He was known as “the Silver Fox,” “the Racing Grandfather,” and “Merle the Magician.” These nicknames might indicate a gentlemanly racer, older than most of his peers, who raced for fun. His silver hair, glasses and relaxed demeanor fit the nicknames, but underneath that calm exterior beat the heart of a fiercely competitive racer. He raced cars of his own design and manufacture, including a rear-engine sprint car, a dragster, Formula Junior and the “Brennan Beast.” He moved on to a variety of production cars, formula cars, sports racers and Can-Am cars. Regardless of the type of car or series he raced in, Merle Brennan was a consistent front-runner, leading to Regional, Division and National championships. His racing career spanned an amazing five decades but, even more impressive, he remained competitive throughout all those years behind the wheel. However, what made Merle Brennan unique was not just his long racing career, but the fact that he was also a self-made, successful businessman, and a master mechanic, who built and maintained his own racecars.
Brennan was born in Turlock, California, in 1927 but spent his life in Reno, Nevada, after his family relocated there when he was still a young boy. By the time he was in high school, Brennan was already showing his mechanical prowess and at 16 years of age, built his first car, a Ford, flat-head V-8-powered hot rod. After graduating from high school in 1946, Brennan took his first job as a mechanic and, shortly thereafter, took his first step toward racing. At 19 years old, he competed in a hard-top, stock-car race at the Dry Lake Oval in Reno and won everything but the main event. After a short stint in the Merchant Marine, Brennan returned to Reno and resumed racing on ovals. Always in the search for speed, he competed at the Bonneville Salt Flats where his flat-head, V-8-powered, 1932 Ford reached 130 mph. He also built more hot rods and continued to hone his skills as a mechanic where he earned a reputation as a very good engine builder.
New Businesses and Sports Cars
In 1953, Brennan opened his own service station, the first of several successful businesses that would follow. Just one year later, he expanded the operation to include import car repairs which led to an even larger business with two partners, Harry Banta and John Isabell. Banta and Isabell happened to be road racers, campaigning one of the first rear-engine Cooper Climax sports racers in the United States. Utilizing his master-mechanic skills, Brennan joined his partners at local SCCA races as their chief mechanic. With his new-found interest in road racing, he decided to build his own racecar and, taking a cue from the hot rods he had built, he designed a small, front-engine, “special” powered by a flat-head V-8. A few months later, Brennan debuted the car, which became known as the “Brennan Beast,” at the 1957 running of the Stockton Road Races, finishing 2nd in class. Showing his versatility, Brennan also raced the Banta/Isabell Cooper to a 1st in class and 2nd overall in the main event. During this same year, he sold his service station to Casino magnet, Bill Harrah, and opened a new car dealership, British Motors Limited, in Reno. He was now 29 years old and life would not be the same for this businessman/racer for the next 27 years.
Brennan continued racing “The Beast” and the Cooper through the 1958 season with considerable success. Besides running the car dealership and road racing, he also opened the first dragstrip in Nevada and built and raced the first Reno-based dragster. About this time, word of a new class of cars from Europe was catching everyone’s attention—Formula Junior. Once again, Brennan set to work building his own car, this time powered by an 1,100-cc BMC engine. The engine was encased in a tube-frame chassis and wrapped in a nicely shaped aluminum body. Brennan’s Formula Junior was described in SportsCar “as a very professional looking home-built racer.” The car debuted in 1959 for the newly named Reno Racing Team and met with immediate success. For the next two years, Brennan raced his Formula Junior in SCCA events and brought home enough awards to fill a trophy case. He also raced two Jaguars, an XK-120M and a D-type, which would undergo a not-so-successful change to a Chevy V-8 for the following season.
