 06:12.

[raceannouncer2003]

Gerber ran in the first three races of the Canadian Formula Atlantic championship in 1976 driving a Chevron for Bill Scott.  He finished second in the second (very wet) race at Westwood.  I think I have an interview with him on tape (somewhere) with Gilles Villeneuve in the background making rude comments.  Gerber apparently crashed in the third race at Gimli and that was his last race for Scott.

 

He also had a third at Laguna Seca and a fourth at Ontario Motor Speedway earlier in the year in the 1976 IMSA Atlantic series.

 

Vince H.

Edited by raceannouncer2003, 05 May 2015 - 06:13.

[racinggeek]

Gerber ran in the first three races of the Canadian Formula Atlantic championship in 1976 driving a Chevron for Bill Scott.  He finished second in the second (very wet) race at Westwood.  I think I have an interview with him on tape (somewhere) with Gilles Villeneuve in the background making rude comments.  Gerber apparently crashed in the third race at Gimli and that was his last race for Scott.

 

He also had a third at Laguna Seca and a fourth at Ontario Motor Speedway earlier in the year in the 1976 IMSA Atlantic series.

 

Vince H.

 

Beat me to it -- I recall Gerber was reported to be rather competitive in the first few races of the '76 FAtl season, and IIRC, a Formula Magazine of the time had photos of him leading Gilles at Laguna, then skating off the exit of the Corkscrew under pressure.

[racinggeek]

Johnny Gerber was Mexican so I doubt that he was related to the baby food maker Dan Gerber, who raced Shelby Cobras and Mustangs in the 1960's.

 

Presumably the same Dan Gerber who authored the rather pulpy racing novel "Out of Control" in the 1970s but has since gone on to become a respected poet?

[racinggeek]

There was a sprint car driver from the 20s and 30s called John Gerber as well.

 

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member John Gerber, that is, who won frequently as a driver through 1933, when he retired from driving and won as a car owner/mechanic with guys like Jimmy Snyder, Bob Sall and Billy Winn pedaling for him, according the the NSCHoF. Promoted races and manufactured parts as well. 

[Rowland777]

There was no way Ford wanted a controversy in the FFworld cup.

The Elden Gerber drove to victory was as bent as a banana.

He won a F3 car and never went any good in 1973.

Seems like you are wrong on all counts. He did not win any F3 car but was given a drive for a few races by Ron Tarranac That car was a disaster....

 

I would like to know what happened to his team mate at Ipokampus - Buzz Buzaglo. 

Edited by Rowland777, 06 May 2015 - 06:11.

[Cirrus]

Buzz Buzaglo is on Facebook. He's posted this great shot from Castle Combe of him with Johnny Gerber

 

https://www.facebook...&type=1

 

Are you sure about the Tauranac drive? By 1973, Ron was no longer involved with Brabhams and it was before Ralt got going. I seem to recall Johnny Gerber driving one of the Ippokampos F3 Marches. In early 1974, the two cars were sitting in a coach by the Token premises (actually, little more than a small workshop behind a suburban house). When Tom Pryce's entry for Monaco in the Token was refused, Neil Trundle unloaded one of the cars, gave it a good race prep (the cars were both looking a little tired), took it to Monaco and the rest is history. I'm pretty sure one of the Marches had Johnny Gerber's name on it.

 

Edit - Just seen a result from 1973 with JG in a Brabham BT41 so maybe I'm totally wrong.

Edited by Cirrus, 06 May 2015 - 07:25.

[Rowland777]

He definitely drove a Brabham for a few races as I recall loaning the team some Bilstein shocks to try and cure a handling problem. The car was a dog. And I also never got the stuff back again. 

[MCS]

Absolutely correct on the "works" Brabham front.  I remember it as being an MRD entered car (initially), but it was then driven under Ippokampos Racing.  Whilst the results weren't good, he raced for most of the season but missed a number of races.  Perhaps he only did the main series - I can't remember.  Did he win a race?  Not that I recall, unless it was a Silverstone heat or something of that ilk (I am guessing).

 

There may be some confusion as Larry Perkins suddenly apppeared in a "works" BT41 towards the end of the season - this, however, was a different car.  They were both racing at Oulton Park on one occasion I recall and I only remember this as it was Gerber who finished higher than Larry.

 

Irrespective, a wonderful season of racing with so many different winners in different cars. How dearly I would love to go back to those days. I often look for old images on the internet and it never ceases to amaze me how many pictures are being added.  Best trick is to use a better search engine than Google, however.

Edited by MCS, 06 May 2015 - 17:30.

[Bob Riebe]

National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member John Gerber, that is, who won frequently as a driver through 1933, when he retired from driving and won as a car owner/mechanic with guys like Jimmy Snyder, Bob Sall and Billy Winn pedaling for him, according the the NSCHoF. Promoted races and manufactured parts as well. 

His book, Outlaw Sprint Car Driver, should be read by anyone who wants to know where sprint car racing came from.

[Michael Ferner]

It frightens me that I have to agree with Bob once more , but "Outlaw Sprint Car Driver" is a compulsory read for everyone interested in US racing history. Just read it!

Edited by Michael Ferner, 07 May 2015 - 13:47.

[charles r]

Does anyone know of Johnny Gerber's whereabouts now?

[Cirrus]

He's on Facebook - you could try there.

[DCapps]

His book, Outlaw Sprint Car Driver, should be read by anyone who wants to know where sprint car racing came from.

 

 

It frightens me that I have to agree with Bob once more , but "Outlaw Sprint Car Driver" is a compulsory read for everyone interested in US racing history. Just read it!

 

Bob & Michael are 100% correct regarding this book: it is quite something and certainly belongs on the bookshelf of anyone with a real interest in US racing.

Edited by DCapps, 20 July 2019 - 03:21.

[MarkBisset]

I wrote this article about Buzz Buzaglo, for a time Johnny Gerber’s teammate, 5 years ago, it answers a question about Buzz and covers Gerber a bit tangentially.

https://primotipo.co...of-talent-luck/

Mark

[Rupertlt1]

Formula Ford

Champion goes

Shopping

JOHNNY GERBER, the likeable

Formula Ford driver who col-

lected the £3,500 prize fund at

the Brands Hatch World Final is

taking his time to do his Christ-

mas shopping.

The problem seems to be that

he can't decide whether a F3

GRD or Ensign should be top

of his list. However, with Ford

footing the bill, he is taking his

time. Last week he was favourably

impressed after a test of the

GRD at Snetterton but says he

will try the Ensign before dec-

iding. The Mexican hopes to use

a Holbay engine for a full season

of F3 under the Ippokampos

banner. Team mate Buzz Buzaglo

is also making the move into F3

for next year and, he too has

been testing cars.

Johnny's younger brother

Axel will be taking over the

Elden Rowland for this week-

end's Formula Ford Festival at

Snetterton and then the brothers

will be returning to Mexico

City for Christmas. Axel plans

to return for a full season of FF

next year.

Motoring News, 2 November 1972, Page 23.

 

RGDS RLT