Paul Furkbaum got his SCCA license when he turned 21 and has been racing on and off ever since. He took a hiatus of 20 years while his children were growing up.
His first race car was a TR3 that he raced on the east coast. Back then they drove the car to the track, changed to race tires, removed the windshield, taped the lights and went racing.
After law school, Paul moved to Chicago where he campaigned an NSU TTS in D sedan for several years.
Paul then went “walkabout” landing in Quito, Ecuador, where he met his wife of 40 years and campaigned a Mini Cooper (with the roof cut off) and a Datsun truck on city streets in Quito and Guayaquilas well as closed tracks. The newspapers hailed him as “el piloto gringo”. Racing in Ecuador is unique with differential speeds of over 100 MPH as Can Am cars are on the track with Datsun pickups. City crowds of 80,000 are not uncommon.
Moving to California in the early 70’s, Paul raced Formula Fords, first a Merlyn MK 11 and then a Tiga, Retiring in 1986 until 2005 when he returned to racing with VARA in an MGB. Finding that car too slow he has been racing a 2 liter Sports Racing Swift DB2/5 in the S2 Cup in SCCA as well as their vintage 1968 Porsche 911 which campaigns in Mexico as well as the Coronado Speed Festival and which will be raced by Ray Stephens in SCCA National competition in 2013.
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