The Story of The Whittington Brothers

John Ficarra has researched a lot of cars but getting the whole story on one Kremer K3 led him down a very interesting rabbit hole of understanding the back story of the Whittington Brothers.
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[@brettbilger1390]

This is the kind of stuff you can't find anywhere else on KZbin. Thanks VINwiki!

[@DDS029]

But it was common knowledge back in the day. Same with Billie Harvey, and a few other Florida residents that were either in the boat or airplane business.

[@axemanracing6222]

Check this out, same story but earlier upload. kzbin.info/www/bejne/haLShot-lMh_qrM

[@ShrinkWrapping]

this is the kind of shit you can find anywhere in the world, bullshitting is regular practice everywhere

[@juniorjohnson9509]

@@ShrinkWrapping : i was working for the indy car manufacturer that they bought their cars from, and they always paid in cash - no bullshit. At that time, you also did not stay around the Sebring airport track after 5pm if it wasn't a race weekend - low-flying, unlit airplanes running drugs landing after dark was normal there.

[@cschnauz]

You forgot the story about Le Mans ‘79 when their k3 kept throwing drive belts, Ludwig stuck out at mulsanne corner was sent some “sandwiches” which had the drive belts hidden in the bag. Klaus intern rigged the belt and limped it back to the pits where it was properly fixed... classic

[@deggis4]

Completely made up story.

[@deildegast]

@@deggis4 Not sure. Another version is he jury rigged the broken belt with a toothless alternator belt. I dont know which version to doubt more.

[@deggis4]

@@deildegast When there are multiple versions of a story it is usually a sign that it is untrue.

[@jamestruong994]

Holy cow!!! I don't believe my ears but those guys are my damn heros lol. This is the best story that I have ever heard of. Vinwiki keep the good stories coming and man do I love this channel.

[@caribman10]

They weren't "heroes". They were criminals. There's a difference, really.

[@Vykk_Draygo]

@@caribman10 Yeah, no joke. Scumbags, through and through.

[@deggis4]

Imagime describing drug traffickers as "heros".

[@glennoswald5928]

Yes hero drug trafficers, way to go

[@mattjanisco806]

Never knew this one glad to hear such a cool story

[@gtracer6629]

This story explains why I had to work so hard to be anywhere near competitive in the early '70s IMSA GT races.

[@pietrocampanocruz5071]

You weren't dealing weed then haha, did you know the whittingtons?? or have any good stories/memories about the era??

[@SwayzeeBeats]

I come back to watch this video at least once a month. Legendary

[@N4orEditor]

these are the type of videos that pop up in your home feed, and you keep clicking them and passing hella time

[@clintgliford9941]

This guy just seems legendary. Can't wait for more of his.

[@ReggeiCofer]

Those were the days! Road Atlanta with The Wittington Brothers, Danny "On-The-Gas" Ongais, Hurly Haywood, Al Holbert, Peter Greg, David Hobbs, Klaus Ludwig ....you could just go on and on and on. All of them, great drivers.

[@johnspringer9082]

I remember Don doing an excellent job designing the racing semi trailer that two cars could be driven in, automatically lift up and two more could be loaded in. It was powered by multiple wenches with separate control switches.

[@Dave_Sisson]

Yes, "multiple wenches" are a feature of many car races, have you seen the grid girls? (Or was wenches a typo?)

[@spingarn]

I can't help but imagine this as a 'drunk history' episode...

[@rickr.1778]

One of the greatest stories ever told. Hats off to you John. And the 935 was the greatest works of art to come out of Stuttgart.

[@ForTheLoveOfDriving]

I want more stories from this guy

[@bryanhumphries1972]

Those stories, which I’ve heard since the early 80’s is what makes the brothers legendary!

[@vince065us]

Another chapter I'm sure that IMSA would like to forget is Andy Evans.He owned IMSA for a while,and fixed the 1997 race so that he would win it.

[@MrSstiel]

Chip Ganassi has sadly confirmed that Bill Whittingdon died on 23 April this year in a plane crash.

[@RBeeMedia]

This guy, always beer in hand, always with the best stories !

[@richardzenger3817]

I actually knew Don and Bill Whittington. Your story is 100% accurate. I could tell you some other wild things that is so crazy people think it's BS.

[@brianferus9292]

Was at Daytona in 1980. Watched one team that I can't remember, was down 1 lap overnight. When the sun comes up you could tell he turned up the boost. His lap times dropped, he got back on the same lap but the engine gave up before he got the lead.

