Dan Gurney and his Eagle Climax F1 (MK1), simply at a local garage in Heemstede.
It is 1966, and on 24 July of that year the Grand Prix will be held at the Zandvoort circuit. As I write this, that is almost 60 years ago.
When you look at today's Formula 1 circus, with all its secrecy and screened-off areas, it is hard to imagine how things went back then. Everything was very accessible, and money did not yet decide everything. I am now going to share a fine example of that with you.
A picture of the times.
My father's 'Van Houten motoring empire' consisted of a number of businesses.
The head office was at Blekersvaartweg 14 in Heemstede, and at Kerklaan 113B there was a service station with a petrol pump (Mobil — and later, sensationally, 'Witte Benzine', white petrol at 10 cents a litre off!). A lot of used cars were sold on the Kerklaan as well. Later it would make quite a name for itself with Dinitrol anti-rust treatments. The AUTOTOON showroom was not there yet; that only came in the seventies.
On the Heemsteedse Dreef, by the harbour, my father also ran a Mobil filling station.
Heemstede: on the road to Zandvoort and its legendary circuit.
Formula 1 was close to the people.
Thanks to my father's contacts in the racing world, and probably the fact that he sold Mobil petrol, the request came to give Dan Gurney's Formula 1 team a roof over its head while it prepared for the Grand Prix at Zandvoort. That is how it worked in those days: there was work to be done on the car, and a place had to be found to do it. Heemstede was not far from Zandvoort. An ideal base.
Working on the cars at local garages was perfectly normal back then, by the way. In Zandvoort the F1 cars simply drove through the streets from local garages to the circuit. They were even refuelled locally! Unthinkable nowadays. How wonderful is that — something that no longer exists… Although, when the warm-up for the 24 Hours on the Nordschleife was held recently, almost the same thing happened. The cars drove at walking pace through a corridor of people to the grid. Racing as it should be: affordable, and within reach of everyone.
Just as I once experienced it myself, simply cycling and later riding my moped to the races at Zandvoort. Watching from the dunes, enjoying 'the smell of burning rubber' and, not to forget, the glorious scent of Castrol racing oil!
Back to Dan Gurney.
'Dan' had driven the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch (Saturday 16 July). Sadly a DNF (Did Not Finish): the car broke down after 9 laps. The clutch. There was work to be done, and that work was done at my father's on the Kerklaan.
Unfortunately Zandvoort did not bring the luck he needed either, and Dan retired after only 4 laps.
Another DNF, this time with an oil leak! After only four races the Climax power unit was replaced by the English Weslake V8. That engine had its teething troubles too, but in 1967 the well-deserved success finally came, with a victory at Spa-Francorchamps.
The All American Racers
Dan Gurney had started the team in 1964 together with the famous Carroll Shelby, under the name All American Racers. Later, once they were using the Weslake V8 and England had become their home base, the name was changed to Anglo American Racers.
The photographs
The photographs from that time are completely unique and were, I suspect, taken by my brother Ben, who died far too young. I have no proof of that, though, so the credit may belong to someone else. To be honest, I did not even know these photographs existed, but my dear niece Pia sent them to me a little over a year ago; she came across them while sorting through boxes of photos. You will understand that Dan Gurney will always have a special place in my collection.
Han van Houten, June 2026
