kids encyclopedia robot

Casner Motor Racing Division facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Maserati Birdcage
A cool Camoradi Maserati "Birdcage" race car.

Casner Motor Racing Division, often called America Camoradi, was a famous American car racing team from the 1960s. They were known for racing fast Maserati "Birdcage" sports cars. They also raced Porsche and Cooper cars in Formula One events.

History of Camoradi

The team was started in 1960 by Lloyd "Lucky" Casner. He became very interested in the Maserati Tipo 61 car in 1959. His main goal was to race in the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

In 1960, the Camoradi team won the 1000km Nürburgring race. This was a great victory, even though their car had a broken fuel line during the race! They won this race again in 1961. However, their cars often had mechanical problems, so they never managed to win the Le Mans race. They even bought a more powerful Maserati, the Tipo 63, but it also had reliability issues.

Camoradi USA was first set up in 1959. It faced challenges and had to close about 18 months later. But Lloyd Casner didn't give up! He stayed in Europe and started a new team called Camoradi International in 1961. This new team got support from big companies like Dow Chemical, Maserati, and Porsche. They also had amazing drivers like Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, and Masten Gregory. Sadly, Lloyd Casner passed away in an accident during practice for the Le Mans race in 1965.

Camoradi USA was special because it was America's first international racing team to get support from big industries. This helped set the stage for how racing teams get sponsored today.

How the Team Started

In 1959, Lloyd Casner met another driver, Fred Gamble, at a race in Miami. Casner shared his dream of racing in Europe and needed help to fund it. Gamble, who was a motor journalist, offered to help with publicity. Together, they formed a partnership to create the racing team.

Fred Gamble was inspired by a Scottish racing team that helped famous drivers like Jim Clark get started. He suggested creating an American "Olympic Team" for motor racing. This team would challenge the European teams for World Championships.

Casner's group of amateur racing friends had already called themselves the Camoradi Racing Team. So, the professional team was officially named Camoradi USA. It became America's first industry-sponsored racing team. The goal was to have the best drivers and the best cars.

Gamble used his public relations skills to find sponsors. He and Casner met with advertising agencies in New York. They found success with Young & Rubicam, whose main client was Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Gamble convinced Goodyear's racing manager to support their idea. Casner and the agency presented their plan to Goodyear, and they won big! Goodyear gave them lots of money, tires, and engineering help. With the world's biggest tire company on board, Camoradi quickly got more sponsors. These included Shell/BP, Excide, Champion, Dow Chemical, and Guest Airways.

The team also wanted to race American sports cars. The Chevrolet Corvette was the best American sports car at the time. Casner met with Chevrolet's president and the "godfather" of the Corvette, Zora Duntov. They were excited to help! They offered two special racing Corvettes, parts, technical support, and money. Because there was an agreement in the industry not to directly support racing, this help was called a "testing contract." The cars were supplied through a dealership in Miami. Unfortunately, the Corvettes were delivered a bit late for the first big race in 1960.

In September 1959, Casner went to Europe. He met with Maserati, who had their new "Birdcage" T61 car but no money to race it themselves. Camoradi became their solution for 1960. Casner also teamed up with Porsche. He bought two cars from a late driver's estate: a lightweight Carrera and a special Behra-Porsche F2 car. This F2 car was used to test new ideas for Porsche's future race cars.

Racing Highlights

Camoradi's Maserati cars led many World Sports Car Championship races in 1960. They famously won the 1,000 km Nurburgring race with drivers Dan Gurney and Stirling Moss. They also had other wins and strong finishes in various races. For example, they won the 2-liter class at Nassau in 1959 with a Porsche RSK. In 1960, they had a huge team entry of 8 cars at the Sebring 12-hour race. Their Maseratis led for 8 hours but had mechanical problems. One of their Corvettes, driven by Fred Gamble, finished the entire 12 hours solo, earning him the nickname "iron man."

At the Nurburgring race, Fred Gamble qualified a Corvette in 3rd place among the big GT cars. However, his co-driver had a mechanical issue early in the race. Gurney and Moss won the overall race for Camoradi.

At the Le Mans 24-hour race, a special "Streamliner Birdcage" Maserati led the race. It even set a new lap record and a top speed record of 170 mph! But sadly, it had an engine problem and couldn't finish. Other Maseratis also had electrical issues. However, Gamble and Lee Lilley drove their Corvette carefully and finished 10th overall.

Maserati helped prepare and maintain all of Camoradi's Maseratis for European races. Camoradi's main role was to provide the money. Fred Gamble was the only full-time team member living in Europe, in Modena, Italy.

Racers for Camoradi

Many talented drivers raced for Camoradi. Here are some of them:

Images for kids

  • Maserati Birdcage

    A Camoradi Maserati "Birdcage" race car.

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Casner Motor Racing Division Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.