Hollywood’s Real Racer
Paul Newman’s automotive life went far beyond collecting expensive sports cars. He became an accomplished competition driver, winning SCCA championships and finishing second overall at Le Mans. The surviving cars connected to Newman tell that story, from modest Datsuns to brutally powerful purpose-built racers and wonderfully eccentric street machines.
Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty Images; Wikimedia Commons
Winning Changed Everything
Newman’s serious interest in motorsports developed while making Winning (1969), in which he played racing driver Frank Capua. Filming around the 1968 Indianapolis 500 introduced him to competition driving, and unlike most actors who portrayed racers, Newman decided to pursue the sport himself after filming ended.
He Wasn’t Playing Around
Newman initially competed under the name “PLN,” derived from Paul Leonard Newman. Racing quickly became much more than a celebrity hobby. He competed in SCCA events, worked closely with Bob Sharp Racing, and developed a particularly strong association with Datsun and later Nissan machinery.
Four National Championships
Newman eventually won four SCCA national championships. In 1986, at 61, he captured the GT-1 championship in a Nissan 300ZX Turbo, beating Bob Sharp Racing teammate Jim Fitzgerald by only six-tenths of a second. Results like that made it increasingly difficult to dismiss Newman as merely a celebrity driver.
Success Beyond The SCCA
Newman also competed at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, and Le Mans. He scored two Trans-Am victories, including a 1982 win at Brainerd in a Bob Sharp Datsun 280ZX. His international high point, however, came during his only appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Datsun 510
The humble Datsun 510 is closely associated with Newman’s early racing years. Far removed from the exotic machinery expected of a Hollywood superstar, the little Japanese sedan reflected his practical approach to motorsports.
ilikewaffles11, via Wikimedia Commons
Triumph TR6
The Triumph TR6 represents one of the most important milestones in Newman’s competition career. He drove a TR6 to his first SCCA national championship in 1976. The championship-winning Triumph subsequently became part of Newman’s collection of historically significant personal racing machinery.
Datsun 200SX
Newman’s 200SX illustrates just how successful his relationship with Datsun became. One Newman-owned 1977 200SX is credited by the Newport Car Museum with an extraordinary 19 victories in 22 races between 1977 and 1979, making it far more than celebrity memorabilia.(Image of actual car unavailable)
Rutger van der Maar, via Wikimedia Commons
Datsun 280ZX
Newman won another SCCA national championship in 1983 driving a Datsun 280ZX for Bob Sharp Racing. He continued competing in 280ZX machinery in IMSA and also scored his 1982 Trans-Am victory at Brainerd in one, further cementing the Z-car’s importance to his racing career.
Mr.choppers, Wikimedia Commons
Twin-Turbo 280ZX V8
One particularly outrageous Newman-associated 1979 Nissan 280ZX abandoned any pretense of being a conventional production-based Z-car. The aggressively flared machine as using a twin-turbo Japanese V8 producing approximately 933 horsepower. It remains among the most extreme competition cars associated with Newman’s racing history.
ZidaneHartono, Wikimedia Commons
The Red Porsche 935
The most famous racing car associated with Newman may be Dick Barbour Racing’s red, Hawaiian Tropic-sponsored Porsche 935, chassis 009 0030. Newman shared the twin-turbo machine with team owner Dick Barbour and experienced German racer Rolf Stommelen at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans.
David Merrett from Daventry, England, Wikimedia Commons
Second At Le Mans
Newman was 54 and making his Le Mans debut, but he was no ceremonial celebrity entrant. Through terrible rain, the number 70 Porsche remained in contention and eventually finished second overall. Newman, Barbour, and Stommelen also won the IMSA class, completing 299 laps during the 24-hour race.
United Autosports, Wikimedia Commons
The 935 Kept Winning
The Porsche’s history continued after Newman. It later raced wearing Apple Computer colors and, under subsequent ownership, won the 1981 Daytona 24 Hours with Bob Garretson, Bobby Rahal, and Brian Redman. In 2016, the historically significant 935 sold at auction for an extraordinary $4.84 million.
Jaeger-Meister from Deutschland, Wikimedia Commons
Nissan 300ZX Turbo
By the mid-1980s, Newman was racing Nissan’s 300ZX. The Z31-generation competition cars became another defining chapter of his relationship with Bob Sharp Racing. These 300ZX racers were preserved from the period when Newman was achieving some of his most impressive late-career results.
1985 Nissan 300ZX
Carolla acquired one of the turbocharged Z cars Newman drove at the SCCA Runoffs during the mid-1980s. Restoring these specialized racers could become extraordinarily expensive. Forbes reported that one 1985 Newman Nissan required roughly two years and around $500,000 in restoration work and still was not finished.
1986 Nissan 300ZX
The 1986 Nissan 300ZX is particularly important because Newman drove it to another SCCA GT-1 national championship. He also gave the 300ZX its noted Trans-Am victory at Lime Rock that year, demonstrating that the actor remained genuinely competitive even as he entered his sixties.
