I see from a Quora the claim,

Fun Fact. In Grand Prix, he did most of his own driving.

While the other actors struggled with the basic skills, one,
Brian Bedford, who played Scott Stoddard, had to be towed behind
the camera car, Garner showed a natural talent for racing. Several
of the professional drivers, including the legendary Graham Hill,
stated that Garner had missed his calling and could have easily been
a successful Formula 1 driver. He later took up the sport and owned
a racing team competing at Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona.

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On Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 10:39:18 PM UTC-4, a425couple wrote:

I see from a Quora the claim,

Fun Fact. In Grand Prix, he did most of his own driving.

While the other actors struggled with the basic skills, one,
Brian Bedford, who played Scott Stoddard, had to be towed behind
the camera car, Garner showed a natural talent for racing. Several
of the professional drivers, including the legendary Graham Hill,
stated that Garner had missed his calling and could have easily been
a successful Formula 1 driver. He later took up the sport and owned
a racing team competing at Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona.

If he had gone into F1 full-time, he would've been the Robert Kubica of his day since he was quite tall.

Dan

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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On 7/13/2022 10:39 PM, a425couple wrote:

I see from a Quora the claim,

Fun Fact. In Grand Prix, he did most of his own driving.

While the other actors struggled with the basic skills, one,
Brian Bedford, who played Scott Stoddard, had to be towed behind
the camera car, Garner showed a natural talent for racing. Several
of the professional drivers, including the legendary Graham Hill,
stated that Garner had missed his calling and could have easily been
a successful Formula 1 driver. He later took up the sport and owned
a racing team competing at Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona.

Garner's American International Racing Team competed in off-road events, Formula A/Continental/F5000 and managed a team of Lola T70s. His "Racing
Scene" documentary told the story.

https://silodrome.com/the-racing-scene-james-garner/

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 7/13/2022 7:39 PM, a425couple wrote:

I see from a Quora the claim,

Fun Fact. In Grand Prix, he did most of his own driving.

from Garner's wiki:

Racing
Garner had an interest in auto racing since his youth, but his interest
was magnified during preparations for the filming of Grand Prix. John Frankenheimer, the director and impetus behind the project, was
determined to make the film as realistic as possible. He was trying to determine which actor he could focus on for high speed takes. At his
disposal were the services of Bob Bondurant, a Formula 1 racer who was
serving as technical consultant for the film. The first step was to
place the actors in a two-seater version of a Formula 1 car to see how
they would handle the high speeds. Bondurant noted all the actors became
quite frightened over 240 kph, all except Garner, who returned to the
pit laughing like an excited child. Said Bondurant, "This is your
man".[75] From there on out, all the actors were placed in a race driver training program except for Garner, whom Bonderant was assigned to
personally to train up. Garner proved to be a good student, a hard
worker and a talented driver. Compared to the other actors in the movie, Bondurant tagged Garner as being 'light years' ahead.[75] By the end of
the film Bonderant asserted Garner could compete on a Formula 1 team,
and would best some of the drivers currently in the field.[76]

Following the completion of Grand Prix, Garner become involved in auto
racing. From 1967 through 1969 Garner was an owner of the "American International Racers" (AIR) auto racing team.[77] Motorsports writer
William Edgar and Hollywood director Andy Sidaris teamed with Garner for
the racing documentary The Racing Scene, filmed in 1969 and released in 1970.[78] The team fielded cars at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring
endurance races, but is best known for Garner's celebrity status raising publicity in early off-road motor-sports events.[77] In 1978, he was one
of the inaugural inductees in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame.[77]

Garner signed a three-year sponsorship contract with American Motors Corporation (AMC).[79] His shops prepared ten 1969 SC/Ramblers for the
Baja 500 race.[80] Garner did not drive in this event because of a film commitment in Spain that year. Nevertheless, seven of his cars finished
the grueling race, taking three of the top five places in the sedan
class.[81] Garner also drove the pace car at the Indianapolis 500 race
in 1975, 1977, and 1985 (see: list of Indianapolis 500 pace cars).[77]

In 1987 Garner announced plans to partner with Larry Cahill to form a
racing team to compete in the 1988 Indycar season. The intention was to
base the team in Cedar Rapids, Ia., where Cahill operated his
businesses. The estimated budget was $3.5 million. The plans never came
to fruition.[82] Cahill would later form his own team to compete in the
Indy Racing League.