A Season to Remember
A major change in Brennan’s career took place in 1963. His reputation as a road racer was noticed by one of the most influential men in West Coast sports car racing, Kjell Qvale. Qvale owned British Motors Ltd., a Jaguar dealer and the largest importer of British cars in the U.S. Qvale signed Brennan to race an XKE Roadster, an association that would soon yield one of the most amazing seasons ever recorded. Brennan raced the Jag in SCCA Regional A Production class throughout the 1963 season, which was dominated by the faster Cobras and Corvettes. However, his XKE did show flashes of speed with two 1sts and a 2nd at the Spring Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in June; then a 1st and 4th at the Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna in November. That same month, he took 1st place overall at the Racing Drivers Club 4-hour enduro at Vaca Valley Raceway.
When not racing, Brennan maintained the XKE and built super-modified hardtops and custom racecar frames at his shop in Reno. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Reno Stock Car Association; set the fastest time in a sports car for the quarter-mile at Reno’s Lemmon Valley Dragstrip of 98.24 mph, and set a course record at the Mt. Rose Hill Climb. For his contributions to motorsport in 1963, he was named “Sportsman of the Year” by the Sierra Nevada Sportswriters and Broadcasters Association. A fitting way to end a good year of racing—but nothing to compare with what was to transpire the following season.
For 1964, Brennan took delivery of a new, XKE coupe, once again sponsored by Qvale’s British Motors Ltd. and prepared by Joe Huffaker. With a year of racing under his belt in the Jaguar Roadster and with the SCCA moving the XKE to B Production, Brennan had reason to believe this new season might bring more success. The year started off well with class wins at Vaca Valley, a 2nd at Laguna Seca, and two more wins at Stockton. By the end of July, he was leading the Pacific Coast Divisional points standings with 132, almost twice as many as the 2nd-place Corvette. With a head of steam, Brennan continued his winning ways and, by the time he finished the season’s final regional race at Cotati in November, he was B Production champion in a runaway. He had amassed the greatest number of points of any driver in any class in any division. Two weeks later, he capped off a great year by winning his class at the first American Road Race of Champions at Riverside and finished an amazing 4th overall behind three A Production-class Corvettes.
Along the way, Brennan had also won two hillclimbs in the XKE coupe (setting best time records) and finished 2nd in class at the Sebring 12 Hour, racing a British Motors sponsored MGB. The tally for the season in the XKE was an eye-popping 29 wins in 31 events entered, which was an American racing record for the most wins by the same driver in the same car. Joe Huffaker recalls, “The engine (in the XKE) was very strong, we did extensive flow testing on the head, manifold, exhaust and carbs. Merle Brennan had a lot to do with the car’s racing record as well.” Brennan was awarded the San Francisco Regions Racing Drivers Club trophy in recognition of his amazing, record-setting season.
More Racing, the Indy 500, then a Break
After savoring his career-defining 1964 record year during the winter months, it was time to prepare for the new season. Brennan would race a Qvale-sponsored XKE for a third season, which would be equipped with a new 4.2-liter engine. Brennan was not in favor of using the unproven new engine, but the increased size would be needed due to the B Production class now being populated with Cobras, Sunbeam Tigers, Corvettes and the Mustang GT-350. Against this stiff competition, Brennan fought all season long, won his share of races and finished 2nd in the Pacific Coast Division points to Jerry Titus and his GT-350, and qualified for the American Road Race of Champions once again, this time at Daytona.
At Daytona, during the practice sessions, Brennan found that running on the bank portion of the track was causing the Jag’s 4.2-liter engine to devour its bearings. With no spare bearings on hand, he contacted a local Jag dealer, but they did not have the bearings for the 4.2 engine in stock. He bought bearings for the 3.8 engine and hand-filed each one to the approximate right size before repairing the engine. Starting in 19th-place, he drove conservatively, with one eye on the oil pressure gauge. He climbed steadily through the field to eventually finish a very credible 9th.
