Blake, Bob
Name/Title
Blake, BobEntry/Object ID
2025.1.58Description
Bob Blake was a master metal‑shaper and race‑car fabricator whose work quietly shaped some of the most important American and British competition cars of the 1950s and 1960s. Born in 1916 on the Fort Totten Sioux/Dakota Reservation in North Dakota, he taught himself metalwork as a teenager and later built sprint and midget cars before and after World War II. His reputation for precision and creativity brought him into top‑level racing circles, and he became a key figure in the Briggs Cunningham program. Blake’s most famous early achievement was the emergency reconstruction of the Cadillac “Le Monstre” bodywork at Le Mans in 1950, a 48‑hour, no‑sleep effort that saved the car from failing pre‑race inspection. When the Cunningham team wound down, Blake joined Jaguar in England, where he became one of the company’s most respected craftsmen. He contributed to the body development of the D‑Type, XKSS, E‑type prototypes, and the XJ13, working closely with aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer and the Experimental Department. His colleagues described him as an artist in aluminum, able to shape complex curves by eye and hand. Blake remained with Jaguar until retirement and died in 2003, remembered not as a driver but as one of the great behind‑the‑scenes creators of mid‑century racing machinery.Collection
Dr. Frederick A. Simeone Founder CollectionCategory
Race Car Drivers, Mechanic