{{short description|American racing driver (1923–2006)}} {{use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox person |name = Ed Hugus |image = Ferrari 250 GT SWB 1960 (27122232763).jpg |caption = a 1960 Ferrari 250 in 2016 |birth_name = Edward James Hugus |birth_date = {{birth date|1923|6|30|df=y}} |birth_place = Pennsylvania, United States |death_date = {{death date and age|2006|6|29|1923|6|30|df=y}} |death_place = Pebble Beach, California, United States | module = {{Infobox Le Mans driver |child = yes |years = {{24hLM|1956}} – {{24hLM|1965}} |teams = Cooper<br>''Privateer''<br>North American Racing Team<br>Ferrari |best_finish = 7th <small>({{24hLM|1958}}, {{24hLM|1960}})</small> |class_wins = 1 <small>({{24hLM|1957}})</small> }} }}
'''Edward James Hugus''' (''J. Edward Hugus''<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://stories.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/origin-204.jpg | title=Licence de Concurre - J. Edward Hugus | website=stories.hemmings.com}}</ref> on his FIA CSI racing licence, 30 June 1923 – 29 June 2006) was an American racing driver and car dealer.
Hugus was a veteran of World War II<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pLvdrvxsaXwC&q=Ed+Hugus+%09USRRC+Pensacola&pg=PA137|title=They Started in MGs: Profiles of Sports Car Racers of the 1950s|first=Carl|last=Goodwin|date=21 July 2011|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786486243|via=Google Books}}</ref> and as a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division on February 16 was dropped on Corregidor for the Battle of Corregidor (1945).
In 1949, Hugus discovered sports cars, got a MG TC, then started an MG dealership in Pittsburgh, also adding Jaguar to the lineup. Hugus was the first Shelby Cobra dealer.<ref name="petrolicious.com">{{cite web|url=https://petrolicious.com/articles/the-unconfirmed-true-story-of-ferrari-s-last-le-mans-win|title=The Unconfirmed True Story of Ferrari's Last Le Mans Win|first=Yoav|last=Gilad|date=19 May 2014|publisher=|archive-date=10 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410211555/https://petrolicious.com/articles/the-unconfirmed-true-story-of-ferrari-s-last-le-mans-win|url-status=live}}</ref>
By 1956, Hugus started in two of the biggest sports car racing endurance events, 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida, and 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, and he even competed successfully in South America, where Hugus won his class at the 1957 Venezuelan Grand Prix<ref name="hemmings.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2017/09/10/riverside-to-nassau-and-everywhere-in-between-ed-huguss-busy-year-racing-sports-cars|title=Riverside to Le Mans and everywhere in between: Ed Hugus's busy year racing sports cars|work=hemmings.com|access-date=18 August 2021|date=10 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304102750/https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2017/09/10/riverside-to-nassau-and-everywhere-in-between-ed-huguss-busy-year-racing-sports-cars|archive-date=4 March 2021|url-status=live}}</ref> in a Porsche 550, the type in which James Dean had died. His career as race driver ended after the 1964 Le Mans resp. the 1969 Sebring races.
About 34 years after the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans, at age 75 and older, with most eyewitnesses already dead, Hugus started to claim that he, too, had been a driver of the winning Ferrari during a foggy night, never getting credit for it. The media <ref>{{cite book|title=Le Mans: The Official History of the World's Greatest Motor Race, 1960-69|year=2010|pages=178–9|last=Spurring|first=Quentin|publisher=Haynes Publishing, Yeoville, Somerset, GB|isbn=978-1-84425-584-9}}</ref> <ref name=velocetoday>{{cite web|url=http://www.velocetoday.com/people/people_48.php|title=Ed Hugus, Obituary and Appreciation |author=Pete Vack |publisher=www.velocetoday.com|date=12 July 2006|access-date=16 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231160340/http://www.velocetoday.com/people/people_48.php|archive-date=31 December 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> <ref name=rind_official>{{cite web|url=http://www.jochen-rindt.at/Main/In_Memoriam/Curt_Lincoln/Pete_Kerr/Pete_english/body_ed_hugus.html|title=News: Ed Hugus|publisher=www.jochen-rindt.at|access-date=16 February 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120009/http://www.jochen-rindt.at/Main/In_Memoriam/Curt_Lincoln/Pete_Kerr/Pete_english/body_ed_hugus.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> did ''like to believe that Ed did drive that car ... with most of the press and officials either drunk, asleep or both'', and picked up the tall tale. It was debunked in 2020 by Doug Nye based on official records of pitstops.
==24 Hours of Le Mans== Between 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans and 1962 24 Hours of Le Mans, Hugus finished 7th, 8th or 9th overall for a total of five times, and two DNF. He won his class, 1.5 Liter Sportscars, together with Carel Godin de Beaufort on his private entry Porsche 550A ''Lucybelle'' at the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans.<ref name="hemmings.com"/> In 1963 his AC Cobra Coupé was among the entrants DSQed for premature oil changes, and in the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, his Ferrari 250 GTO DNF with transmission failure, and his Le Mans driving career ended. At the time, Ferrari and Ford were changing over their customer race cars from traditional front engine GT cars to the mid engine designs that won since 1963.