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On 7/14/2022 6:09 AM, Dan the Man wrote:

On Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 10:39:18 PM UTC-4, a425couple wrote:

I see from a Quora the claim,

Fun Fact. In Grand Prix, he did most of his own driving.

If he had gone into F1 full-time, he would've been the Robert Kubica of his day since he was quite tall.
Dan

Agree. He was 6'2", or 6' 1/2"

He was best off doing what he did very well.

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On 7/14/2022 6:26 AM, News wrote:

On 7/13/2022 10:39 PM, a425couple wrote:

I see from a Quora the claim,

Fun Fact. In Grand Prix, he did most of his own driving.

While the other actors struggled with the basic skills, one,
Brian Bedford, who played Scott Stoddard, had to be towed behind
the camera car, Garner showed a natural talent for racing. Several
of the professional drivers, including the legendary Graham Hill,
stated that Garner had missed his calling and could have easily been
a successful Formula 1 driver. He later took up the sport and owned
a racing team competing at Le Mans, Sebring, and Daytona.

Garner's American International Racing Team competed in off-road events, Formula A/Continental/F5000 and managed a team of Lola T70s. His "Racing Scene" documentary told the story.

https://silodrome.com/the-racing-scene-james-garner/

Yes. I see https://www.inquisitr.com/1363504/james-garner-was-also-auto-racing-legend/

Nov. 27, 2017
James Garner Was Also An Auto Racing Legend

Aaron Turpen
The recent death of acclaimed actor James Garner has affected Americans everywhere. His starring in the 1950s television show Maverick and many mainline film roles, later reprising Maverick in the modern detective
series The Rockford Files, and starring in yet more films, made him famous.

During the late 1960s and 1970s, when he was at the height of his
career, James Garner also owned an automotive race team, American
International Racers (AIR) and made a film based on auto racing during
that time.

The film, The Racing Scene, was released in 1970 when the AIR team was
fielding cars in top-shelf racing series such as Le Mans, Daytona, and
other endurance races. James Garner himself often appeared with the
cars, but is most-associated with the AIR team's offroad event racing,
which eventually became a contract to race in the Baja 500 with American
Motors Corporation (AMC).


When Garner died at age 86, as first reported here at the Inquisitr
early Sunday morning, he left behind a legendary history of iconic
roles, films, and more. Yet for many of us, he's also fondly remembered
as the man who took AMC through what may have been the company's best
showing at the Baja races during the 1970s.

James Garner AIM team cars had an impressive seven out of ten
completions using shop-modified 1969 SC/Ramblers. A predecessor to those
is this 1970 Oldsmobile 442, shown at right, courtesy of Bring A Trailer.

Some of us clearly remember Garner driving the pace car at the
Indianapolis 500, which he did in 1975, 1977, and 1985. As this
CarNewsCafe.com article points out, those were some iconic rides, with
his 1975 pacemaking car being a 1975 Buick Century Custom V-8 with
ride-alongs by Tony Hulman and Jim Rathmann.

Garner's return to drive the pace car two years later was in another GM product, this time a 1977 Oldsmobile Delta 88, again with a ride-along
by Tony Hulman. His return again in 1985 was once more in an Olds, this
time a 1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais with passenger Don Bailey.

During most of his career, Garner was an avid auto racing and
motorsports fan. He enjoyed driving vehicles on the track during his
free time, hired many well-known race instructors to better his
performance on the track, and more. James was often seen in the stands, celebrity box or track-side during endurance and other races and was
sometimes associated with another Hollywood race legend, Steve McQueen.

James Garnder in Grand Prix

Although James Garner is fondly remembered by most for his acting
career, many of us also recall his participation in auto racing and his contributions to it through his race team and appearances. James Garner
was truly a great man in many ways.

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