Читать книгу Lost Muscle Car Dealerships - Duncan Scott Brown - Страница 39

Interviews with Peyton Cramer reveal his patient, long-range vision. The Dana racing team was plagued with bad luck and broken parts, but Peyton focused on the glacial progress they were making throughout the year. His years of engineering and experience racing allowed him to take a long-range view of things.

Peyton firmly believed that even though the racing hadn’t paid off immediately, over time it was good for business. He strongly believed that raising your profile was essential and racing was an excellent medium to do so. Setbacks and money hemorrhages that would fluster lesser mortals didn’t seem to make a dent in his optimism about the progress his Dana team was making.

Sadly, Peyton’s approach didn’t work out for his partner, Paul, who felt he was left in the shadows and that racing was costing too much money. Another blow came in late October 1967 when Dick Guldstrand decided to part ways with Dana Chevrolet Hi-Performance Center to pursue a business opportunity. He opened his own shop: Dick Guldstrand’s American International Racing Corporation in Culver City, California. Dick was instrumental to the success of the Trans-Am Camaros, Lolas, and US Road Racing Championship (USRRC) McLaren.