Peter Brock was Australia’s racing legend, but there’s another man in the US by the same name regarded in much the same ilk.
Pete Elbert Brock is a revered name in the US motor industry as an automotive designer, race team owner and later a lecturer through more than 50 years.
Growing up as part of a family known for its mechanical prowess courtesy of Brock’s grandfather Elbert, who co-designed the Liberty L-12 engine and co-founded the Hall-Scott Motor Car Company ensured the next generation was bound to end up in the industries.
Brock started his motoring journey at the age of 16 by purchasing an MG and immediately started modifying it, which included painting it in a patriotic colour scheme.
However, when Brock attended his first road race at Pebble Beach in 1951 and started picked up to photography due to being old enough to obtain a racing licence due to the SCCA’s minimum age of 21.
Moving from Sausalito to Menlo Park in California spurred on Brock’s push for speed as he found parts for his MG to increase power and purchased 1946 Ford convertible, which was soon to be named the ‘Fordillac’ due to the Cadillac engine installed. The ‘Fordillac’ won Brock the Oakland Roadster Show twice before heading to General Motors.
Graduating from high school and enrolling at Stanford University to study engineering, Brock soon dropped out to return to California where he went to the Art Center School, gaining admittance by sketching hot rods in a three-ring binder after not having a folio to display.
It didn’t take long for Brock to get an opportunity when General Motors came knocking at the age of 19 becoming one of the youngest designers to be hired by the conglomerate.
Brock designed the second generation Corvette Stingray, but nearly four years after he had left the company in 1959.
General Motors’ ban on motorsport and Brock’s determination to become a race driver led the latter to return to California to also be joined by a Cooper he had purchased featuring a past at Le Mans.
Splitting his time between working at Max’s Hollywood Motors and finishing the Cooper provided Brock with plenty of experience, which led to a call from Carroll Shelby.
A racing legend in his own right, Shelby was running a high performance driving school at Riverside and a disagreement with his co-owner led to the latter’s departure.
Brock was the first paid employee of Shelby American and created a wide range of products from merchandise to logistics, to ads to liveries. He also designed components for the Shelby Mustang GT350s in addition to race cars such as the Lang Chipper, Nethercutt Mirage, De Tomaso P70 and Daytona Coupes to win the FIA GT World Championship in 1965.
It was soon time to branch on his own forming Brock Racing Enterprises associating with manufacturers including Hino, Toyota and Datsun.
The program under Datsun proved a force before he shut the program down to produce hang gliders under the Ultralite Products brand.
In the 1990s, Brock returned to the Art Center College of Design to be a lecturer and also wrote a variety of books on his previous designs.
Making a full-circle move, he left his lecturing post to take up automotive photojournalism alongside his wife Gayle and was published in prestigious magazines worldwide.
Continuing his design journey side-by-side, the Aerovault trailer was designed and produced by Brock.
Highly decorated, Brock is a member of numerous Hall of Fames including those of the Sports Car Club of America, Motorsport and many Life Achievement Awards.
Brock currently lives in Las Vegas Valley.