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John Morton from page 2
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has been tasked with writing the introduction
to Brock’s induction.
Post the qualification attempt at Indy,
Morton continued to drive (nine times) at
the 24-hours of Le Mans endurance fest,
piloting Ferrari’s, Porsches, Nissan Vipers,
and Lola’s. Morton won his class twice
and finished third overall once. He also
continued to race in the states and compete
in South America.
“I stopped calling myself a professional
driver in 2001,” he said. “I did a lot of
Vintage racing after that,” he said, relating
how Vintage racing events are competitions
between vehicles that are no longer current,
but that many of them have become extremely
valuable. “They were not valuable when they
stopped racing, but, over the years, they
have become extremely sought after,” with
the current value of some of the vehicles in
the millions.
Morton likes going fast. Old folks like
me remember the line from the Top Gun
movie years ago, where the jet fighter pilot
portrayed by Tom Cruise intones, “I feel the
need for speed!”
Morton feels the need for speed. One of
his hobbies is piloting his own plane, which
he guides to his residence in Utah whenever
possible, although COVID has curtailed his
excursions to the Beehive State.
Morton was “interested in flying as well
as racing when I was a kid. I never had the
money to take it up until I was in my 40’s,”
noting that maintaining and flying your own
plane can be costly. “All the money has gone…
away from me. It never came back,” he said.
Morton used to travel to Savannah,
Georgia, to visit family. When he
was traversing to the Peach State in
1950, he and his Dad were changing
planes in Atlanta. A reporter approached
Morton’s father, who was a “pretty big
baseball fan.” The reporter said that the
baseball great and well-known bitter-man,
Ty Cobb, was soon to be landing, and the
reporter wanted to snap a picture of Cobb
welcoming youngsters.
The picture was snapped, and the eightyear
old Morton has the memory of meeting
the baseball hall-of-famer. Other interesting
tidbits from the John Morton file: He became a
Hollywood star (OK, not a star) when by
accident, he ended up doing work on the
celluloid screen in the movies Gumball
Rally and Greased Lightning. He also appeared
in a couple of television shows,
including the greatest television show ever,
the Rockford Files, typecast as…a race car
driver. “James Garner was a very cool guy,”
Morton said. “I just drove, doubled for
Robert Wagner.”
Morton moved to El Segundo after being
hired by Brock. He lives with his partner
of 50-or-so years, Sylvia Wilkinson, an accomplished
journalist, who chronicled the
exploits of Morton and his racing team in
the book, The Stainless-Steel Carrot.
At one point, Bruce Mills sold a Jeep to
Morton. About four years ago, Mills asked
Morton that if he built a specific Datsun
race car, would Morton race it? Morton said,
“yeah, but I didn’t think that he would do
it, but he did.”
Mills grew up a fan of Morton’s, watching
him run his car at the Riverside racetrack.
“He was a hero,” Mills said.
Mills and Morton built their friendship over
the years. “Even in his late seventies, he is
still very, very fast, and very, very smooth,”
Mills said. There is a race scheduled for
May in Sonoma, and if all falls into place,
Morton will be behind the wheel. “Between
riding motorcycles, and flying, and driving
race cars, there is very little motorized that
he doesn’t excel at,” concluded Mills.
Brock has recently visited Morton to have
him autograph a trove of Hot Wheels cars,
the 510 BRE Datsun, which just happened
to be piloted by Morton back in the day.
Brock said it is the #1 selling Hot Wheel
in the world.
Brock remembers first meeting Morton
at driving school. “He expected Carroll
Shelby to teach him, and he was really
disappointed when he got me, because he
had never heard of me. But he was a real
talent,” Brock said. “Shelby handed him a
broom, but soon he became one of the best
fabricators in the shop. He spent his life totally
dedicated to being a race driver. He is
probably the most unappreciated driver in the
United States.”
When Ford took over Shelby American,
Brock looked for other employment. He later
hired John to be a BRE driver, and the collaboration
ended up yielding a couple of
national championships in the late 1960s and
early ’70s. “A very successful collaboration,”
Brock said.
Randy Jaffe, who lives just outside of Atlanta,
is an uber-Morton fan. He saw Morton
win a national championship in a Datsun
240 Z car when Jaffe was a kid. Jaffe built a
replica car, which Morton would later drive.
Morton called Jaffe “the most incredible fan
that I have ever had.”
Said Jaffe, who lives in Georgia: “When
he raced for me, at age 77 or 78, he had
better times that guys in their thirties, with
more horsepower. The guy can still drive,
flies’ airplanes, has a Jeep in Utah, he has
motorcycles…He just does not let father time
knock him down. He has raced at Le Mans
nine times, yet he never brags about racing,
never toots his own horn…he talks more
about airplanes than racing,” Jaffe said. “He
is the most humble, nicest, down-to-earth guy,
and he has done some things in his life that
people don’t know about because he doesn’t
talk about them. I do not know anybody else
like him. A legend.”
Said Joe Cavaglieri, Morton’s one-time crew
chief: “There is nobody you could trust more
putting him in a Vintage car that might be
worth $5 million. Racing is his whole being.
Even now, he will run Vintage races without
getting paid. He is as talented as they come
as a race car driver. Any day that you are
around John is a fun day.”
Nearly eighty years young, John Morton
is still “feeling the need for speed.” •
Morton Vintage Racing in Monterey.
“All you need is love.
But a little chocolate now and
then doesn’t hurt.”
– Charles M. Schulz
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Order to Show Cause
for Change of Name
Case No. 22TRCP00013
Superior Court of California, County of
LOS ANGELES
Petition of: GEMMA VERNALE EGAN
THROUGH GUARDIANS AD LITEM
REBECCA BRAND & ROBERT EGAN
for Change of Name
TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS:
Petitioner GEMMA VERNALE EGAN
THROUGH GUARDIANS AD LITEM
REBECCA BRAND & ROBERT EGAN
filed a petition with this court for a decree
changing names as follows:
GEMMA VERNALE EGAN
to
GEMMA GRACE BRAND-EGAN
The Court orders that all persons
interested in this matter appear before
this court at the hearing indicated
below to show cause, if any, why the
petition for change of name should not
be granted. Any person objecting to the
name changes described above must
file a written objection that includes the
reasons for the objection at least two
court days before the matter is scheduled
to be heard and must appear at the
hearing to show cause why the petition
should not be granted. If no written
objection is timely filed, the court may
grant the petition without a hearing.
Notice of Hearing:
Date: 3-25-2022, Time: 9:00 AM.,
Dept.: B
The address of the court is:
825 MAPLE AVE
TORRANCE, CA 90503
A copy of this Order to Show Cause
shall be published at least once each
week for four successive weeks prior to
the date set for hearing on the petition
in the following newspaper of general
circulation, printed in this county:
EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Date: JAN 21, 2022
GARY Y. TANAKA
Judge of the Superior Court
El Segundo Herald Pub. 1/27, 2/3, 2/10,
2/17/22
H-27439