1965 Genie Mk.10 - One of Six Mark 10s Built, Extensive Period Race History.

1965 Other Makes Mark 10 Description

1965 Genie Mark 10
s/n H126
Yellow with Red Stripes

The Huffaker Genie was the brainchild of Joe Huffaker, head of British Motor Car Distributors’ Competition Department under the ownership of Kjell Qvale during the 1950s and 1960s. BMC, as it was known, was essentially the West Coast equivalent of Max Hoffman’s famous distributorship, and Qvale brought Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi, MG, Austin Healey, Lotus, Jensen, De Tomaso, Maserati, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Land Rover Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and many other European marques to Americans living in the Western United States starting in the late 1940’s. Indeed, the Qvale dynasty is still very much alive today on Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, and throughout their dealer network. During the early 60s, working for Qvale, Huffaker designed, engineered, and constructed some of the earliest mid-engined racecars under the name Huffaker Genie, which was particularly impressive given that neither McLaren nor Lola had introduced any mid-engined cars. Consequently, for a period, Huffaker Genies were the car to have and were driven by many famous drivers including Bob Bondurant, Dan Gurney, Pedro Rodriguez, and Jack Dalton. At one point, the company was the largest dedicated racecar constructor in the United States. The facility was in San Rafael, California, and today, Mr. Huffaker is still at work not far away, restoring race cars at a shop located at the famous Sears Point racetrack. Huffaker Genie began initially with four cylinder cars displacing no more than two liters, and eventually grew into producing the Mark 8, which featured a tubular space frame and a range of American V8’s from Oldsmobile, Buick, Ford, or Chevrolet.
For the end of the 1964 season, the new Mark 10 was available. It bore strong resemblance to the Mark 8, but was in fact an all-new car. The BMC team focused their effort on mechanically developing the car, and the bodywork from the Mark 8 was modified to fit the new chassis, which was stronger, more sophisticated, and incorporated widened front and rear tracks. The new chassis was designed around a small block Chevrolet motor instead of the Ford 289 or Buick/Oldsmobile powerplants common in the Mark 8. The suspension was revised, the transaxle strengthened and the tremendous Girling CR disc brakes developed for Aston Martin’s Le Mans efforts and also used on the Ford GT40 were fitted. Six Mark 10s were built at BMC’s facility in San Rafael, California.
This car was retained as a factory works car until 1966, and was driven by Jack Dalton, Bob Bondurant, and Augie Pabst. Merle Brennan, a car dealer and SCCA champion based in Reno, Nevada, purchased the car in June of 1967 and raced it around the west coast, including Cotati in June of 1967, where the car won. He fitted a Le Grand body to provide the car with better aerodynamics and raced it in a number of other events, including many outings at Laguna Seca, such as in October of 1967, May of 1968, and at the Can Am races in 1968 and 1970 (both in October). The car placed 13th there in 1970. The car was also raced at the Can Am race in Las Vegas in November of 1968, and the US Champions Riverside race, also in November of 1968. The car also participated in the SCCA National races in both Portland and Reno in 1970.
In 1970, Brennan sold the car to Chris Bender, also of Reno, who kept the car until 1973. Its next keeper was Terry Herman, who continued to use the car in the San Francisco Bay Area, including an outing at Cotati in March of 1973. He sold the car in April of 1976 to Tom Hanes, who immediately raced the car at Sears Point and kept the car until 1985. By 1985, the car was in need of restoration, and was acquired by Mike Blackie in August. He set about comprehensively restoring the car, and completed it in time to participate in the Sonoma Classic in May of 1987. Blackie actively raced the car for over 25 years completing 57 total races including 12 times at the Sonoma Historics (previously Wine Country Classic), 22 times at the Monterey Historics/pre-Historics, and outings at many other West Coast tracks including Coronado, Portland, Kent, and Reno. In 2013, the car was comprehensively restored with rebuilt motor, rebuilt transaxle, redone cosmetics, new rear uprights, and rebuilt suspension. The car has one race since the restoration.
As a result, it is in excellent cosmetic condition. The paint shows very little wear, and the interior is generally fresh in appearance, with some minor patina to the instruments. The chassis and suspension are nicely detailed, as is the engine compartment.
This is an exceptional opportunity to acquire a rare Genie Mark 10, one of just six built. The car has extensive period race history, and has also been enthusiastically raced in vintage events in recent years. It has one event on a comprehensive restoration and comes with log books back to 1976. The car is extremely well-documented with period photos on and off the track, photos from the restoration, newspaper clippings, and period articles about Genies, BMC, and this particular car. There is also a package of spares including the Le Grand bodywork, wheels, tires, and BMC transaxle.