It’s often said that one of the best aspects of historic racing is the people you meet. Having been around the hobby for a frighteningly long time now, I feel very fortunate to have made so many friends along the way. Whether you live in the U.S., Australia or the UK, I’m willing to wager that you too have been touched by one colorful—indefatigable—enthusiast in particular…Dr. Ernie Nagamatsu—“The Other Flying Dentist.”
It’s been so long ago now, I can’t even remember when I first met Ernie, but it was undoubtedly when we raced together in the early ’90s. Since then, Ernie has become something of a global ambassador for the sport. Whether he’s racing his infamous Max Balchowsky-built Ol’ Yaller, the one-off “flip-top” Cobra or his Kilpatrick Porsche Speedster, chances are good that you’ll see him at all the major events—anywhere on earth! Frequenters of Goodwood will all be familiar with Ernie and his wife Elaine, handing out “Dan Gurney for President” badges and stickers to anyone in the paddock. Show up at the Tasman Revival in Australia? Yep, Ernie’s there, literally popping out of his Nomex with energy and enthusiasm. New Zealand Festival of Motorsport? There’s Ernie. Chantilly Concours in France? Ernie and Ol’ Yaller are there. You get the picture.
So while I don’t get to see Ernie nearly as often as I’d like to—since they keep me chained to my computer here—at least once or twice a year, I’m always pleasantly surprised to receive something from Ernie in the mail. With almost manic enthusiasm, Ernie’s letters always speak to the history and nobility of our sport, as well as an update as to where Ernie’s travels have taken him and what he’s been up to. But even more remarkable is that these regular care packages invariably also include some type of a gift—and not some store-bought token, but something very personal that Ernie usually makes himself.
Upon opening Ernie’s recent package, I was shocked to find a small red case, inside of which sat a golden turtle with the letters T and N interlocked upon its back. As many of you will likely be familiar, this was the famed “mascot” that “The Flying Mantuan,” Tazio Nuvolari used to use.
As the story goes, Italian poet Gabriele D’Annunzio was so taken by Nuvolari’s displays of car control that one day he presented him with a small golden turtle bearing the inscription, “To the fastest man in the world, the slowest animal.” As Ernie pointed out in his letter, Nuvolari cherished the turtle and considered it both an amulet and a protective talisman. In the years that followed, Nuvolari would have the turtle embroidered on his racing jerseys, printed on his stationary and would even present small replicas, as pins, to dignitaries and close friends. Nuvolari felt it brought him good luck and he wanted to share that with his closest friends.
I don’t think Ernie had any way of knowing that Nuvolari is one of my all-time personal favorites, nor that I have always coveted those special turtle pins that Nuvolari gave to his special friends. So Ernie’s gift was particularly poignant to me. But perhaps even more remarkable was the fact that Ernie carved out this replica himself, from an acrylic block and then, while racing in New Zealand, had a studio custom cast a small batch of these little treasures. I’ve come to find out since that Ernie has given one of these to such luminaries as Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, Bob Bondurant and Lord March, so how I made this august list is one of the truly great automotive mysteries!
Having known the one and studied the other, I think had they lived in the same era, Ernie and Tazio would have really hit it off. They both share(d) a passion and enthusiasm for the sport that is(was) infectious. Additionally, they both have demonstrated a remarkable sensitivity to the more cerebral aspects of what makes this sport special. Had they lived in the same time, I think Ernie would have been much more than Tazio’s dentist, he would have been something of a racing soulmate. Custodia Flammae, my friend.
