Joe Buzzetta

Joe Buzzetta
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Born	(1936-12-30) December 30, 1936 Brooklyn New York
Nationality	American
Occupation	Racecar driver

Joe Buzzetta (born December 30, 1936 Brooklyn New York) is a former American racecar driver who drove for the factory Porsche racing team as well as successful car dealer. He drove from 1958 to 1969 in professional racing. His career started when he enlisted in the army and was stationed in Germany where he lived with his wife Valerie. From there he bought an Austin Healey to participate in some local races. When he found the Porsche’s to be hard to compete with, he bought himself a Porsche 356 Convertible D and immediately noticed a big improvement. After suffering an accident with it he ended up ordering a 356 Carrera Speedster. He primarily participated in races that he could drive the car to such as Solitude and Coppa Inter-Europa.

At the end of his service he moved back to Long Island and continued to participate in local SCCA races in 1960 and 1961 with his Carrera Speedster. He frequented tracks such as Lime Rock, Bridgehampton, and Thompson. In 1961 he was chosen to drive for Donald Healey in the Sebring 12 Hour race with Glenn Carlson where they finished 15 th overall and 2 nd in the S1.15 class.

In 1962 he partnered with racing mechanic Oscar Rubio opening a repair shop called “Competition Engineering” (later changed to Competition Imports). This business would support their race program and Buzzetta purchased a Porsche 718 RSK to campaign in 1962 and 1963 in regional SCCA races with good success. Looking for a better handling car he purchased a 718 RS60 for the 1963 season, winning overall at Thompson and the SCCA E-Modified national championship.

1964 would start off with Buzzetta receiving the opportunity to drive for the Porsche factory at the Sebring 12 hours race again. Driving a 356B Carrera 2000 GS/GT “Dreikantschaber”, he and Ben Pon would finish 11 th overall and 1 st in class. During the rest of the season they would campaign a new Elva Mk VII with a 4-cam Porsche engine with multiple class victories. He also had the opportunity to drive a 904 GTS with Bill Wuesthoff for Ed Weschler to a victory at Bridgehampton Raceway’s “Double 500.” In 1965 Buzzetta and Rubio would continue to campaign the Elva-Porsche in various USRRC events. In the beginning of the year however, Buzzetta was given another opportunity to drive for Porsche, this time with a 904 GTS at Sebring alongside Pen Bon again. Their result was 6 th overall, 2 nd in class trailing Lake Underwood and Gunther Klass also in a factory 904 GTS, finishing on the same lap.

With great success in the few opportunities he was given, Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein would yield the opportunity for Buzzetta to drive with better support from Porsche. He would start the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour race with Gerhard Mitter in a 904. Together they would finish 7 th overall 1 st in class. The next month he would start Sebring again, this time with Hans Herrmann and Gerhard Mitter in the new Carrera 6, better known as the 906. They would celebrate a class victory in the Prototype 2 Liter class, finishing 4 th overall. Using the same chassis (#906-103) racing under Porsche North America, Buzzetta and Rubio would tour the United States participating in various USSRC events with numerous class wins.

In 1967, having proven his ability, Buzzetta was invited to race in International endurance races. He started off the year with driving at Sebring, finishing 7 th overall 4 th in class in a 906 alongside Peter Gregg. Then he would travel overseas to the Nurburgring 1000KM race, where he would drive a 910 alongside Udo Schutz. After a very close race they would come out with an overall win by two tenths of a second. This would end up being a big win for Porsche, their first overall victory at the Nurburgring ever. After that, Porsche would put Schutz and Buzzetta together in a 910 again hopeful that they could repeat their success at Le Mans. Unfortunately oil pressure would bring them to a DNF. The rest of the season would be spent touring the US again in a 906, bringing success with numerous class victories and a win at Mid-Ohio.

