Max Balchowsky was a prominent 1950s and 1960s American race car builder and driver, and was involved in the film industry as a stuntman and an automotive mechanic.
13 Facts About Max Balchowsky
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Max Balchowsky is remembered for his crude but spectator-popular underdog Old Yeller Specials that competed against many of Europe's most exotic and expensive sports cars.
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Max Balchowsky was born and raised in Fairmont, West Virginia.
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Max Balchowsky served in World War II as a B-24 belly turret gunner in the European campaign and following injuries incurred while bailing out, served in the Burma Campaign.
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Max Balchowsky competed in street, drag and most notably in California Sports Car Club and Sports Club Car of America races.
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Max Balchowsky drag raced it and raced it in sports car races which was unusual at the time.
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Max Balchowsky raced his Buretti often in 1955 and 1956 and in a couple of races in 1957.
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Max Balchowsky won two 1957 SCCA National Sports Car Championship races out of fifteen in his group.
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When Max Balchowsky wasn't driving his cars, some of the best drivers of the day took the helm, including, Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby, Bob Bondurant, Billy Krause, Bob Drake, Paul O'Shea, and Ronnie Bucknum.
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In 1965 Max Balchowsky was a mechanic for the two Bizzarrini Iso Grifo cars powered by Chevrolet 327s for the Sebring 12 Hour Grand Prix of Endurance.
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Max Balchowsky took the wrecked cars back to his shop, started building a car using parts from the two totaled cars but the result has never surfaced.
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Max Balchowsky was involved in the production of many films working as a mechanic to modify, repair, and maintain the cars, as a consultant, and as a stunt driver.
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Max Balchowsky is noted for preparing the Mustangs and Dodges used in the film Bullitt which had one of Hollywood's most iconic car chase scenes.