In many circles, the term airhead applies to someone who is silly or lacking in intelligence. However, it is also a slang term to describe the method used to cool an airplane, motorcycle or automobile engine. For decades, virtually all aircraft and motorcycle engines were air-cooled and many notable automobiles were as well, including Volkswagen, Chevrolet (Corvair) and, of course, Porsche.
Chuck Forge was one such Airhead, but in a positive way and a dedicated one at that. From 1962 until his passing in 2009, Forge raced only air-cooled engine cars—VW, Corvair and several Porsches. But Forge was not just an average amateur driver with a passion for racing. He was a multiple race winner, regional champion and a highly respected electrical engineer in Northern California’s Silicon Valley with many technology patents to his name. He applied his engineering knowledge to his racecars and with his driving talent, the combination made him a very hard man to beat on the race track. An indication of his passion for racing is shown in this comment he made to a good friend who asked Forge if he was ever going to get married. Forge replied, “Well, I got out of Stanford and could afford to be serious about racecars. All my friends did too. But they got married, and in a few years, they weren’t doing racecars anymore. I concluded that racecars and wives were mutually exclusive and I preferred racecars.”
Forge was born in 1935 in San Francisco, California, and raised on the San Francisco Peninsula, an area which would become known in later years around the world as Silicon Valley. In those pre-World War II years, the south part of the San Francisco Peninsula was known more for fruit tree orchards than the myriad of high-tech companies that now dominate the area. The Forge homestead was a working fruit orchard and with his natural curiosity, he grew up fixing the farm equipment, tractors, trucks and his father’s cars. Perhaps this mechanical aptitude came from his father who was a mechanical engineer and head of a foundry. No doubt his motivation for learning was aided by his mother who was a school teacher.
Higher Education
After attending local schools, Forge entered Stanford University, in 1952, and four years later graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. He was an outstanding student resulting in his election to the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society and Phi Beta Kappa for academic achievement. He decided to pursue a Masters Degree at Stanford while at the same time participating in the Honors Co-op program at Hewlett Packard, one of the early Silicon Valley companies.
One of his fellow engineering students was Jobst Brandt, a Porsche enthusiast even in those early days. The Brandt family had emigrated to the U.S. from Germany prior to World War II and settled in the San Francisco Bay Area. Brandt eventually joined the military and served in post-war Europe then took a job with Porsche in Stuttgart (he designed the 904 suspension). He later returned to Northern California to further his education and career where he first met Forge while attending Stanford University.
In 1957, Brandt convinced Forge to buy the ex-von Neumann, 356SL Gmünd Porsche which had been spotted on a San Francisco used car lot. Taking Brandt’s advice, Forge purchased the car after a very spirited test drive over the same roads in Golden Gate Park where the SCCA races were held three years earlier. He now had a very historic daily driver but that had little importance back then. Instead, he had a fast, good handling, fun car to drive.
In 1959, Forge received his Masters Degree and began his long career as an Electrical Engineer working in Research & Development as a Chief Engineer and later, as a much sought after consultant. Immediately after completing his graduate degree he took a position with Hewlett Packard (HP) which would turn out to be somewhat of a turning point in his life.
Into the Fray
While at HP, Forge met several other engineers and found they shared a common interest in sports cars. This group included a couple of future big names in sports car performance and racing including Bob Garretson (IMSA), Bruce Anderson (Porsche Performance guru) along with several soon-to-be amateur racers. The group joined the Continental Sports Car Club, which met twice a month at a local restaurant and after their meetings, a spirited car tour took place. The foothills around Silicon Valley have numerous twisting, two-lane roads ideal for a nice Sunday drive or fast run in you car of choice. The sound of high revving engines and fast sports cars became a common occurrence to residents and police alike when the group took to the hills. For these adventures, Forge drove the 1951 Gmünd Porsche, thoroughly enjoying the cars characteristics while he attacked those twisty back roads. More about this car later.
Those “tours” proved to be a great testing ground for their cars and good training for this group of soon to be autocrossers and road racers. Forge decided the Porsche was not the ideal commuter car so he parked it in his parent’s yard and looked around for something more practical…with a roof. He settled on a VW Bug but such was his nature, it did not stay in stock configuration for long. He completely rebuilt the 1600 Normal engine with as many Porsche parts as possible including barrels, pistons, crankshaft and heads then married the engine to a Porsche transmission. A couple of Porsche seats finished off this wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Competition Beckons
The logical next step was road racing and Forge took the first step by attending the SCCA drivers school at Vaca Valley in 1962. He used the VW Beetle for the school and then continued to refine the car for the upcoming racing season. His first race was at the Oakland Airport in July, racing in the new Sedan Class. He won his race driving the VW then proceeded to win every class race he entered over the next three years. The San Francisco Region SCCA continually changed the rules to even out the competition in his class, but Forge found ways to keep the car at the head of the pack. Finally, he decided it was time to change classes and accepted an offer to drive a Porsche 356 owned by Dr. Richard Lee for the 1966 season. This was in exchange for Forge building the engines and maintaining the car, with Lee running the National races and Forge the Regionals. Unfortunately, Lee’s driving would usually create engine problems causing Forge to miss his race.
improvement in lap times.
