David Friedman, Photographer for Shelby and Many others, Has Died

• Motorsports photographer Dave Friedman has handed away at 87.
• Friedman labored for Carroll Shelby from 1962-1965.
• His profession spanned a number of a long time of sports activities automotive racing.

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Dave Friedman, who captured the best years of sports activities automotive racing in America and Europe through the golden age of the game as a part of Shelby American, has died. He was 87.

Friedman was the workers photographer at Shelby American from 1962 to 1965 and continued to shoot for Shelby and Ford Motor Company within the years after that, overlaying racing motion at tracks all throughout his native Southern California, America, and Europe. He was within the midst of the best period of sports activities automotive racing the world had ever seen, and he stored the shutter clicking the entire time.

After service within the U.S. Navy, Friedman started attending and photographing native beginner sports activities automotive races round his native Los Angeles. Friedman, naturally, met the drivers, amongst whom was Carroll Shelby.

Gurney and Foyt at Le Mans.

In 1963, Shelby employed Friedman to doc the design and growth of what would turn out to be certainly one of racing’s most dominant secure of vehicles: the Shelby Cobra, King Cobra and Cobra Daytona coupe. Those are the images for which he’s most well-known by automotive lovers.

In 1965, Friedman began at twentieth Century Fox as an assistant cameraman, the place he captured iconic pictures of American cinema and tv. In recognition of his skilled accomplishments in that area, Friedman is the one nonetheless photographer ever elected to the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. While he labored within the film business the remainder of his life, he continued to doc auto racing.

Carroll Shelby on the Daytona 200.

Friedman additionally continued his relationship with Shelby, capturing the ultimate growth of the GT40, the American-designed and constructed racecar that dominated Le Mans between 1966 and 1969.

Friedman wrote over 30 books on vehicle racing, together with sports activities automotive highway racing, Formula 1, Can-Am, Trans-Am, drag racing and inventory vehicles. You can discover the books right here: Amazon.com: Dave Friedman: books, biography, latest update

Before he died, he donated his racing pictures to The Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, the place The Dave Friedman Collection now paperwork over 60 years of vehicle races and racecars and contains images, slides, negatives and speak to sheets, the museum notes. In addition, the gathering contains information that element particular races, together with entrant lists, automotive particulars, applications, press kits, and revealed supplies.

Cobra Daytona Coupe earlier than the wing.

The assortment additionally contains materials associated to race groups and producers together with Ford Motor Company, Shelby-American International, Dan Gurney’s All-American Racing, Jim Hall’s Chaparral Racing, Corvette, Ferrari and Porsche, all shot by Friedman. You can see all of it, after a couple of hyperlinks (ask your youngsters to assist) here.

There are even 60 audiocassette tapes of interviews performed by Friedman as a part of his analysis for the books he wrote. Interviewees embrace A.J. Foyt, Dan Gurney, Jack Brabham, Jim Hall, and John Surtees, amongst others.