Bob Johnson - 1927-2008

[computerworks]

Sad news to hear that we have lost another great one from the Cobra glory days...

Cross-posting the news from Rick Kopec on saacforum.com...

It is with great sadness that we report the passing of former Cobra and GT350 racer Bob Johnson, of Columbus, OH on October 16, 2008. He was 81. Bob suffered a stroke a couple of years ago and never fully recovered.

Once he realized the scope and depth of SAAC he made it his business to attend almost every national convention, and shared his time freely with both club members and ex-Shelby American team members and employees.

Bob served in the Navy during WW II and when he returned to Columbus he became involved in the catering industry, eventually opening his own industrial catering service, which he worked at until his stroke forced him to retire. He bought his first sports car in 1958, when he was 30 — it was a Corvette. He immediately began racing it and by 1960 he had won the SAAC National B/Production Championship. He continued racing Corvettes until the first time he saw a Cobra. Then he realized it would beat the Corvette and he had to have one. But that proved more difficult to do than you might imagine.

In those early days Shelby American was operating at full speed, trying to complete production cars the small dealer network was screaming for while, at the same time, fielding a team of race cars. They hardly had time for a nobody from Ohio. Johnson caught up with Shelby at Sebring in March of 1963. CSX2026, a factory team car, was driven by Dave McDonald/Fireball Roberts/ Lew Spencer/Jerry Grant. The car failed to finish and it was destined to be replaced by a newer car with rack & pinion steering. Johnson caught up with Shelby right after the checkered flag dropped and, with a check in his hand, offered to buy the Cobra on the spot. Once the car was back in Columbus, Johnson and his mechanic Tom Greatorex, who he credited with much of his racing success, stripped the car down to the chassis and totally rebuilt it, painting it blue in the process. Johnson went on to win the 1963 SAAC A/Production National Championship.

At the beginning of the 1964 season he replaced 2026 with CSX2189, a rack & pinion racer. He ran the car as part of the Cobra team in USRRC events Johnson did so well against the factory team cars that Shelby asked him to join, saying that it was embarrassing for the factory to get beaten by an independent. He finished first in 3 USRRC events that year, one second and three thirds. He also won the SCCA A/Production National Championship. A full-fledged member of the Cobra Team in 1964, Johnson drove a Cobra FIA roadster at Daytona and Sebring. The following year, 1965, he teamed up with Tom Payne and they drove a Cobra Daytona Coupe at Daytona and Sebring and then went to LeMans to drive one there.

In May of 1965 Johnson took delivery of 5R102, a new GT350 R-Model which was actually considered a factory team car because it was loaned to him by Shelby. Tom Payne lived in Michigan where he ran a Ford dealership with Dan Gerber. He borrowed Gerber's R-Model, 5R099, and he and Johnson decided to mimic the rivalry between the University of Michigan and Ohio State. Johnson painted his car Ohio’s colors – gray/scarlet. Payne was supposed to paint Gerber's car in Michigan's colors (blue/maize) but he never did. Johnson entered his car in a couple of SAAC races and when Shelby found out about the color change, Johnson immediately received a phone call instructing him to return the car to white/blue livery. He went on to finish 2nd in the 1965 ARRC in B/Production. The following year Johnson moved into the Trans-Am series driving Mustang notchbacks.

At SAAC-14 at Pocono in 1989, when Bob was asked to speak at the evening program he came to the podium right after it was announced that the following year’s convention open track event would probably be at Mid-Ohio. Galvanized by a couple of drinks, Bob announced that if we came to his home track — Mid-Ohio — he would provide lunch for everyone. His offer was met by a thunderous round of applause. On the morning of the open track, a few trucks with “Johnson Catering” lettered on the doors rolled in to the paddock. He set up a few large charcoal grilles and true to his word, Bob served a couple of thousand hamburgers and dished out what was probably 500 lbs. of potato salad. It was an example of Bob’s legendary generosity and good will. He was a hard-charger out on the track but he was a kind and generous man off the track. We will miss him greatly.