"Concerning the 'Mystery' #44 at Riverside. It was correctly identified as Jerry Hansen's Lotus 19-Chev. However, there are a couple items listed on which I would like to comment.

While this is the ex-Jerry Grant car, I do not believe that it was ex-Dan Gurney as stated. Grant had raced this car for several years, while I believe that Gurney first drove the 19-B Lotus in 1964 and into 1965. I do believe that these are two separate cars.

This car was in Hansen's hands after his Scarab, but not before the McKee Chevette chassis #2. Hansen ran the Scarab in 1962 and then had it burn up in a garage fire. The remains went through several owners, were finally restored, and the car is now in the Collier Museum.

After the Scarab, Hansen briefly drove Chaparral 1 chassis no. 001. He then bought a new McKee, the second chassis, and drove that in 1964 and 1965. For 1966 he had a special built, the Wolverine. But while waiting for it to be ready he needed a car as he had sold the McKee. So he bought Grant's Lotus 19-Chev. He drove it early in the season, and the Wolverine was ready in June. He drove that for the balance of the season. He sold the Lotus 19-Chev to Dick Kantrud, who in turn sold it to a chap named Figenskau. From there I lose the trail.

For 1967 Hansen bought a new McLaren Elva Mk. III (M1C). Then the fun began, as Jerry spent the next several years going through a dizzying succession of McLarens and Lolas.

Hansen first used the maroon color on his Scarab, then on a Cobra, a Formcar (!), the McKee, and as your photo shows, the Lotus-Chev. The Wolverine was also Maroon. He kept the Chaparral white, as was the McLaren Elva. The next few years he generally raced the various cars he owned in the colors in which he purchased them. He did not use what became his trademark orange until 1969 when he bought a new McLaren M10 F-5000 car. For 1970 his new Lola T-165 and Lola T-190 were orange, and that color stayed on the vast majority of his cars until the early 1980s when he got away from it, red becoming the most used color, although he also had a couple yellow cars and two black Formula Atlantic cars.

One can get dizzy just trying to keep track of all Hansen's cars and races!"