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 From gas station owner to leading
Le Mans, sports car racer Scooter Patrick enjoyed an
amazing career. Perhaps best remembered for his prowess and speed
at the wheel of Otto Zipper's many Porsches in the '60s,
Patrick also enjoyed racing success in a wide variety of racecars
including the Shelby owned Toyota 2000GT's, James Garner's Lola
T70 and L-88 Corvettes, as well as F5000s and notching up the last
Can-Am victory of the mighty McLaren juggernaut.
Scooter started racing in a MG TD about
1954 and attracted  the attention of car owners when his homemade PAM
special (built out of a wrecked Porsche 550) started beating the big
names in southern California racing. So when Otto Zipper picked
him to drive his Porsche 904, it was no surprise that he continued
winning. Carroll Shelby formed the first of the Japanese backed
race teams; using the Toyota 2000 GT and asked Scooter to drive.
His success there led James Garner to ask him to drive
Corvettes in his newly founded American International Race team.
Garner's program went on to Lola T-70 coupes and then to Formula
5000, culminating in the filming of "The Racing Scene".
And with Otto Zipper, Scooter drove Alfa Type 33's in the Can Am,
then went on to drive the Herb Caplan Mclaren M20's until the end
of the Can Am series.
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