It is kind of fitting that the 21st annual celebration at the National Corvette Museum kicked off this weekend. As fiberglass enthusiasts from all over filled the parking lots of the museum, a relatively new sound was heard no matter where you were outside: screaming, angry Chevrolet V8s from across the Interstate at NCM Motorsports Park. There, all manner of Corvette, from stock late-models to an extremely violent C2 with the license plate “LITL ENG” were taking their laps of the track. It would be the kind of sight that Dick Guldstrand would love to see. Sadly, we have learned via VintageRacecar.com that Guldstrand passed away on September 2nd, 2015.
Guldstrand was a hot-rodder front and center, from beginning to the end, once quipping that, “Either you were a hot-rodder or you were a candy ass!” The engineering major from UCLA was certainly the former. He was in love with racing, having driven in sprints and midgets before figuring that road racing would be a safer bet. He drove Corvettes at Daytona and Sebring, and around 1965 was hired on by Roger Penske to drive his car. Shortly afterwards, with the assistance of Zora Arkus-Duntov, a Corvette was prepared for the 1967 LeMans. In one of the more infamous stories in his career, the car was flown over to France, unloaded at Paris-Orly Airport, and driven to the track as it was, with the pipes screaming loud and proud. Once at the track (and with the entire car put together after complaints about the Corvette being stripped down kept surfacing), Guldstrand went out and let the 427-powered monster eat all it wanted at the Mulsanne Straight. This was long before the chicanes were in, so 180 or so miles an hour wasn’t a big deal, so long as all four tires were on pavement. However, what Guldstrand was not prepared for was the Mulsanne Kink, just before sharp 90-degree right-hand Mulsanne Curve. His co-driver, Bob Bondurant, had told him it was just a small sway in the road. At 180 miles an hour, it wasn’t a small anything. He made the corner…barely…and immediately pitted afterwards to deal with a “Mulsanne Stain” in his shorts. The car ran LeMans hard that year, but a broken wrist pin and a ventilated block ended that run.
Once his driving days were over, Guldstrand shifted to tuning and tweaking Corvettes. His shop was located in Culver City, California’s “Thunder Alley” up until 2000, when he moved it to Burbank. He even had a few runs of his own Corvettes: the 1986 GS80, the 1995 GS90, and the 2003 Signature Edition Anniversary Corvette. He had friends in the racing community and in the movie business (James Garner being one). He worked alongside tuners like Iskenderian and Hilborn, and had sway with General Motors. He lived the life a lot of us wish we could live, had a passion for racing and cars that we all share, and made the most out of every bit of time he had on this planet. He worked his ass off and reaped the rewards of a job well done.
As the weekend carries on and Bowling Green, Kentucky tunes in to the soundtrack of Corvettes prowling the streets, we will listen and wait for the sound of a 427 Stingray howling on the breeze, climbing the tach like the road will never end. Godspeed, Dick Guldstrand.
Recently missed a chance to talk with him on the phone, and now to get my Camaro his shop originally built up there to have him sign it or something. I hate the part about life that’s like standing on a bridge watching the water go by.
Farewell.