Also during the season, Brennan was involved in two other racing opportunities. First, he was contracted by BMC to race an MGB at the Sebring 12 Hours where his car would finish 4th in class and 25th overall. In 1965, Kjell Qvale entered a team of cars for the Indy 500 and, in recognition of his excellent mechanical skills, he asked Brennan to be a member of the Indianapolis crew. Unfortunately, all three Qvale cars would drop out of the race with fuel problems. However, Brennan did not come home empty handed. Alan Prentiss, Brennan’s nephew and former crew member recalls, “Being a car builder, Merle knew the value of good components, so when he saw virtually new, high-quality nuts and bolts being tossed out after limited use, he asked for and was given all the ‘used’ fasteners he could carry home……no doubt, to be put to good use on future projects.”
Brennan was now 38-years-old and having raced for almost 20 years, he decided to take a break from road racing to spend more time back home in Reno. He spent 1966 running his automotive business, building racecars for customers and operating Reno Dragway. Although out of road racing, Brennan was still active at the local short track ovals. For a racecar, he built a very unique, rear-engine sprint car, which he campaigned on area tracks throughout the year.
Back to Road Racing—with a Twist
Photo: Alan Prentiss–Brennan Collection
While the year away from road racing allowed Brennan to recharge his physical batteries, it also reinforced his desire to return to road racing. He embarked on Phase Two of his racing career—which would last another 17 years. However, this time, he decided to race not only as an amateur but as a professional driver as well. Since the Jaguar XKE was no longer competitive, he looked around for an appropriate production car for SCCA racing and was offered an MGB by Oxford Motors, a Sacramento British Car dealership.
Entering the professional ranks meant Brennan needed a faster car so he turned to his friend Joe Huffaker and bought the last of the Genie sports racers, an Mk 10B. Both the MGB and the Genie were taken back to his Reno shop and, over the next several months, they were prepared for racing. Brennan built and installed a 450-hp, Chevy 327 V-8 for the Genie while the MGB was fine-tuned for E-production-class racing. It wasn’t until the May event at Laguna Seca that Brennan was back on the track. Showing his ability to adapt to new cars, he took the MGB to victory in the E-production class and again at Cotati in July. A second race at Cotati ended with a blown engine, but he bounced back with a 2nd at the Monterey Grand Prix. After races at Kent and Cotati, Brennan entered the Genie in the Can-Am race at Laguna Seca, where he would face-off against some of the biggest names in racing including Hall, Gurney, McLaren, Hulme, Follmer, and Andretti. He drove an excellent race and finished 9th out of 33 cars. However, Brennan wasn’t happy with the car, having experienced handling and braking problems throughout the shortened season.
Brennan rebuilt both cars over the winter and his changes paid off in 1968, particularly with the Genie. He entered seven races and won four plus setting records at the Donner Summit and Virginia City hill climbs. Entering the Can-Am race at Laguna Seca in the fall, he once again beat many big-name racers, finishing 11th. Brennan continued with the Genie (now with a LeGrand body) and the MGB for 1969 and 1970, winning the Division E-production title both years and placing well in A/Sports Racing. He also raced a Mustang in the Sears Point Trans-Am event (finishing 17th out of 34) and a B/SR Ferrari Dino, in selected races.
A Change to Open-Wheel Racing
In Europe, it was Formula 5000, a less-expensive alternative to Formula One but with similar cars and speeds. In the United States, Formula A was the equivalent class of cars and attracted the attention of Brennan in 1971. He purchased a McLaren M10A, which would be his racecar for the next four seasons. During this period, Brennan would be a consistent top finisher, points leader, regional and divisional champion in Formula A. Highlights included a lap record at Sears Point and a 12th-place finish in the 1974 F5000 race at Laguna, racing with the likes of Al Unser, Sam Posey, Mario Andretti, Brian Redman, James Hunt, and David Hobbs.