However, stepping up to the 356 provided Forge the opportunity to experience both a newer type racecar but also tougher competition in the E Production class. While he only ran a few races, he decided the 356 was a car he liked and searched for one to buy. He finally found a rare, but well used, 1961 D’leteren bodied roadster. He turned the car over to a local body shop for a body rebuild and installation of a roll bar. Once the car was ready for competition, he raced it at Newport, Oregon and promptly collided with another car. Undaunted he and a crew member repaired the damage as best they could, but enough so Forge could start the feature race. The car ran surprisingly well allowing Forge to run down and outlast the competition for a class win.
Airhead Number Three
While the 356 was being rebuilt for the second time, Forge decided it would be fun to race a different car. As a dedicated airhead, his daily transportation was a two-door Corvair with automatic transmission. But Forge felt it would be more fun to race a four-door model so he found and purchased one and using his experience with the VW and 356, set about turning the Corvair into a racecar. By the time he was finished massaging the engine and refining the suspension, he had a 2.7-liter, 8000 rpm, good handling A Sedan class racecar.
Corvair to an A Sedan racer. It had is best success in the 1970 San
Francisco Region’s year end enduro, finishing third in class.
Unfortunately, the car proved to have difficulty finishing races over the next two years despite his determined efforts to continually improve it. Here are a couple of examples of his creative thinking: Forge tried adding a gasoline-powered McCulloch Chain Saw motor on the engine cooling shroud. This experiment lasted a couple of races until it vibrated itself off the engine. To help the car’s balance and to shift more of the weight forward, he used a wicker garden chair as the passenger seat with the chair mounts made of solid lead positioned as far forward as possible. This at a time when the SCCA forbid adding ballast to a car.
The car’s best finish came in 1970, at the Racing Drivers Club annual year-end, four-hour enduro. Based on the event rules there were only two classes, under and over 2-liters. Surmising his 356 would not be competitive against the newer 914 in the under 2-liter class he decided to race the Corvair. Forge added an extra gas tank and detuned the engine, thinking he could extend the engine’s life and make fewer gas stops. Despite problems in practice with the engine, which he fixed, the car lasted the whole race and finished third in class.
Back to Porsches
with his crew, Ernie Mendicki and Chuck Wells at Laguna Seca in 1978.
Forge returned to his own Porsche and successfully raced it through the 1977 season but realized to consistently finish on the podium, he needed to switch to a lighter Speedster. He bought a chassis from a local racer, stripped it down and proceeded to transfer all the parts from his previous racer to this newer car. With a new roll bar and green paint (same color as his previous car so the competition wouldn’t know he had a new racer), he tested the car at Sears Point. The car ran three seconds a lap faster due to lighter weight and better brakes. Forge enjoyed good success in the car over the next decade, winning many regional and national races in the E Production Class.
In 1987, Forge saw his Speedster was not competitive with the current batch of 914s he raced against…so it was time for another change. Through a local Porsche friend, Forge was able to test a 914 that had been raced through the 1970s and came away impressed with the car’s performance. He made a deal with the owner to maintain the car in exchange for racing SF Region events while the owner raced time trials. Forge bought the car a couple of years later and embarked on a remarkable period of racing success.
A Most Successful Racecar
switch from his trusty 356 to a 914 to remain competitive in E production class. This car is the result and would remain his race car for years to come.
Having a different racecar always presents a period of becoming familiar with its idiosyncrasies, especially if one is intent on making modifications. With this new challenge, Forge brought to the 914 all he had learned over the previous two decades of refining his various racecars with his engineering prowess and utilizing his well-equipped home shop. He already was an excellent engine builder and had an excellent knowledge of suspension setups, plus he never stopped learning new tricks as the SCCA regularly changed the rules.
Forge’s 914 evolved over the years. Under the body, Forge continually
refined the entire chassis every year as the rules would allow.
As the racing seasons came and went, his car became the to one to beat in E Production. He racked up multiple lap records at Sears Point, Laguna Seca and Firebird International in the 1980s and 1990s. He entered the 914 in 55 SCCA Regional and National races winning over half of them. He was Pacific Coast Road Race Champion multiple times, and SF Region Class Champion multiple times.
The 1951 Gmünd Porsche 356 SL
thereafter until his passing.
Forge also enjoyed vintage racing his fully restored, ex-John von Neumann Gmünd Porsche, primarily at the Monterey Historics beginning in 1982 when Porsche was the featured marque. Obviously, the car was a major attraction on and off the track that weekend and was given the Grand Diehard Award by Steve Earle. The car continued to be raced at the Historics for the next two decades. In preparation for the Historics, Forge had restored the car to the same configuration as when driven by John von Neumann in 1952. Amazingly, Forge owned the car for 52 years ever since acquiring it in 1957 from a used car lot in San Francisco. It was his only sports car that he used for the street, rallies, tours, autocrosses and gymkhanas with the Continental Sports Car Club before parking it when he went road racing in 1962.
A Sudden Ending
Porsche from the Forge estate and had it returned to its original LeMans
Noted Porsche enthusiast and racer Cameron Healey, acquired the Gmund
Porsche from the Forge estate and had it returned to its original LeMans
Configuration. It is shown here at the 2018 Rennsport at Laguna Seca.
After almost five decades of racing and at the age of 74, Forge had just finished preparing the 914 for a double national race when he suddenly and unexpectedly died in late August of 2009. He had a wide circle of professional and racing friends who were shocked at his sudden passing and the loss of a good friend. In the ensuing months, his cars were sold to various owners with the most prized car, the Gmünd Porsche being purchased by Porsche enthusiast Cameron Healey. Mr. Healey has subsequently had the car returned to its original factory configuration as a coupe.