[@kellypg]

Wow. I would love to see this in the big screen. It's like Blow but with racecars.

[@wrapdump]

More of this, please. Keep up the good work finding these people.

[@atranas6018]

Yup. Totally deserves a movie.

[@MrSpirit99]

My famous story is about Walther Röhrl (rally racing). The night of Arganil. At night, foggy conditions, visibility barely 10 meters on parts of the stage. He was 5 minutes faster than anyone else on this stage over only 40 km (25 miles). Oh I forgot to mention this was with a crashed car after a front crash with suspension damage, he got hit by a car going the wrong direction

[@tomnekuda3818]

Your uploads are absolutely excellent....thanks for the info.

[@ImprobableTodd]

I was at Le Mans in ‘79 and have pictures of that car. Paul Newman finished second in another 935. I got caught out in the rain and slept in the Dunlop bridge at 8 a.m.

[@joaobranco2164]

I thought I knew my racing history, even raced myself years ago but this? Man, it's a brilliant story. Would give a better movie than ANY racing movies that ever came out. Thanks for sharing.

[@ryanjofre]

Awesome video. Subbed. Thanks brother

[@craigyirush3492]

The last production-based car to win Le Mans was the Mclaren F1 in 1995.

[@bezzlebedeviled4756]

His memory of the 1982 Indy 500 starting-lap crash is faulty. While all three Whittington brothers were in the race, the crash was caused by Kevin Cogan. Dale Whittington, the youngest brother, was back in the pack (behind both of his brothers) and accelerating when cars in front of him (who could see the Cogan crash in front of them) began suddenly slowing. Caught unawares, Dale had to slam on his brakes, which seized; his car then spun toward the infield and impacted Roger Mears, generating the bouncing tire in the linked video below.) The other two Whittington brothers were not involved. Roger Mears was the younger brother of pole-sitter Rick Mears, who went on to finish 2nd in the race. Due to the long telephoto shot in these videos, it looks like the cars are just crawling whereas they were actually reaching 150mph at that point. While the crash was spectacular, only four cars were taken out of the race by the incident. Kevin Cogan of course got blamed for whole thing and Penske had to dump him even though the crash was in all probability the result of a mechanical problem, and Cogan's racing career suffered severely. (It didn't help that he had been a hotshot new kid who promised to be a top-tier perennial contender to the "old guard" of racing, many of whom operated as if it were their natural right to rule the speedways regardless of qualifying times). None of the Whittingtons received any bad press, and continued in their racing careers (at least not until Bill and Don got in trouble with the law). Dale never qualified for Indy again, and is the only starting entrant in history to fail to see a green flag. Bill and Don were back at Indy in 1983, absent in '84, but both Bill and Don were back in the race in '85. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWSWpHWmhdh0q5I kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKm7d6Z_ZZiLb7M

[@GADonMc]

I saw the 24 hours of Daytona in the mid 70’s, When Dan Ongais (On the gas), blew an engine during the race, and went down pit lane trying to - and succeeding in - buying another engine. From a competitor.

[@gregorygolden1296]

I met Don back in the early 70's. He is married to a friend of mine's sister. They were just dating back then.

[@PentaYOOO]

This is one of the best stories yet, sorry Ed :P

[@VINwiki]

We agree!

[@caribman10]

Try Tony Parravano. Or better yet, Lance Reventlow.

[@ILLRS4]

So funny to hear this coming out. We were loosely affiliated with John Paul and his racing exploits at about the same time. Great memories!

[@legodude19999]

I keep on coming back to this story, it's so good!

[@revengefullobster4524]

Ahhhh the 70's... Craziest stuff that will never happen again.

[@jnonya3465]

Awesome story! Great channel

[@denisehunt6540]

Creative financing. I love it. Great story. Need a movie on this story.

[@iceblue1963]

that should definitely be a movie

[@JC-11111]

God, I love car stories. Thanks, Ed and crew!

[@richardhintonracing]

...And brilliantly told.

[@KingCast65]

So well done! I had forgotten about this but yeah I'm 53 so I remember hearing things.... Also the Peter "I'm Good With Jesus" Gregg Story. Peace.

[@d.e.b.b5788]

the sixties were even better! I was lucky enough to see it as a kid.

[@Rob0450R]

This needs to be a movie!!!!!

[@aaroncollins2643]

This John ficara guy is great, awesome stories!

