Hagerty Sidedrafts: Cars | Classics | Racing
Leisure:Automotive
One day as a teenager in 1957, John Morton's dad took him to see his first sports car race at Road America in Wisconsin. It was a life-changing event. He knew that he was going to be a racing driver.
"It made such an impression on me on that day I remember thinking this is what I'm doing," John told Hagerty Sidedrafts. "I didn't have a plan. I just decided that's what I was going to do."
After racing jalopies on dirt tracks in South Carolina, he dropped out of Clemson University to attend Carroll Shelby's racing school in Riverside, California. In an extraordinary driving career that lasted more than 50 years, John Morton raced for Shelby, the BRE Datsun team, Nissan, and BF Goodrich and was a nine-time veteran at Le Mans. He is a former movie stuntman, and now a private pilot and scooter collector.
In this episode, John talks about his life on the track, including the hair-raising details of a devastating crash in 1988 at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.
"The car just aerodynamically lifted, flipped over and landed upside down and then started tumbling and caught on fire," John told us. "I was lucky to survive it."
Favorite Cars of the 2000s | S2E11
In Conversation with Dan Sandberg, Brembo CEO | S2E10
Favorite Cars of the '90s | S2E9
In Conversation with Tom Cotter, The Barn Find Hunter | S2E8
Favorite British Cars | S2E7
In Conversation with Art Cervantes, RADwood CEO | S2E6
In Conversation with John Doonan, IMSA President | S2E5
In conversation with Rob Siegel, The Hack Mechanic | S2E4
In Conversation with Rob Dickinson, Reimagining 911s | S2E3
Automotive 101: Driving Tours and Rallies | S2E2
Hagerty Price Guide Spring Update | S2E1
Two Great Cars: The Ford GT & Chevrolet Corvette
Indy time machine: 70 mph in a 1916 race car
Race track owner, Skip Barber
The Voice of Nascar: Mike Joy
The Godfather of Pro-Touring: Mark Stielow
French Car Collector: Peter Mullin
The Audi Sudden Unintended Acceleration Episode
The Upcoming Mid-Engine Corvette
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