Cliff Durant
Durant in 1919
BornRussell Clifford Durant
(1890-11-26)November 26, 1890
Flint, Michigan, U.S.
DiedOctober 31, 1937(1937-10-31) (aged 46)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Champ Car career
34 races run over 14 years
Best finish14th (1923)
First race1915 American Grand Prize
(Panama–Pacific)
Last race1928 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
First win1918 24-mile Sprint (Tacoma)
Last win1919 Santa Monica Race
(Santa Monica)
Wins Podiums Poles
3 9 0

Russell Clifford Durant (November 26, 1890 – October 31, 1937)[1][2] was an American playboy and racing driver.

Early life

Durant was born in Flint, Michigan, the son of William C. Durant and Clara Miller Pitt.[1] His older sister, Margery Durant, was three years his senior. In 1900, the family lived at 704 Garland Street in Flint and were attended by servants.[3] Durant went to Flint grammar schools and later the University of Detroit and the Pennsylvania Military Academy.[4] In 1908, his parents divorced and in the divorce settlement, Durant's mother, Clara, was granted the house on Garland Street.[5]

Personal life

Durant had four marriages and was rumored to treat his wives poorly through extramarital affairs and physical abuse.[6] Durant's four wives were Lena Pearl McFarland, Adelaide Pearl Frost, Lea Gapsky, and Charlotte Phillips. His second wife, Adelaide Pearl Frost (1885–1977), whom he married on September 1, 1911, was a singing star who later married fellow racer, and World War I flying ace, Eddie Rickenbacker.

Racing activities

Santa Monica 1919

Chevrolet Special driven by Durant in the 1919 Santa Monica Race

In 1919 Durant was named the "Pacific Coast Champion," when he drove a blue Chevrolet-sponsored "Special" to victory in the Santa Monica Road Race. He averaged 81.28 miles per hour (130.81 km/h) in the open topped machine for a total of 3 hours and 4 minutes. His teammate, Eddie Hearne, finished only 7 minutes behind Durant. Throughout the run, neither Durant nor Hearne were lapped by any other drivers in all of the 250 miles (400 km) on the course. Durant only pitted twice, for tire changes. One of those pit stops was for a tire that blew while he was running almost 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).[7][8]

Beverly Hills Speedway ownership

Beverly Hills Speedway located at Wilshire Boulevard and Beverly Drive

Durant was a co-owner of the Beverly Hills Speedway (1920–1924), a 1+1⁄4-mile (2 km) board track, along with the Speedway Association, which consisted of Durant, Cecil B. DeMille, Jake Dansinger and Silsbee Spalding, among others.[9][10] It was located at the site of the present Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

In its day, it rivaled the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for speed.[11] In May 1923, Durant shattered eight world speed records for events 75 miles (121 km) and under at the Beverly Hills Speedway.

Detroit Special

Early in 1927, Durant financed the design and construction of an 8-cylinder front-wheel drive vehicle, designed and built by C. W. Van Ranst and Tommy Milton.[12] The vehicle was assembled in a basement laboratory at the General Motors Building in Detroit and, as such, was named the "Detroit Special" in honor of the city in which it was built.[13] The vehicle was later purchased by Harry Hartz, who installed a new Miller engine. Durant was to have driven the car in the 1932 Indianapolis 500. Instead it was driven by Fred Frame, who won the race.

Other racing accomplishments

Durant at Tacoma Speedway in 1922

Durant competed at many tracks and events around the country, including: Santa Monica and Corona road races, Tacoma Speedway, Cactus Derby (a challenging off-road race between Los Angeles and Phoenix), and the Indy 500.[14]

In the 1923 Indianapolis 500, Durant had the largest stable of cars (6) ever to participate in the Indianapolis 500 until modern times. He finished in seventh that year.

Durant was the financial backer of the famous Harry Miller racing engines, which dominated the racing world in the 1920s–30s.

Other activities

Durant had his own flight school, airplanes for sale, and a 72-acre (290,000 m2) field, "Durant Field" in Oakland, California in 1919. It was located between 80th Ave., 83rd Ave., and Snell Street. He also had Air Mail contracts for mail delivery with the government and his airport was the terminus for the first transcontinental air mail flight in August 1920.[15]

In 1921 Durant was a partner with Thomas O'Brian in the Lebec Hotel in the Mountains north of Los Angeles near present-day I-5.

