His Versatility Is Vintage, Too : Auto racing: George Follmer, a success in many avenues, races this weekend in the Historic Grand Prix.

George Follmer once raced against guys named Andretti, Foyt, Rutherford, Unser and Waltrip.

He pinch-hit--so to speak--for an injured Mark Donohue in a 1972 Canadian-American race, won his first time out and took the season championship.

For years, he has been the International Race of Champions’ lead test driver--making sure each car is close to equal to the others--for drivers such as Allison, Brabham, Earnhardt, Elliott and Rahal.

Along with each of those, his name, as well as those of Rick Mears, Shirley Muldowney and Don Prudhomme, appears on a national driver-of-the-year trophy at the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park.

Despite beginning in racing at an age when many retire--29--Follmer, now 57 and living in Oceanside, has had a long, distinguished career.

“It was good,” Follmer said. “I was successful, so it was good. And the most unique thing about it is I get to do something I really like.”

Though Follmer speaks of his professional racing career in the past tense, doing what he enjoys still is a pursuit.

This weekend, Follmer and 150 drivers will be competing--racing for fun, really--in the third annual Historic Grand Prix on the west parking lot of San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Practice runs begin at 9 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, with races scheduled between 1 and 4 p.m. each day. The 1.3-mile track includes six turns. There also will be an auto show and merchandising exposition on both days and a concours d’elegance Sunday, featuring cars too valuable for even vintage racing.

Follmer probably will enter a 1977 March, if he can tone down the engine. There is a noise ordinance involved with stadium events.

“I’ve had an opportunity to race in Formula One, Indianapolis, stock cars, sports cars, Trans-Am and Can-Am,” said Follmer, the only racer to win the Trans-American and Can-Am championships in the same year.

That year--1972--he also won the Jerry Titus Memorial Trophy for driver of the year as voted on by more than 200 members of the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Assn.

“That was a significant achievement,” Follmer said, “because it’s not necessarily the races you’ve won--that certainly helps--but it’s the fact your critics, if you will, have selected you.”

Follmer paused before saying, “I guess you call sports writers critics . . . ‘I don’t care what you say, just spell the name right.’ Isn’t that what Foyt used to say?”

A key man at a time of innovation for U.S. racing, Follmer also was the first person to win a major race--the 150-mile USAC season opener in 1969 at the Phoenix International Raceway--using a stock block Chevrolet engine. He won by three laps, overtaking Bobby Unser in the 122nd mile.

He won the Trans-Am championship three times, competed in the Indianapolis 500 six times and scored a World Championship point in his first Formula Onestart.

“It took me 10 years to get to Formula One, which is considered the epitome of motor sports drivers,” he said. “It was the ultimate of road racers to go Formula 1 racing. I went when I was 39, when most people retire by the time their 26.”

Said Johnny McDonald, the media relations director of the Historic Grand Prix, “There are a lot of drivers that can’t adapt to one type of racing or another. George was versatile. George started out as a road racer, but he was able to adapt to the other types of racing.”

“I didn’t specialize in any one thing,” Follmer said. “I ran wherever I could race. I ran wherever I could get a good car to run.”

A similar philosophy led Follmer to the vintage car business.

He and his partner, Ted Gildred, a former U.S. ambassador to Argentina under President Ronald Reagan, own and operate the Stars and Stripes Motorsports Center, a restoration shop in Carlsbad.

“The vintage car business is a very aggressively growing, popular event,” Follmer said. “Obviously, it’s not a sport in the true sense of the word--we’re there for the fun and the driving of the old cars--but the interest level and, of course, the appreciation level of the values has made it pretty popular. . . . The entries for the vintage car races are greater than we used to get for our pro races.”

He said, “The appreciation we’re looking at is 400% and 500% on the cars in the last four or five years. (In the past), I can’t tell you how many cars I threw away. Literally. Because there was nothing worse than last year’s racing car. Their value in those days was nothing.

“I can remember some cars that I sold for petty cash--$10,000. That car today would probably make $300,000 or $400,000. Tremendous.”

What makes a car valuable, Follmer said, is its history.

“Who drove it. Where it ran. What races it won. That is the criteria of value,” he said. “The condition of two cars can be identical, but the car that was driven by A.J., or that was driven by Dan Gurney, won the Grand Prix in Europe, won Indy, makes the car worth more money.”

So whatever happened to that ’69 Chevy stock block?

“It’s in Texas,” Follmer said. “I tried to buy it back here recently, but we couldn’t get together on a figure.”

Seems it appreciated a bit more than Follmer thought.

SAN DIEGO HISTORIC GRAND PRIX

What: Third Annual San Diego Historic Grand Prix.

When: Saturday and Sunday. Practice runs begin at 9 a.m. each day. Grand Prix races are scheduled to begin 1 p.m. each day.

Where: San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium parking lot.

Track: 1.3 miles, six turns.

Tickets: Single day $10. Weekend $15. Children 12 and younger, and military personnel are free. Advanced tickets can be purchased at the San Diego Automotive Museum and Ticketmaster outlets. All proceeds go to the San Diego Automotive Museum.

For more information: Call the museum at 231-9869.

Additionally: There will be a concours d’elegance Sunday, a contest featuring vintage, classic and exotic automobiles. There will also be an auto show and a merchandising exposition on both days.

Local entrants include: D.E. (Butch) Bucciarelli, 57, La Jolla; Robert Caro, 48, San Diego; Starr Cooke, 44, El Cajon; Terrance Cowan, Bonita; Richard Daniel, 60, Fallbrook; George Follmer, 57, Oceanside; Jeff Gerkin, 39, Alpine; Ted Gildred, 55, Rancho Santa Fe; Vern Jaques, 60, Chula Vista; Daniel Martin, 48, Dave Mericle, Leucadia; Santee; Wayne Poe, Carlsbad; Rod Susman, La Jolla; Gordon Taylor, 50, Escondido; Richard Zimmermann, 20, Oceanside.

Typical Sponsor: Vern Jaques--No Rush Racing (me and wife).