The message came from a friend of a friend, sorting through a car enthusiast’s estate. The vehicle in question? A small AMC Spirit sedan, stubby frame, retro stripes, front and rear spoilers, and a V8 under the hood. It hadn’t drawn much attention locally, but it carried a rumoured history of competition in Europe.
Would the British team at Duncan Hamilton be interested?
Jack didn’t hesitate. Professionally, he was intrigued. Personally, he was thrilled.
“It didn’t take much back and forth for me to realize just how rare a find this was. I've never seen an AMX Spirit on the road in the UK or Europe, let alone racing. And it's such a unique piece of American auto history, especially with its small size. And yet it's got this huge American engine! I love the way AMC just did their own thing. They built their own engines, and they had completely different styling from everyone else. Within a day or so, I was beyond tempted. I made the man an offer, and it was done.”
American Spirit
What Jack had just purchased was one of two long-lost AMC Spirits, cars that BFGoodrich Tires and the American Motors Corporation sent to Germany to race in the Nürburgring 24 Hour in 1979.
The story behind them was a remarkable slice of American motorsport history: equal parts ambition, ingenuity, and audacity.
In just three short weeks, the cars were sourced, prepped, and shipped across the Atlantic. They arrived in Europe with a set of BFGoodrich street tires, a film crew, and actor James Brolin as a co-driver to capture it all.
Nicknamed “The Green Hell,” the Nürburgring’s 14-mile course twists and drops through the hills of West Germany. With unpredictable weather, brutal elevation changes, and infamous carousel corners, it was considered the most challenging closed road course in the world. None of the team members, drivers or engineers, had ever driven it before.
Because only private cars were allowed on the track for practice, the American team learned the course in a rental car. Then, by chance, their innkeeper connected them with a retired Nürburgring champion: Heinz Hennerici. Despite having lost an arm during WWII, and not speaking a word of English, Heinz proved to be an exceptional teacher.
“Heinz showed us not just the proper lines through each corner and exactly where to aim cresting each blind rise, but also where we could deviate from those lines for optimum advantage. Despite the language barrier, it somehow sank in. I nodded off following the Friday night meeting running the entire 14.1-mile laps in my mind. And I sensed at times during the race that I knew the track better than many competing drivers.” – Gary Witzenberg for Motortrend, Team Driver and Journalist
The Race That Made History
Feeling more confident with each lap, Amos Johnson, Dennis Shaw, Jim Downing, Lyn St. James, and James Brolin suited up to race. Out of a 120-car field, they qualified 20th and 21st, and were the only cars running on street tires, proudly bearing BFGoodrich’s iconic raised white letters.
Over the next 24 hours, the track unleashed everything: rain, fog, mechanical failures, clutch slips, oil leaks, broken shocks, even headaches from poorly fitted helmets.
But the cars held together. The crews adapted. The tires endured.
When the sun rose, both Spirits crossed the finish line, hungry, exhausted, and victorious. They finished 25th and 43rd overall, taking first and second in class. Not bad for a team of bold Americans running on off-the-shelf Radial T/A street tires.
“Lyn went on to race at Indy, James married Barbra Streisand, and I'm still writing car stories. The trophy occupies a prominent place on a shelf in my office. A few others flank it, but I'll cherish that one forever, thanks to a great team, a tough Rambler, and the wonders of German beer.” – Gary Witzenberg for Motortrend, Team Driver and Journalist
Back to the Future
Jack already knew the Spirit’s backstory, that in 1979, a small American team with BFGoodrich Tires took on Europe’s toughest circuit and won. But after purchasing the car, he found something that made the story come alive: the original documentary of the event, narrated by actor and co-driver James Brolin.
It was the missing piece, proof of how this little American underdog had earned its legend.
For Jack, the car checked every box. The son of a race car driver, he grew up surrounded by engines and stories of speed. Decades later, that love of automotive Americana, especially the muscle and racing sedans of the ’70s and ’80s, became his career.
Part historian, part detective, and part enthusiast, Jack spends his days tracking down the rare and the remarkable. His work blends patience and obsession, poring over serial numbers, setting up alerts for hard-to-find parts, and following digital breadcrumbs across the web.
Every so often, the search pays off, leading him to uncover a forgotten gem of racing history.
Most of the time, Jack does this work for clients, collectors and lifelong enthusiasts who want to own a piece of the sport’s past. But this one felt different. This time, the car’s history, charm, and underdog spirit were too special to let go.
“I'm going to keep this car, certainly for the time being. I'm too in love with the story! I need to race it a few times, too. I love the colors of the livery, so rare for that era. It's not like any other car I've ever seen.”
Full Circle
“It needed a restoration, and I was happy to do it. It’s so rare to find something this cool that hasn’t already been restored. It’s a labor of love to do it yourself, and you get to learn just how original it is as a result. This car was so authentic and untouched; it still had the cleared-to-race sticker from Nürburgring on the back bumper, dated 1979.”
Forgotten, found, and fully restored, the Spirit of ’79 lives on, race-ready once again, more than forty years after its first victory.
To learn more about Jack Tetley’s work and Duncan Hamilton ROFGO, visit dhrofgo.com. To read Gary Witzenberg’s full report on his team’s historic 1979 win, head to motortrend.com.
Photos courtesy of Amos Johnson and Dennis Shaw of Team Highball.