[@ianchandley]

The Whittingtons were probably the inspiration for Jimmy Buffet’s “A Pirate Looks At Forty”…

[@stephenmitchell3569]

Neighbors wonder about the late night buzz of Looper lake by plane too. Private farm and very rural aka sticks. We love Road Atlanta great fun and Can Am, plus Formula V zip around.

[@andrestrishak8292]

Brilliant story. Thanks. Should be a film.

[@michaelb885]

Excellent content!

[@richardhintonracing]

Brilliant story brilliantly told.

[@itsme2369]

Need these in GT7

[@deadkillereli3890]

Agreed 1000% these would be so fun especially stock and make the turbo lag realistic until upgrades

[@ifanramadhana7833]

Wow I literally just read feature about the 935 K3 and the brothers story in Octane magazine yesterday! And also the yellow 935 Road Atalanta livery has been returned to white Le Mans livery. It currently own by Bruce Meyer.

[@oingoironman]

Ifan Ramadhana The K3 is owned by Bruce Meyer. Canepa restored the car a few years ago.

[@ifanramadhana7833]

oingoironman Apologize!. I think I mixed up the Bruces (Meyer and Canepa).

[@BLCKCSTLS]

Wolves of Road Atlanta. Scorsese do it!

[@benwhittington635]

I knew the whittington name was full of bad asses. These guys are legends.

[@tylersearles6130]

Hahaha my dad worked for them. I got stories you wouldn't believe. He was a mechanic on their Roush powered Lola B08/10.... Fly even made a slot car of it. The yellow no. 5 Lola that ran USRRC in 1998. I was a little kid but I have a ton of photos and stories from this era. My dad also went as a mechanic to Le Mans with the MCR Aspen Knolls Hawaiian Tropic 996 GT3R in 2000... he is almost 70 and I wish other people could hear this shit because it's unbelievable. World Jet was the plane company. They do need a movie, and my dad has some wild ass first hand stories about those guys. Jack Roush had a P-51 Mustang that came from Whittington and it was bought for a $1 under the condition when they were free they got engines for what ever they wanted to race. That was the Roush Lola my dad worked on in '98.

[@divecolosio4988]

B08 or B98, sir?

[@narnasqueneth]

Subscribed- love these stories esp. this one and the repo guy one!

[@steed3902]

This guy can tell an awesome story!

[@mghk1]

I grew up in this era. It was unreal. No choking regulations and the guys were just driving because they loved it!

[@sawt1981]

his stories are my favorite

[@Alvaricokemaureira]

This needs a book and Scorsese to make a movie

[@lourdesricafort7562]

They should make that movie. Cars, drugs, scandals. Gonna be exciting. Logan licky meets Rush

[@Fitch93]

Ok, let's clear up an outright falsehood he makes. NONE of the 3 Whittington Brothers caused a MASSIVE pile-up at Indy. The pile-up in question was the infamous Kevin Cogan crash at the 82 500, Dale started 6th and was caught up in it, but none of the 3 were responsible for causing it as he tries to claim they were.

[@VINwiki]

Thanks for the feedback. We had read that there was some disagreement about the cause of the crash but saw several articles blaming the brothers initially. Cogan was definitely mentioned. We really enjoyed this type of story and would love to get more guys on to tell them.

[@ads427]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWSWpHWmhdh0q5I

[@ads427]

1982 Indy 500 start. Can see why anyone else than Kevin Cogan could be blamed for that. A great story though!!

[@vitaminsea5931]

Never heard of anyone blaming the Whittingtons for causing that wreck. I heard it live on the Indy 500 radio network, read Foyt's book which discusses it in detail, and saw every video of the wreck I could find. Otherwise this was a great video!

[@VZ935]

This is terrible.

[@0merqasim282]

Immediately started to love these 2 fuckers

[@thorstenwanoth6774]

I suppose Klaus was of the Ludwig tribe. Great story and a good reason to superscribe to the channel.

[@henrikdale1457]

This is my favourite car story! Imagine being in the IMSA in the 80's & 90's. John is such a great storyteller : )

[@bobke114]

I go to Le Mans ,Spa,and Nurburgring each year and end up telling the story of the Whittington brothers to amazed Euro race fans over a few beers. It always makes for a great story

[@avrggamer8358]

this could create a whole new movie genre: documentary thrillers...

[@tfsalnave1]

Best story ever

[@edspencer7121]

Glad I came across your channel. First hand, real life experiences from the trailer and pit row . Subbed it 2 videos ago.