The 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans was won by the No. 21 Ferrari 250 LM entered by North American Racing Team (NART) of Luigi Chinetti, driven by Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt, after chasing the eventual 2nd place No. 26 250LM in the night and Sunday morning hours until a tyre failure settled the outcome in favor of the NART team that scored the first ever Le Mans win for Goodyear.<ref>{{Cite web | title=Today's Photo Story - Goodyear's first win at the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans {{!}} 24h-lemans.com | url=https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/todays-photo-story-goodyears-first-win-at-the-1965-24-hours-of-le-mans-44941 | access-date=2026-02-15 | website=www.24h-lemans.com}}</ref>
About 1999, after Rindt (1942–1970), Gregory (1932−1985) and Chinetti (1901–1994) had died, Hugus started to claim that he, too, had driven the winning car, and the story circulated, with some sources stating that he raced at Le Mans ''for 10 consecutive years starting in 1956''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportscarmarket.com/news/obituary-for-le-mans-winner-ed-hugus|title=Obituary for Le Mans Winner Ed Hugus - Sports Car Market|work=sportscarmarket.com|access-date=18 August 2021|date=17 July 2006|first=Art|last=Evans|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122221439/https://www.sportscarmarket.com/news/obituary-for-le-mans-winner-ed-hugus|archive-date=22 January 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>
According to Doug Nye in the October 2020 issue of ''Motor Sport''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-2020/78/the-mystery-of-the-third-man-in-rindt-gregorys-le-mans-1965-win/|title=Mystery of the third man in Rindt & Gregory's Le Mans 1965 win for Ferrari|work=motorsportmagazine.com|access-date=7 December 2025|date=1 October 2020|first=Doug|last=Nye|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250427010815/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-2020/78/the-mystery-of-the-third-man-in-rindt-gregorys-le-mans-1965-win/|archive-date=27 April 2025|url-status=live}}</ref>, in a 24 May 2005 letter<ref>{{Cite web | title=Ed Hugus | url=http://www.jochen-rindt.at/Main/In_Memoriam/Curt_Lincoln/Pete_Kerr/Pete_english/body_ed_hugus.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120009/http://www.jochen-rindt.at/Main/In_Memoriam/Curt_Lincoln/Pete_Kerr/Pete_english/body_ed_hugus.html | archive-date=2016-03-04 | access-date=2026-02-15}}</ref> to race fan Hubert Baradat, Hugus claimed that he was a reserve driver for the team, and when Gregory, who wore glasses, went out at 4 PM at night and came in when he could not see well, with Rindt absent, Hugus was told by Chinetti to get his helmet on and Go, finishing the last hour of Gregory's part. Chinetti supposedly had tried to inform the pit officials, but maybe they were too busy with a bottle of wine behind the pits, and both were disappointed, as Hugus wrote.
With help from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest Heritage Committee and the official 1965 ''Journal de Course'' race records from the ACO archives, Nye found out that Rindt had taken over from Gregory in the car’s eighth pit stop, at 01:59 Sunday morning, June 20, in a very short night with dawn in Le Mans at 04:18 UTC+1 and sunrise at 04:59. After a stop at 03:38, Rindt is named specifically as the incoming driver for the 10th stop at 05:14, and Gregory as the driver who then rejoined at 05:16 for a triple stint, stopping at 06:44 and 07:32 before ending his drive with stop 13 at 08:21 when Gregory is named specifically in the Journal as being the incoming driver. Thus, it must have been in broad daylight, not in night and fog, when Gregory and Hugus supposedly swapped places behind the wheel of a Ferrari that challenged for the lead, not once but twice unnoticed by officials, press, competition and spectators, but with pit stop times recorded in the sheets.
The magazine article photos, taken by Bernard Cahier, Luigi Chinetti Junior and others, show that Hugus, along with Rindt and other team members also dressed in Goodyear-sponsored shirts, were celebrating on and around the winning car steered by Gregory to the podium, but Hugus was dressed like a spectator, with golf hat and sunglasses and sneakers, not like active race drivers or mechanics.
Nye did ''emerge from this investigation 99 per cent sure that Ed Hugus’ claim simply cannot stand. On the evidence, Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt won Le Mans 1965, unrelieved by any other driver.''
