Friday, May 13, 2022

What cars did James Garner own? Did you know he earned two Purple Hearts in the Korean War?


I find it strange that the internet simply doesn't mention what cars Garner owned, other than this Mini. I already posted this Mini. It's a 1966 Cooper S, which you probably guessed from the tires and rims.
He owned a 78 Firebird Formula 400 like the Rockford Files Firebird

I'm not sure if he owned, or was just driving, the '69 442 he drove in the Baja, or the '72 Cutlass, or if he owned the 68 L88 Vettes that were raced at Daytona by AIR





none of those links have any idea what Garner owned other than the Mini and the Firebird. I shit you not. He must have owned other cars though, just for basic commuting! 

Anyway, back to his military service:
 
He enlisted in the U.S. Merchant Marine at the end of World War II, then into the California National Guard before deploying to Korea for 14 months with the 5th Regimental Combat Team. 

He was wounded twice: first in the face and hand by shrapnel from a mortar round, when enemy soldiers were advancing on his companies position, and second in the butt from friendly fire shrapnel from U.S. fighter jets as he dove into a foxhole.


Garner’s AIR team was the subject of a documentary called The Racing Scene, which was filmed during 1969 and released a year later. Between 1967 and 1969, AIR would take part at Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring.

2 comments:

  1. I think he owned on of my favorite cars ever - a Lola T70. I had read that in a few locations over the years. Here is a link to one of them.

    https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2011/10/27/ask-a-hemmings-editor-were-the-lola-t70s-in-thx-1138-real-or-fake

    "SL70/14 eventually wound up in the hands of James Garner, but according to Starkey, Garner owned SL70/14 from 1967 to 1973, making it highly unlikely that SL70/14 was used in THX-1138"

    Even if it is not fact, I would like to believe the #2 King of Cool and all around good guy would own one.

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  2. oops - I see you already posted about the Lola back in 2020. I should have known this didn't get past you. Sorry I missed this. It is up for sale again which should be fun to watch. $595K

    https://www.magnetomagazine.com/lola-t70-owned-by-james-garner-is-up-for-grabs/

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