1968 would start at the Daytona 24 hour race, where Buzzetta was paired with Frenchman Jo Schlesser. Driving the 907 Longtail in the prototype class, they were one of a fleet of 4 factory cars with Porsche showing a valiant effort. They would secure the victory dominating the race, taking the first three positions with Buzzetta/Schlesser finishing 3 rd overall. Sebring would be his next race, in a 907, but he would not finish with a valve spring compromising the engine. Then he would return to the 1000KM race at the Nurburgring following his overall victory driving a 907 with Jochen Neerpasch. The duo would finish 4 th overall. Next would be the Watkins Glen 6 Hours and Le Mans, which brought DNFs with the new 908 showing reliability issues.

In 1969 he was given the opportunity to race at the Daytona 24 hour race again, driving a 908 Longtail with Richard Atwood. Unfortunately the result was a DNF with them losing an engine 6 hours into the race. Buzzetta would then go return to Sebring for the 7 th time with Rolf Stommelen and Kurt Ahrens Jr in a 908/2 finishing 3 rd overall, second in the 3 liter class. His last race for the factory was at Watkins Glen in a 908/2, where he partnered with Rudy Lins and finished 3 rd overall.

After that with a family and many colleagues being injured or even killed, Buzzetta decided to end his racing career and focus on the growing business with Rubio. Back on Long Island Competition Imports now has the Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Datsun franchises and has moved to a bigger facility in St. James, New York. Although he no longer races professionally, Buzzetta participated in numerous races in the growing vintage car racing community. He purchased some vintage Porsche racecars like the ones he drove in the 1960’s as well as a Lola T292 and Chevron B19, racing them from the 1980’s to 2012. In the early 1980’s he would split the business with Rubio and part ways. Oscar taking the Datsun brand and Buzzetta taking Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Now Competition Imports is called Competition Automotive Group and consists of individual dealerships including Competition BMW, Mercedes-Benz of Smithtown, Competition Infiniti, Mercedes-Benz of Huntington, and Competition Subaru. They are now run by his 3 children. He still has some of the cars he raced in vintage racing and even bought back some of the cars he raced in the 1960’s. Although he no longer races, he still participates in taking them to concurs events.

Racing Record 24 Hours of Le Mans: 1967 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove with: Udo Schutz Car: Porsche 910 #39 Result: DNF 1968 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove with: Scooter Patrick Car: Porsche 908 Longtail #34 Result: DNF

24 Hours of Daytona: 1966 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove With: Gerhard Mitter Car: Porsche 904 #16 Result: 7 th (1 st in S2.0) 1968 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove with: Jo Schlesser Car: Porsche 907 Longtail #51 Result: 3 rd Overall 1969 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove with: Richard Attwood Car: Porsche 908 Longtail #51

Result: DNF

12 Hours of Sebring 1961 Team: Donald Healey Drove with: Glenn Carlson Car: Austin Healey Sebring Sprite #66 Result: 15 th (2 nd in S1.15) 1964 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove with: Ben Pon Car: Porsche 356B Carrera 2000 GS/GT #43 Result: 11 th (1 st in GT2.0) 1965 Team: Porsche Automobile Co. Drove With: Ben Pon Car: Porsche 904 GTS #39 Result: 6 th (2 nd in GT2.0) 1966 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove with: Hans Herrmann and Gerhard Mitter Car: Porsche 906 #52 Result: 4 th (1 st in P2.0) 1967 Team: Porsche Auto Drove with: Peter Gregg Car: Porsche 906 #38 Result: 7 th (4 th in P2.0) 1968

Team: Porsche Automobile Co. Drove with: Ludovico Scarfiotti Car: Porsche 907 #50 Result: DNF 1969 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove with: Rolf Stommelen and Kurt Ahrens Car: Porsche 908/2 #27 Result: 3 rd

1000KM Nurburgring 1967 Team: Porsche System Engineering Drove with: Udo Schutz Car: Porsche 910 #17 Result: 1 st 1968 Team: Porsche Drove with: Jochen Neerpasch Car: Porsche 907 Result: 4th

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