Sports car racing pioneer John von Neumann passed away Christmas night in Los Angeles. The Pete Vanlaw photo below shows John (in blue shirt) and his then wife Eleanor (in Porsche Speedster kiddie car) in the pits at the Santa Barbara races in 1958.
 

"John von Neumann, one of the two people most responsible for Ferrari and Porsche's early success in North America, died in Los Angeles on Christmas evening.  He was involved in both  the commercial and sporting aspects of Ferrari and Porsche in Southern California and raced Ferraris in Europe, the US, Mexico, Argentina and Nassau. Drivers for whom he acted as entrant included Ferrari team drivers Phil Hill and Richie Ginther. He also employed Ken Miles as a driver in his Porsches." 

These photographs are the property of Pete Vanlaw and are protected under United States and international copyright laws.  All rights are reserved and the images and/or text may not be digitized, reproduced, stored, manipulated, and/or incorporated into other works without the written permission of the photographer, Pete Vanlaw.