Durant had a large estate in Roscommon, Michigan on the South Branch of the Au Sable River, where "The Castle," a 54-room mansion, burned to the ground February 6, 1931. On the estate was his own private air strip, with several planes. On April 25, 1930, test pilot Herbert J. Fahy died two days after an airplane he had been showing Durant had crashed on takeoff at this airstrip. Fahy and his wife Claire, both prominent pilots, acted as sales agents for Lockheed. Durant agreed to buy the airplane if the Fahys could prove that the Sirius could land and take off safely from Durant's personal strip. Herb and Claire Fahy landed the plane without incident, but as they took off, one of the wheels hit a partially hidden stump, which flipped the plane over. Herb Fahy, at age 33, sustained a fractured skull and a severe concussion from which he never recovered.[16]

The community airport in Roscommon, Michigan, was named Durant Field in his honor on July 16, 1933.

At various times in his career he presided over the West Coast division of Durant Motors, and had been vice president of sales for Chevrolet in Oakland, California. He left Chevrolet in 1921, after his father, W.C. "Billy" Durant, left General Motors.[4]

Durant was an accomplished musician as well, playing the violin. He owned the Guarneri del Gesu violin, and played the piano and trumpet.[4] He was at one time the owner of one of the most prized collections of violins in the world.[14]

In addition to being a businessman, race car driver, aviator and musician, he was also a yachtsman who owned the sailing yacht "Aurora."

Death

Durant died of a heart attack at his West Hollywood home on October 31, 1937, aged 46. His wife, Charlotte Phillips, had summoned medical assistance but he was pronounced dead when the assistance arrived.[4] He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

[17]

References

  1. 1 2 "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994". FamilySearch.
  2. ↑ "Genesee County Birth Index 1878 to 1907". RootsWeb. Flint Genealogical Society. Archived from the original on 2022-02-28.
  3. ↑ "R Clifford Durant", United States census, 1900; Flint, Genesee, Michigan; page 12A, line 28, enumeration district 10, Family History film 1240710, National Archives film number T623.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Cliff Durant Dies Suddenly". Los Angeles Times. November 1, 1937. Archived from the original on 2023-05-16.
  5. ↑ Gustin, Lawrence R. (April 15, 2008). "Four. Buick: Rags to Riches". Billy Durant: Creator of General Motors. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-472-03302-7.
  6. ↑ Lewis, Walter David (December 8, 2005). "11: Domestic Front". Eddie Rickenbacker: An American Hero in the Twentieth Century. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-8018-8244-9.
  7. ↑ Williams, Harry A. (March 16, 1919). "Cliff Durant Roars Around Santa Monica's Fast Course to Victory". The Los Angeles Times.
  8. ↑ "Durant, Chevrolet Special, Winner at Santa Monica". Westways. Vol. 11. Automobile Club of Southern California. 1919. p. 11.
  9. ↑ Wanamaker, Marc (2005). "Seven: Real Estate Boom: 1920–1929". Early Beverly Hills. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-7385-3068-0.
  10. ↑ King, Susan (December 25, 2014). "Speedway Put Beverly Hills in Fast Lane". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ↑ Borgeson, Griffith (1998). The Golden Age of the American Racing Car (2nd ed.). Warrendale, Pennsylvania: SAE International. pp. 16–24. ISBN 978-0-7680-0023-8.
  12. ↑ Borgeson, Griffith (August 21, 2005). "Six: The L-29 Cord: A Chassis Revolution". Errett Lobban Cord: His Empire, His Motor Cars: Auburn – Cord – Duesenberg. New Albany, Indiana: Automobile Heritage Publishing & Communications. pp. 83–84. ISBN 978-0-9711468-7-7.
  13. ↑ "Cadillac President, with La Salle, Will Pace First Lap of Indianapolis Race". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. May 15, 1927.
  14. 1 2 "Multimillionaire Makes Sixth Bid for Speed Honors". The Indianapolis Star. May 30, 1924. Archived from the original on 2023-05-16.
  15. ↑ http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt909nd5zq
  16. ↑ "Crash of a Lockheed 8A Sirius in Roscommon: 1 Killed". Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives. Archived from the original on 2022-02-28.
  17. ↑ "Cliff Durant Indianapolis 500 Stats". IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com. Archived from the original on 2019-08-01.
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