Brownie Harris/Corbis via Getty Images
1987 Nissan 300ZX 2+2
Newman subsequently moved into tube-frame Nissan 300ZX 2+2 racers. Carolla owns the 1987 and 1988 examples, which are extremely similar mechanically. One easy visual distinction between them is their roll cages: the 1987 car carries a blue roll bar, while the 1988 car’s is white.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
1988 Nissan 300ZX 2+2
The 1988 300ZX 2+2 marked the end of Newman’s long Nissan racing relationship. The Newport Car Museum describes it as the final Nissan he raced. Carolla reportedly bought the car for $225,000 and has subsequently driven it himself in vintage racing events.
1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass
Newman’s racing machinery changed dramatically when he moved from Nissan to Oldsmobile. His 1989 Cutlass Trans-Am racer used a turbocharged Buick V6 and competed in five events that season. The car was later associated with NFL great Walter Payton before eventually becoming part of Adam Carolla’s collection.
1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass
For 1990, Newman-Sharp Racing returned with another Oldsmobile Cutlass, this time powered by a Chevrolet V8. Newman again entered five events, scoring a top-ten result at Phoenix. It became the final car he raced during his long partnership with Bob Sharp’s organization.
Jay Bonvouloir, Wikimedia Commons
Spice-Chevrolet SE89P
Newman did not confine himself entirely to the familiar Datsun, Nissan, and Trans-Am machinery. He also drove a Spice-Chevrolet SE89P on a couple of occasions for Tom Milner Racing. The purpose-built Group C/GTP prototype represents another side of his unusually varied competition résumé.
David Merrett from Daventry, England, Wikimedia Commons
Volkswagen Beetle
Newman’s road cars could be nearly as unconventional as his racers. One Volkswagen Beetle was modified with an 1,800cc Porsche engine, along with Koni shocks, stabilizers, and Porsche brakes. Another heavily modified Newman Beetle has been described with a mid-engine chassis and V8 power, showing his appetite for unlikely sleepers.
Paul Newman with his 1963 VW Bug (Screenshot of VW commercial)
1988 Volvo 740
Newman’s enthusiasm for sleepers produced one of his most entertaining street cars. His 1988 Volvo 740 wagon received a turbocharged 3.8-liter Buick Grand National V6, along with performance modifications by HESCO Engineering. The wonderfully discreet wagon eventually sold for $80,740 after changing hands only once in 35 years.
Kieran White from Manchester, England, Wikimedia Commons
Volvo V90 “Volvette”
Newman’s sleeper obsession culminated in a 1998 Volvo V90 wagon transformed with Corvette power. The so-called “Volvette” reportedly used a 6.0-liter V8 producing about 430 horsepower while retaining the ordinary Volvo bodywork and wheels, leaving few external clues about what was hiding underneath.
Guillaume Vachey from Chalon sur Saone, France, Wikimedia Commons
Hudson Hornet
Newman famously voiced Doc Hudson in Pixar’s Cars, creating another automotive connection late in his life. Gunnar Racing subsequently built him a real Hudson Hornet-inspired machine with NASCAR styling and Ford V8 power, linking his movie work with the motorsports passion that had occupied him for decades.
Michael Barera, Wikimedia Commons
2002 Chevrolet Corvette
A 2002 Chevrolet Corvette associated with Newman represented a more conventional form of American performance. The 5.7-liter V8 model was rated at 350 horsepower, but Newman provenance made it anything but ordinary to collectors. VIPFortunes reports that the Corvette sold at auction for $275,000 in 2012.
Martin Lee from London, UK, Wikimedia Commons
Carolla Preserved The Cars
Comedian and automotive enthusiast Adam Carolla became the most prominent collector of Newman’s racing machinery. Carolla has said he owns 13 Newman race cars, concentrating particularly on Datsun and Nissan competition cars built by Bob Sharp Racing, along with Newman’s Triumph, Oldsmobiles, and the celebrated Porsche 935.
Philip Nelson, Wikimedia Commons
More Than Celebrity Cars
What distinguishes Newman’s automotive legacy is that so many important cars were working competition machines. His TR6 won an SCCA championship, his Nissans carried him through decades of racing, and the Porsche 935 took him to second overall at Le Mans. These were cars connected directly to measurable racing accomplishments.
Sunset Boulevard, Getty Images
He Kept Racing
Newman did not treat racing as a temporary diversion after Hollywood introduced him to the sport. He remained involved for decades, progressing from club racing into major endurance events and professional Trans-Am competition. His preserved race cars now provide a remarkably tangible record of that second career.
Newman Was The Real Deal
The collection ultimately explains why racers came to regard Newman differently from the typical celebrity driver. Four SCCA national championships, professional Trans-Am victories, and a class victory with second overall at Le Mans required genuine ability. His cars survive as evidence of just how seriously he took motorsport.
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