On EWAL, we have an opportunity to bring a piece of Le Mans to you, sharing in the Legend of Le Mans with guests from different eras of over 100 years of racing. We’re delighted to introduce 91-year-old William S. Jackson, one of the co-founders of the Society of Automotive Historians, who isn’t just a veteran of motorsports. From being drafted during the Cold War to racing alongside legends like Carroll Shelby and Sterling Moss, Bill’s journey to Le Mans is a tale of grit, ingenuity, and unexpected grace. On this special Veteran’s Day episode, we’re taking you back to 1958 to a time when racing was raw, personal, and deeply intertwined with the world’s shifting tides. You’ll hear how a flunked college career turned into a military path that led him to Germany, where a chance friendship with a former Luftwaffe pilot changed his view of war, peace and humanity. And you’ll ride shotgun as Bill recounts his time behind the wheel of a 1935 BMW 315 restored with reverence and raced with heart on the hallowed grounds of Le Mans.
Bio
Like most of us, William S. Jackson, became involved with automobiles at an early age. During the early 1950’s, he was a member Penn State University’s hot rod club, and in the mid-50’s he was racing in SCCA events with a Jaguar 120-M and some Morgans. After his military service, he completed his degree at Penn State and began a lifelong career in journalism. His editorship of major vintage car clubs magazines during the 1960’s and 70’s gives Bill credit as one the founders who launched the then-fledgling “old car hobby” turning it into the vibrant community and economic powerhouse that it is today.
Bill is a charter member of the Society of Automotive Historians, founded in October of 1969. And during the Annual SAH Awards Banquet in 2023 in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Bill presented his Auto-Biography to the banquet audience, including his recollections of the early days of the SAH; and the following recording was made by Bill, from that same script, in 2024.
Slides
Swipe left or right (or use the arrows/dots) to navigate through the presentation slides as you follow along with the episode.
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Hurley Haywood, a name synonymous with endurance racing excellence. Over the course of 13 attempts at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans between 1977 and 1994, Hurley cemented his legacy as one of the greatest sports car drivers of all time. With three overall victories and five podium finishes, all behind the wheel of a Porsche, his story is one of relentless determination, precision, and an uncanny ability to push both man and machine to their limits.
We’ll break down his Le Mans career, the highs and lows, and what made Hurley Haywood a legend in the world of Le Mans and beyond.
This presentation is hosted by the ACO USA’s Evening With A Legend series, in partnership with the IMRRC, so we ask that you PLEASE REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT.
As part of an ACO USA membership you’re invited to join Evening With A Legend, a series of presentations exclusive to ACO USA Members where a Legend of the famous 24 Hours of LeMans race will share stories and highlights of the big event. However, this month the IMRRC in partnership with the ACO USA is proud to help share Rob Dyson’s Le Mans story with you! Rob is a long standing supporter of the IMRRC and get his start in racing at Watkins Glen International in the ’70s. And through the Motoring Podcast Network you have a chance to sit in during a live recording with Rob, ask questions, and hear his Le Mans journey first hand!
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Rob Dyson is a New York based businessman and retired professional racing driver with a long association with Watkins Glen International and the International Motor Racing Research Center. Following completion of his licensing school at Watkins Glen in 1974, Dyson began competing in amateur SCCA competition. In 1981 he won the Sports Car Club of America’s GT2 national championship.
Dyson began racing professionally in IMSA GTO and the SCCA Trans-Am Series in 1982. The following year, to support his professional racing efforts, Dyson founded the Dyson Racing Team, which over the next few years grew to be one of America’s premier sports car racing teams. From it base in Poughkeepsie, over the course of nearly four decades the team won 19 championships, 72 race victories, started 72 times from the pole and achieved 224 podium finishes. Among the team’s notable accomplishments is a pair of overall victories in America’s premier endurance race, the Rolex 24, at Daytona International Speedway. In 1986 he found himself behind the wheel of a Porsche 956 at the famed Circuit de la Sarthe: Le Mans.
The team fielded cars during the heyday of the IMSA Camel GT, winning its first time out with a Porsche 962 at Lime Rock Park. Under Dyson’s leadership the team went on to successfully field entries in Indy car, the World Sports Car Championship, the United States Road Racing Championship, the American Le Mans Series (where the team scored two championships), the Rolex Sports Car Series, and the Pirelli World Challenge, where the team scored Bentley’s first-ever North American race victory.
During his 21 seasons as a professional racing driver Dyson drove in 92 races, scoring four overall race wins (including the 1997 Rolex 24 at Daytona) and a total of 18 podium finishes. Dyson continued to compete episodically in professional racing through 2007 and today remains active driving his collection of vintage Indy cars in a variety of demonstration events. Dyson’s personal historic Indy car collection ranges from a 1913 Isotta Fraschini tipo IM to Johnny Rutherford’s 1978 Budweiser McLaren M24B, and includes the 1961 Kimberly Cooper Climax, the first successful rear-engine car to compete in the 500.
Named chairman of the board of directors of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 2021 following a decade as a member of the board, Dyson is guiding the institution through its $89 million transformational renovation as it charts its future path as the repository of the history and related artifacts of America’s oldest active and most storied racing facility.
In 2011 Dyson donated to the IMRRC the historic archives of National Speed Sport News, America’s premier motorsports news publication since the late 1930s.
Dyson is the chairman and chief executive officer of Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation, a privately-owned international holding company.
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Membership into the Automobile Club de l’Ouest – the founder and organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – is open to all! The Club hosts events in Le Mans and around the world, attracting fans who enjoy their shared passion for motoring and motor racing. Tired of sitting in the pits. Explore the many advantages of becoming an ACO Member today!