[@MFKR696]

It's interesting to note that Kremer these days makes a rally car that's so fast, it can't be used legally in WRC races. The thing is like a Group-B car on steroids. It has a Peugeot body on it, but that's the only thing resembling a production part on the car, and even that was scratch built from fiberglass and carbon fiber. Peugeot had nothing to do with the car at all, really, other than the licensing for the body shape and logo.

[@Argent_99]

It should also be noted that the team that finished 2nd in lemans’79 featured another American driver of note - a gentleman named Paul Newman…

[@user-hj1om6yu4z]

Yea..... Imma need y'all to pump these out faster. .. Between 1320 road kill and you guys.... I'm running out of things to watch.... And may actually have to go do some work. Don't make me do that please.

[@henrymorgan3982]

Legend.

[@vince065us]

I wonder if John knows the story about the 1953 Le Mans 24 race.It's a classic.

[@masterneverwas3145]

Dudes Great story and awesome interview, yet I suspect McLaren F1 Road Production car is the last road car to win Le Mans. Happy to be incorrect, yet pretty sure it did it. There is a great story interview on it on youtube.

[@photohounds]

GREAT story!

[@anythingwithanengine7753]

best story by far

[@thebonesaw..4634]

Bringing $500,000 with you, in a duffel-bag, in 1970... *is the equivalent of carrying around $3.2 MILLION dollars in 2019.*

[@evanoeab9118]

This was a rollercoaster from coast to coast can a millionaire who is undoubtably watching this video make a movie about this ???

[@blazer2100]

They should make a film about this great story

[@chrispy9913]

Who could dislike this?! D:

[@chriscarbine504]

Awesome story

[@NativeTexMexican]

Id watch that movie... Id watch that movie many times.

[@saintninian]

Wait.. why isn't this story a movie? Seems like a good fit for the Scorsese and Leo black comedy combo

[@wrapdump]

Although wouldn't the McLaren F1 count as the last production car to win at Le Mans?

[@samoksner]

wrapdump yes, I think he meant at the time. But after the D type it was the 935 and the McLaren F1 after that, small club when the gaps are over 15 years apart of more

[@oingoironman]

The D-Type was considered purpose built. The LeMans winning C-Type in 1953 was build on the XK120 platform and was considered a production road car. So the 935 K3 was the first production based car to win since 1953.

[@wrapdump]

Is that relevant? Firstly every Dauer was built from a racecar in the first place, and secondly I personally wouldn't call a Dauer a production car.

[@wrapdump]

Apologies, I'm clearly missing the point you are trying to make. The Dauer 962 (a very cool car) was neither a production car, nor the last production car to win Le Mans, so why are we discussing it again?

[@SeralenaProductions]

Yes every grandma has a PORDUCTION Mclaren F1

[@eformance]

I now can see where the coke rumors started with a famous Porsche racer and car collector.

[@ChampCarforlife]

The should make a movie about the Whittington Bros.

[@bradkroboth5490]

And John Paul Sr n Jr,don't forget Lanier also

[@nathanieldizon4667]

Man I would watch that movie

[@JVC1103]

What a story it really needs to be a movie!

[@colinhathaway9493]

Superb story. Heard of them before but didn’t realise how dodgy they were

[@thedriver]

You think that's bad, you should hear some of the stories of the 80's, florida, and sportscar racing.

[@ognjenstefanovic4606]

7:17 anyone noticing the amazing sound effect 😄

[@jmorlan100]

I would 100% see that movie

[@rolfdejonge3915]

What a great and funny story, almost unbelievable! Great! Thanks! Movie-worthy! 👀👽 ✌️🤠💥🌟🌀👍

[@7mgtesup1]

Last street car to win at LeMans was surly the McLaren F1 in 1995.

[@caribman10]

Actually, a lot of us in the stands first questioned where the hell these guys came from who showed up first race with five cars, spare engines, transporters, an army of uniformed mechanics and nobody had any idea where all the money came from (ha ha!). Yeah. We knew. Only ONE way you get enough cash to buy whole race teams, race at LeMans, buy P-51 Mustangs to race at Reno, race at Indianapolis, buy Road Atlanta (!). We knew. IMSA acted like they didn't. We called it The Era of the Dope Racers. So guess where the Whittingtons, the Pauls, the Laniers et al all ended up? Right, jail!

[@R4Y2k]

Love this channel :D

[@razer057]

That really is a great story!

[@TheAmerican1963]

Great video!!!! Thank you!!! :-)

[@williammememan6002]

I'd watch that movie.