REUTIMANN RACING

Reutimann Racing has its’ roots in Zephyrhills, Florida back into the 1920’s. Emil F. Reutimann Sr., began a repair shop called "Zephyrhills Auto Company". The family was from Switzerland and had a heavy Swiss/German accent. In about 1925, one of the first Chevrolet dealerships in Florida was established by Mr. Reutimann, Sr. A year or so later, Ferman Chevrolet was established. The name Reutimann Chevrolet came into being in about 1954 when ownership of the dealership went from Reutimann Senior to Junior.

Actual stock car racing in the Reutimann family goes back to 1938 when Emil, Jr. raced a "hot rod" at the Ben White Speedway in Orlando. According to Emil’s brother-in-law, Lowell Steve, race cars were called hot rods in that period of time and were just stripped down family cars. There were other times when a bunch of "racers" would meet in a pasture or down at Zephyr Lake and compete. There is no telling how many races and race wins Emil, Jr., had. My first association was in 1954 and there was already a house full of trophies then.

Emil Jr. was called "Boobie" by his friends. As far as I can tell, his parents gave him the nickname as a Swiss/German word for "son" or "baby boy". He was the only son in the family and had three sisters.

Emil Reutimann, Jr. was a slightly built, wiry man with dark, straight hair that he combed straight back. I met him in 1954 when Buzzie began racing and was hired by him the following summer to work in the Parts Department of Reutimann Chevrolet. Emil, Jr. was always Mr. Reutimann to me so, whenever I refer to Mr. Reutimann in this history, I am referring Buzzie’s dad Emil, Jr. (Buzzie is Mr. Reutimann’s oldest son, Emil Lloyd Reutimann). Mr. Reutimann was a quiet bespectacled person who usually appeared to be deep in thought about something. I was able to observe him as he tried to balance the responsibilities of the dealership with his true love of auto racing. He quietly allowed us teenagers to do important jobs without standing over us, but when he spoke to us, we listened and said "yes, sir!" He commanded respect.

Emil Reutimann, Jr. raced all over central Florida at tracks in Winter Haven, Lakeland, Sarasota, Orlando, St. Augustine, Eau Gallie, and the tracks in Tampa at the fair grounds, Phillip’s field and Golden Gate Speedway. He raced successfully against the likes of Will Cagle, Buzz Barton, Pete Folse, Jimmy Riddle, Frankie Schnieder, Pancho Alverez, Dick Hope, Wild Bill Larson, Phil Orr, and Bobby Dawson just to mention a few. Lowell Steve (we call him Uncle Lowell) remembers many stories about racing in pastures where most of the cars got stuck in the sand before making many laps. Also about Mr. Reutimann "borrowing" the dealership’s demonstrator when his folks were away and racing it. Or a time when there weren’t enough cars to have a good race so they talked a friend into driving the tow car, the dealerships shop coupe, and the car wrecked twice before a lap was made thus ending a friends’ race car driving career and creating a real problem back at he garage with the senior Reutimann. Perhaps Uncle Lowell can write a more complete early history than what will be written here.

Mr. Reutimann was an innovator and, as Uncle Lowell says, was a man ahead of his time. It may be impossible to list or describe all of the ingenious things that he did. Uncle Lowell and Buzzie both remember him making full flow oil systems in Chevy engines long before Chevrolet did it in 1953. The problem with the old "dipper" system was slinging the dippers from the rods and keeping enough oil pressure to make the engine live during racing conditions. He did this by drilling holes in the crank and block and helping the lubrication problem by putting a filter in the system. To help the six cylinder breath, he bought a "Wayne" twelve port cylinder head that helped air flow by having the intake come in the left side of the head and the exhaust out the right side. Purchased in California in about 1950, this head was the only one if it’s kind east of the Mississippi at that time. He also solved the old babbit rod problem by adapting inserts to the journal surfaces. There was also a running gear bearing problem that he solved in a unique way. He went to a paint manufacturer and bought lead that was used in paint. He them mixed the lead with gear lube. Transmission and rear end bearing failure was greatly reduced.

Other things that he did were to have his engine components balanced. His engines rarely failed. His built his own tube frames and machined axles for some flexibility and better traction. He was the first racer to use fuel injection and as his class of car, the modified, got faster and lighter, he narrowed a Crosley body to replace his standard ’35 Chevy coupe body. He also experimented with power steering in his cars of the 50’s. He adapted large Buick finned brake drums to his racecar.