Did AJ Foyt Almost Drive For Ferrari?
This year (Jan. 16th) we celebrate the 90th birthday of one of the greatest race car drivers the world has ever seen: AJ Foyt. Did AJ almost drive for Ferrari back in the mid-60s? I spoke with Art Garner, the author of an amazing book about AJ’s life…and we talked about how it was to happening.
AJ Foyt and Ferrari
Here’s just a small part of our conversation – focusing on the dangers of driving back then, and AJ’s “flirting” with Ferrari
Jim O’Brien (host of Big Jim’s Garage):
There’s so much in here I didn’t know. We always hear about the dangers of Formula One back in the day—how 25% of drivers were at risk—but I don’t think people realize how dangerous it was for IndyCar drivers and all the other series, like sprint cars. The way you describe it in your book, Art, it’s insane that they kept doing this.
Art Garner (author of A.J. Foyt: Survivor, Champion, Legend):
Yeah, drivers were being killed almost every week. Dan Gurney once said you had to have a World War II mentality because sooner or later, you were going to get it. I asked A.J. several times during my research, “How did you keep going after seeing your friends and competitors killed in crashes?” He always gave me a kind of puzzled look and said, “It’s just what we did. I had to make money. You went to the next race and kept going.”
That’s why the title The Survivor kept coming back to me. A.J. Foyt is the ultimate survivor.

Jim O’Brien:
Yeah, absolutely. For those listening, the book is titled A.J. Foyt: Survivor, Champion, Legend, and this is just volume one.
I came across something in your book that I didn’t know about—Ferrari actually built a prototype IndyCar at one point. And you mention that A.J. Foyt talked with Ferrari about possibly driving for them. Can you explain that?
Art Garner:
Sure. Back at the end of 1964, A.J. was in Europe looking for a new car. He realized he needed to make the move to rear-engined cars, and Ferrari was transitioning to rear-engined cars in Formula One as well.
A.J.’s chief mechanic, George Bignotti, who was of Italian descent, wanted to meet Enzo Ferrari, so they arranged a meeting. Ferrari wanted A.J. to drive for him. A.J. had never been that interested in Formula One, but the discussion got to the point where Ferrari proposed, “If you drive one of our cars in Europe, we’ll build a car for you at Indianapolis.”
It was even announced that A.J. would drive for Ferrari in 1965, but it never happened. Nobody really knows why. Years later, Ferrari did build an IndyCar prototype, but nothing came of it in the mid-60s.

Jim O’Brien:
Do you think Enzo Ferrari admired A.J.’s style as a driver?
Art Garner:
Oh, absolutely. At the time, A.J. had some disputes with Ford at Indianapolis during the 1964 season. Ferrari, meanwhile, was also at odds with Ford. I think Enzo saw A.J. as someone who shared that same fighting spirit against Ford, and he thought, “Why not team up?”