Late in 1974, he purchased the ex-George Follmer, Matich A50 Formula 5000 car. However, that relationship was to be a short one. The season started off well with a 1st in F/A at Sears Point; a course record in the Virginia City Hill Climb; a 1st and new lap record at Laguna Seca and a 1st in the Rose Cup (Portland, OR). Then, while towing the car home from a race at Riverside, the trailer carrying the Matich, came loose and crashed hard, virtually destroying the trailer and racecar. In his usual fashion, Brennan brought the now-junked racecar back to his Reno shop, built a new, two-seat space-frame chassis, acquired a LeGrand B Sports Racer body, and added bits from the Matich. He now had a “new” racecar, the “Brennan Special,” for SCCA A/SR competition. Throughout the 1975 and 1976 seasons, he was a consistent front-runner in the car including several wins and top finishes at Laguna Seca, Kent, Riverside, Portland and Sears Point.
Hal Whipple, who raced a McLaren M8 against Brennan, remembers him “as a gentleman racer, an excellent driver, someone you could race door handle to door handle with and not have to worry. He was a very calculating driver and his nickname, “The Silver Fox,” was well earned. He was a great guy, a bit of a prankster and loved to race.”
A New Car, a Crash, and an Unexpected Ending
In 1977, Brennan had his eye on the newly rejuvenated Can-Am Series, so he sold the “Brennan Special” and purchased a Can-Am McLaren M8F formerly raced by Dan Gurney and Peter Gethin. With the McLaren, he competed in SCCA A/SR events, which included a 1st overall at the Summer Nationals at Sears Point and Can-Am races at Laguna Seca, Sears Point and Riverside, finishing 6th, 5th and 10th, respectively. He continued in the McLaren the next season including two Can-Ams (DNF, 15th), then in 1979, while racing his McLaren M10B, he suffered a hard crash at Laguna Seca in June and was badly burned. Amazingly, this was his first bad accident in his already long career. He was now 51-years-old and had been racing for 30 years, so this would have been an opportune time to hang up his helmet. His answer came in a letter published in the SCCA’s San Francisco region, February 1980 issue of The Wheel, when Brennan wrote, “It has been a long summer but I am up and around, slowly. Looking forward to next season and seeing all my friends. The best to you all. Thanks for everything.”
After months of rehabilitation and, true to his word, Brennan was back with his friends—and back in the cockpit of his new, center-seat, Lola T-332, ready to race. It was the same old Brennan on the track, as he was a consistent front-runner throughout the 1980 season and finished 2nd in the season-ending Pacific Coast Road Racing championships. However, all was not right—crew members and his family, especially his wife Norah, had noticed a change in Brennan after his 1979 crash at Laguna Seca. There were slight personality changes and lapses of memory, which were becoming more frequent. At the 1981 Can-Am event in Las Vegas, Brennan came off the track after an unusual for him, practice spin and seemed very confused. This was a new track to Brennan and he was having difficulty remembering the configuration of the course. He was urged to skip the race and return home to seek medical attention.
Photo: Alan Prentiss–Brennan Collection
After an examination by his doctor, Brennan was told he exhibited the initial signs of a dementia-like condition. Brushing aside the doctor’s diagnosis, he continued racing the Lola through the next two and a half seasons, which included five Can-Am events, numerous West Coast SCCA events and finished 2nd in the Regional A/Sports Racer class in 1984. However, even though he was in excellent general health, the memory lapses were becoming much more frequent and his wife was becoming increasingly apprehensive and felt it was time for him to stop racing. She was able to persuade the San Francisco Region of the SCCA to not renew his competition license for 1985, and his racing career came to an end. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and, shortly thereafter, moved to a full-care facility, where he lived for the next ten years, until his death in 1995.
Brennan had a truly amazing 37-year career, racing everything from hardtops on dirt ovals, rear-engine sprint cars and dragsters, a variety of sports cars, to the fastest sports racers and formula cars of the day. He won countless races, championships and successfully raced against some of the biggest names in the sport. Merle Brennan was a rare combination of master mechanic, designer/builder, outstanding driver, and successful businessman. At 57-years-old and despite his medical condition, The “Silver Fox” still possessed the physical skills to remain competitive and passionate for the sport he loved.
