Club Cobra - Phil hill's goggles

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Phil hill's goggles

My business partner who recently passed away was one of the pioneers in the early days of road racing in California. His name is John Hart. His primary employment was acting but he was also a race enthusiast/driver. John Hart & Bill Pollack designed the Willow Springs Raceway. John was very close friends with Briggs Cunningham, Bill Pollack, Phil Hill, Sam Hanks, etc. Sam wore John's gloves when he won the 1957 Indy 500. John drove all the famous cars of yesteryear & I had some great pics of him in Phil Hill's Ferarri. He also got to run the first Dragonsnake through it's gears on the set of Viva Las Vegas with Elvis (John played the part of Elvis' chief mechanic in the film). Anyway, I've been selling alot of John's estate items for his widow & there was/is some really cool racing items.

This item is Phil Hill's Racing Goggles. John got them from Phil when driving Phil's Car. Phil toook them off & gave them to John to use. While John was on the track, Phil got another pair & John kept these. They are American Optical as evidenced by the AO marking in the center. They are in super nice condition. I got these directly from John & have had them displayed in my office. Can anyone tell me the vintage & value?
Thanks, Mick

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/data/500/zzzp467.jpg

http://www.clubcobra.com/photopost/data/500/zzzp470.jpg

It would be kind of hard to put a price on them. I see AO pieces on E-bay with avg. BIN prices of roughly $175. If you had provenance to support that they did in fact belong to Phil Hill then I'd say they would bring quite a bit more. You might look for photo evidence to support your claim such as a photo of John and Phil together with the goggles. If you had that I'd say there are collectors and/or vintage racers who would love to own them. Very cool item by the way.

Thanks Pablo. I'll document them & I'll also Guarantee them Forever. I guess I'll find out what they are worth when I put them to auction on ebay!
Thanks again,

Well, I posted them on ebay & we'll see what they do. I wish I knew the exact vintage but I guess collectors will know. I am guessing they are WWII era. They launch tonight & run all week.