10 Facts About Vasek Polak

Vasek Polak was a prominent car dealer, race car driver, car collector, and racing team owner.

Vasek Polak fought in WWII and was wounded in the Prague Uprising on May 5,1945.

Vasek Polak then left Prague and walked to then West Germany and found a job as a US Army motor pool mechanic.

In 1958 Vasek Polak moved to Hermosa Beach, California and through contact with Dr Ferry Porsche, whom he had known in Europe through motorsport contacts, opened the first exclusive Porsche dealership in the United States in 1959.

Vasek Polak died on April, 17 1997 from cardiac arrest resulting from complications due to an accident on the German Autobahn one month earlier.

Vasek Polak was driving a Porsche 911 Turbo S when he crashed at speeds in excess of 110 mph, breaking both of his arms and legs.

Vasek Polak owned a machine shop in the 1930s and started constructing race engines for motorcycles which he then raced in European enduros.

When he opened his Hermosa Beach shop in 1958, Vasek Polak focused less on driving and more on preparing racing cars and engines for his clientele.

In 1966, Vasek Polak took a Porsche 911 from his dealership inventory and prepared it for racing.

Vasek Polak campaigned a Porsche 917 for the 1971 through the 1974 Can-Am seasons and entered Porsche 934 and Porsche 935 models in the Trans Am Series.