2 Gene Hackman

A powerhouse actor, Hackman dabbled in Formula Ford in the late 1970s when he was already approaching his half-century. He got to know Parnelli Jones when they both won the Toyota Procelebrity race at Long Beach before the 1987 United States Grand Prix West, by which time he had already made a handful of starts for the marque driving for Dan Gurney’s All American Racers equipe. He drove a tube-framed IMSA Gtu-spec Celica in the 1983 Daytona 24 Hours alongside future Le Mans winner Masanori Sekiya and Kaoru Hoshino, but recorded a DNF after the gearbox broke. Three years later, he competed in the Sebring 12 Hours aboard a Mazda RX-7 and recorded another DNF. The double Oscar winner was also down to drive in the 1985 and ’87 Daytona 24 Hours, but he didn’t compete in either race.

Anorak fact Hackman finished fifth in class in the 1983 Riverside 6 Hours alongside Wally Dallenbach Jnr and Margie Smith-haas