Little known fact: Dan Mc Gloughlin, fiberglass artist that designed and built so many 911 parts (inc the daytona winning 935) got the name from Jim Garner's team: American International Racing > A.I.R.

Dan even painted his Lola T 70 in Jim's AIR colors and drove it on the streets of L.A.

I deal with his son Blake over at their prophouse "Air Design", where we rent set dressing and other props. Dan sadly passed away a few years ago working on building a convenience store set at his movie ranch.

RIP Jim

The night I saw Grand Prix was the day I bought my first car, a 59 Chevy and after the movie it was named blue Ferrari. I would go to the gas station and tell the attendant check the gas and fill the oil, it was a oil burner but had great fun with that car.

In the early 70's I had the privilege to have Jim as a tennis partner in a pro-am tournament at Bear mtn, CA, we won our matches, a very good tennis player. He was easy to talk too and really enjoyed life.

He was a great actor and from everything I read, a great man. Married just once in the 1950s and still married to the same woman when he died. He married her just two weeks after he met her.

That is amazing.

We all think of him as a native son since he was born in Norman, OK. He was a big Sooner's fan and there is a 10 foot statue in Norman of him dressed as Maverick.

I was born in '62 and when Grand Prix played on network television in the early '70s it was a religious experience. Same with Bullitt and other epics from those days. (Guns of Navarone, The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, etc., etc.) There they were, in real F1 cars and then there's Garner in the GT350H. Just seared it into my car-nut kid brain and then my car-nut grade school buddies and I would go over the movies on Monday morning. "Did you watch Grand Prix on Saturday night???"

One of the best, another notch toward the end of an era.

RIP Jim. A life well lived.

BTW. the entire Rockford Files series is now on NetFlix.

It seems he was as good a man off the screen as he was on it.

Quite a relief, actually, and a pleasant reminder that actors can understand they are a part of a larger pool of talented people that make their job possible.

Well done, James. We leave you peace...

Tom Selleck was the tom Selleck of my youth. :)

Rip James.


Typos and bad grammar sponsored by iPhone!

great to know. thank you.

Interesting series of photos taken at Riverside during Grand Prix filming.

FotoTime - Slideshow

Fantastic old pictures of Riverside - thanks!