Russell Clifford "Cliff" Durant (November 26, 1890 – October 31, 1937) was an American

racecar driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...

. He was the son of

William C. Durant William Crapo Durant (December 8, 1861 – March 18, 1947) was a leading pioneer of the United States automobile industry and co-founder of General Motors and Chevrolet. He created a system in which a company held multiple marques – each s ...

, the founder of General Motors and Durant's first wife, Clara Pitt. Cliff Durant had four wives: Lena Pearl McFarland, Adelaide Pearl Frost, Lea Gapsky, and Charlotte Phillips. His second wife, Adelaide Pearl Frost (1885–1977), whom he married on September 1, 1911, was a singing star who later married

WW1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

fighting ace

Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon Rickenbacker or Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.Flint, Michigan, the son of

and Clara Miller Pitt. His older sister, Margery Durant, was three years his senior. In 1900, the family lived at 704 Garland Street in Flint and were attended by servants. Durant went to Flint grammar schools and later the University of Detroit and the Pennsylvania Military Academy. In 1908, his parents divorced and in the divorce settlement, Durant's mother, Clara, was granted the house on Garland Street.

Married life

Durant had a number of marriages and was rumored to treat his wives poorly through extramarital affairs and physical abuse.

Racing activities

Chevrolet Special driven by Cliff Durant in 1919 Santa Monica Race

Santa Monica 1919

In 1919 Durant was named the "Pacific Coast Champion," when he drove a blue Chevrolet Special to victory at the Santa Monica Road Race. He averaged in the open topped machine for a total of 3 hours and 4 minutes. His teammate

Eddie Hearne Edward Ames Hearne (March 1, 1887 – February 9, 1955) was an American racecar driver from Kansas City, Kansas who was active in the formative years of auto racing. Biography He was born on March 1, 1887. He participated in the inaugural Ind ...

finished only 7 minutes behind Durant. Throughout the run, neither Durant nor Hearne were lapped by any other drivers in all of the on the course. Durant only pitted twice, for tire changes. One of those

pit stop In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...

s was for a tire that blew while he was running almost .

Beverly Hills Speedway

Durant was a co-owner of the

Beverly Hills Speedway The Beverly Hills Speedway (also called the Los Angeles Speedway) was a wooden board track for automobile racing in Beverly Hills, California. It was built in 1919 on of land that includes the site of today's Beverly Wilshire Hotel, just outs ...

(1920–1924), a board track, along with the Speedway Association, which was owned by Durant,

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

, Jake Dansinger and Silsbee Spalding, among others. It is located where the Beverly Wilshire Hotel is today. In its day it rivaled the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for speed. In May 1923 Durant shattered eight world speed records for events and under at the Beverly Hills Speedway.

Detroit Special

Early in 1927, Durant financed the design and construction of an 8-cylinder

front-wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...

vehicle, designed and built by C. W. Van Ranst and

Tommy Milton Thomas Milton (November 14, 1893 – July 10, 1962) was an American race car driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He was notable for having only one functional eye, a disability that would have disqualified him ...

. The vehicle was assembled in a basement laboratory of the

General Motors Building A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

and, as such, was named the "Detroit Special" in honor of the city in which it was built. The vehicle was later bought by

Harry Hartz Harry Hartz (24 December 1896 – 26 September 1974) was an American auto mechanic and race car driver. Career Harry Hartz was born in Pomona, California, and grew up in the Los Angeles area. At age eighteen, he began to drive in support e ...

, who installed a new

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalent ...

engine. Durant was to have driven the car in the 1932 Indy 500 race, but

Fred Frame Fredrick William Frame (June 3, 1894 – April 25, 1962) was an American race car driver. One of the leading AAA Championship Car drivers of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Frame is best remembered for his victory at the 1932 Indianapolis 500. B ...

drove it to victory instead.

Other Racing Accomplishments

Durant competed at many tracks and events around the country, including: Santa Monica and

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

road races,

Tacoma Speedway Tacoma Speedway (sometimes called Pacific Speedway or Tacoma-Pacific Speedway) was a (approximate) wooden board track for automobile racing that operated from 1914 to 1922 near Tacoma, Washington. In its time, the track was renowned nationwide a ...

, Cactus Derby (a challenging off-road race between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

), and the

Indy 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianap ...

1922 Tacoma Speedway Cliff Durant Marvin D Boland Collection G521089

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

Durant had the largest stable of cars (6) ever to participate in the Indy 500 until modern times. He came in 7th that year. Durant was the financial backer of the famous Harry Miller racing engines, which dominated the racing world in the 1920s–30s.

Other activities

Durant had his own flight school, airplanes for sale, and a field, "Durant Field" in

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

in 1919. It was located between 80th Ave., 83rd Ave., and Snell Street. He also had Air Mail contracts for mail delivery with the government. In 1921 Durant was a partner with Thomas O'Brian in the Lebec Hotel in the Mountains north of Los Angeles near present day

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

. He had a large estate in

Roscommon, Michigan Roscommon ( ) is a village in Roscommon County the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 981 at the 2020 census. Roscommon is the county seat of Roscommon County. History The community of Roscommon was first settled as early as 1845 by Ge ...

on the South Branch of the Au Sable River, where "The Castle," a 54-room mansion, burned to the ground February 6, 1931. On the estate was his own private air strip, with several planes. On April 25, 1930, test pilot Herbert J. Fahy died two days after an airplane he had been showing Durant had crashed on takeoff at this airstrip. Herb Fahy and his wife Claire, both prominent pilots, acted as sales agents for Lockheed. Durant agreed to buy the airplane if the Fahys could prove that the

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CM ...

could land and take off safely from Durant's personal strip. Herb and Claire Fahy landed the plane without incident, but as they took off, one of the wheels hit a partially hidden stump, which flipped the plane over. Herb Fahy, at age 33, suffered a fractured skull and a severe concussion from which he never recovered. The community airport in Roscommon, Michigan, was named Durant Field in his honor on July 16, 1933. At various times in his career he presided over the West Coast division of

Durant Motors Durant Motors Inc. was established in 1921 by former General Motors CEO William "Billy" Durant following his termination by the GM board of directors and the New York bankers who financed GM. Corporate relationships Durant Motors attempted t ...

, and had been vice president of sales for Chevrolet in Oakland, California. He left Chevrolet in 1921, after his father, W.C. "Billy" Durant, left General Motors. Durant was an accomplished musician as well, playing the violin. He owned the

Guarneri del Gesu Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his in ...

violin, and played the piano and trumpet. He was at one time the owner of one of the most prized collections of violins in the world. In addition to being a businessman, race car driver, aviator and musician, he was also a yachtsman who owned the sailing yacht "Aurora."

Death

Durant died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at his Hollywood home on October 31, 1937, aged 46. His wife, Charlotte Phillips, had summoned medical assistance but he was pronounced dead when the assistance arrived. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Indianapolis 500 results

References

External links

Photo of Durant in airplane
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durant, Cliff 1890 births 1937 deaths Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan Racing drivers from Michigan Racing drivers from California Indianapolis 500 drivers AAA Championship Car drivers