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |- ! Year ! Team ! Co-Drivers ! Car ! Class ! Laps ! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}} ! {{Tooltip|Class<br>Pos.|Class Position}} |- ! 1956 |align=left| {{flagicon|GBR}} Cooper Car Company |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} John Bentley |align=left| Cooper T39 |S1.1 |252 | 8th |style="background:#dfdfdf;"| '''2nd''' |- ! 1957 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} E. Hugus<br>''(private entrant)'' |align=left| {{flagicon|NLD}} Carel Godin de Beaufort |align=left| Porsche 550A |S1.5 |286 | 8th |style="background:#ffffbf;"| '''1st''' |- ! 1958 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} E. Hugus<br>''(private entrant)'' |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ray “Ernie” Erickson |align=left| Ferrari 250 TR |S3.0 |278 | 7th | 4th |- ! 1959 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} E. Hugus<br>''(private entrant)'' |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ray “Ernie” Erickson |align=left| Porsche 718 RSK |S1.5 |240 |colspan=2|DNF<br>(Engine) |- ! 1960 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} North American Racing Team |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Augie Pabst |align=left| Ferrari 250 GT SWB |GT3.0 |299 | 7th | 4th |- ! 1961 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} North American Racing Team |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} David Cunningham |align=left| O.S.C.A. Sport 1000 |S1.0 |125 |colspan=2|DNF<br>(Clutch) |- ! 1962 |align=left| {{flagicon|ITA}} SEFAC Ferrari |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} George Reed |align=left| Ferrari 250 GT SWB Bertone |GT3.0 |281 | 9th |style="background:#ffdf9f;"| '''3rd''' |- ! 1963 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} E. Hugus<br>''(private entrant)'' |align=left| {{flagicon|GBR}} Peter Jopp |align=left| AC Cobra Coupé |GT+3.0 |117 |colspan=2|DSQ<br>(Premature oil change) |- ! 1964 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} North American Racing Team |align=left| {{flagicon|FRA}} José Rosinski |align=left| Ferrari 250 GTO |GT3.0 |110 |colspan=2|DNF<br>(Propshaft) |- |}
==Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%" |- ! Year ! Team ! Co-Drivers ! Car ! Class ! Laps ! {{Tooltip|Pos.|Overall Position}} ! {{Tooltip|Class<br>Pos.|Class Position}} |- ! 1956 |align=left| {{flagicon|GBR}} Cooper Car Company |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} John Bentley |align=left| Cooper T39 |S1.1 |117 |colspan=2|DNF<br>(Flat battery) |- ! 1957 |align=left| {{flagicon|Venezuela}} C. Flynn |align=left| {{flagicon|Venezuela}} Chester Flynn |align=left| Mercedes-Benz 300 SL |GT3.5 |138 | 33rd |style="background:#ffdf9f;"| '''3rd''' |- ! 1958 |align=left| {{flagicon|US}} Harry Kullen |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} John Fitch |align=left| Ferrari 250 TR |S3.0 |85 |colspan=2|DNF<br>(Engine) |- ! 1959 |align=left| {{flagicon|Venezuela}} Chester J. Flynn |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ray “Ernie” Erickson |align=left| Porsche 718 RSK |S1.5 |170 | 10th | 4th |- ! 1960 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} North American Racing Team |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Augie Pabst |align=left| Ferrari 250 GT SWB |S3.0 |185 | 4th |style="background:#dfdfdf;"| '''2nd''' |- ! 1961 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} North American Racing Team |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Alan Connell |align=left| Dino 246 S |S2.5 | |colspan=2|DNF<br>(Transmission) |- ! 1962 |align=left| Scuderia Bear |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} George Reed |align=left| Ferrari 250 GT SWB EXP |GT3.0 |187 | 8th |style="background:#ffdf9f;"| '''3rd''' |- ! 1964 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} William McLaughlin |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Enus Wilson<br>{{flagicon|USA}} William McLaughlin |align=left| Iso Grifo A3C |P+3.0 |110 | 39th | 7th |- ! 1965 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Ed Hugus ''(Ferrari<br>Owners Racing Association)'' |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Tom O'Brien<br>{{flagicon|USA}} Charlie Hayes<br>{{flagicon|USA}} Paul Richards |align=left| Ferrari 275 P |GTP |182 | 12th | 5th |- ! 1966 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ed Hugus |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Lake Underwood |align=left| Porsche 906 |P2.0 |204 | 8th | 4th |- ! 1967 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ed Hugus |align=left| {{flagicon|CAN}} John Cannon |align=left| Porsche 906 |S2.0 |138 |colspan=2|DNF<br>(Engine) |- ! 1969 |align=left| {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Elsco Corporation |align=left| {{flagicon|USA}} Chuck Dietrich<br>{{flagicon|USA}} Eugene Nearburg |align=left| BMW 2002 |T2.0 | |colspan=2|DNF<br>(Oil pump shaft) |}
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[https://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/Ed-Hugus-USA.html Ed Hugus] at ''racingsportscars.com''.
==Further reading== * {{cite book|title=Cobra Pilote: The Ed Hugus Story|year=2017|last=Walker|first=Robert D.|publisher=Dalton Watson Fine Books|location=Illinois, US|isbn=978-1854432834|url=https://cobrapilote.com/}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hugus, Ed}} Category:1923 births Category:2006 deaths Category:24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Category:12 Hours of Sebring drivers Category:World Sportscar Championship drivers