Jim Kimberly Ferraris and other race cars ?

Pls note it's Kimberly, not Kimberley.
James (Jim) H. Kimberly, owner of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation (manufacturers of Kleenex paper towels), Chicago/IL/USA, owned/raced the following Ferraris in the 1950s:

166 MM Barchetta Touring 0010 M
195 S Berlinetta Touring 0060 M
340 America Barchetta Touring 0124 AM
340 America Spider Vignale 0204 A
225 Sport Spider Vignale 0220 ED
375 MM Spider Pinin Farina 0364 AM
375 Plus Spider Pinin Farina 0384 AM
121 LM Spider Scaglietti 0532 LM
625 LM Spider Touring 0642 MDTR

See Ferrari Club of America magazine "Prancing Horse" for further information.
Marcel Massini

 

1958 Sebring 12 Hours seems he raced a Maserati ,


He raced a Maserati 200SI, #2412 in 1957 and 1958 in Sebring. I own it.

Regards

Wolfi

 

Marcel,

What info do you have about 0834am, going to France, $80,000 etc. You can email me direct at [email protected]

Thanks

 

Someone posted a while back that the Google archives were now up and running for Popular Mechanics magazine, and did a 'ferrari' search. I followed the link and ran across this great period article on Kimberly:
http://books.google.com/books?id=biYDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA116&dq=popular+mechanics+ferrari+kimberly&cd=2#v=onepage&q=&f=false

 

Fondly referred to as "Gentleman Jim Kimberly" He and Briggs Cunningham were two of the early patrons of Ferrari. Both finally gave up on the Ferrari/Chenetti run-a-round. Briggs went with Jaguar/Lister and Kimberly with Aston Martin. I am sure there is a web site that will answer may of you questions and lead you to other related sites. just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

Another within the timespan and, like Kimberly, was from the Wisconsin/Chicago area was Honest John Kilborne (spelling may be off somewhat). He attended one of the FCA Nationals at Elkhart Lake as honored guest.

Jeff

 

I believe the Google archives are copyright free... Here is the 1955 issue cover
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

His obit from the New York Times.....



December 22, 1992

John Kimberly, 89, Ex-Chief Executive Of Paper Company

By LEE A. DANIELS

John R. Kimberly, the former chairman and chief executive of the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, died Sunday at his home in Easton, Md. He was 89.

Mr. Kimberly died of heart disease, said Tina Barry, a spokeswoman for Kimberly-Clark.

A grandson of John A. Kimberly, one of the four founders of Kimberly-Clark, Mr. Kimberly joined the company's operations department in 1924 and became an executive vice president in 1952. He was named president of the company in 1953 and chairman and chief executive in 1955. The company makes Kleenex, Huggies disposable diapers, Kotex feminine napkins and other paper products.

He retired from the company's top administrative posts in 1968, but remained a director until 1977. That year Kimberly-Clark established the John R. Kimberly Distinguished Professorship in the American Economic System at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., in his honor.

A native of Neenah, Wis., Mr. Kimberly graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During World War II he was deputy director of the War Production Board.

His first wife, the former Elizabeth Essick, died in 1978. A daughter, Josephine Kimberly Peterson, also died.

Mr. Kimberly is survived by his wife, the former Anne Jones Morton; three sons, John R. Kimberly Jr. of Issaquah, Wash., William E. Kimberly of Arlington, Va., and Richard H. Kimberly of McLean, Va.; a sister, Geraldine Carpenter of Wayzata, Minn.; a brother, James H. Kimberly of West Palm Beach, Fla.; a stepson, David C. Morton of San Francisco; a stepdaughter, Anne Morton Wyman of Easton, 13 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

Photo: John R. Kimberly. (Fabian Bachrach, 1968)

 

wrong obit, maybe.......?


".....the reports of my demise are greatly overstated....."

 

Yes, sorry, that's his brother. I realized that after I posted it.

Jim's obit is available here: http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19940202&id=4wEcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qXsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3683,1675467

 

The obit says Grey Fox.
He was the Silver Fox, which was also the name of his 90' yacht.
I met Mr. Kimberly in 1968 at his farm on the Chesapeake Bay. He was testing one of his Donzis, and had flown his old race car mechanic, Marshall lewis, in from Palm Beach for a personal tune-up. At that time I sold him a new Maserati Ghibli, white/beige, automatic transmission. He traded in his white Excalliber SS, one of the original versions of the Brooks Stevens car, (no doors, supercharger). I revisited the farm a couple of times afterward to pick up the Ghibli and have it serviced.
An avid sailor, the little gold earing he wore signified that he'd sailed 'round the Horn.

 

Another great driver also had the nickname of "the silver fox". Piero Taruffi. just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

My father was friends with Mr Kimberly in the 70's. My dad had a new Daytona which at that time he had just recently sold and Mr Kimberly owned a white 246 GTS and a silver 365 GTC/4. I just remember my dad wanting to buy the 246 from him and he would say that even if you gave him 50K he wouldnt sell that car. I would see him driving both those cars quite regularly. I think that had something to do with me my C/4 now. MF

 

http://www.vintagemotorsport.com/onlinestore/group.asp?group_id=695&category_id=118

Current issue of Vintage Motorsports in the Airport circuits article has some nice period history on Kimberly. Great article.

 

Wasn't it Jacqueline Kimberly, Roxanne Pulitzer in a tryst, with a trumpet?

There was a Playboy photo shoot with one of them later, that had a trumpet in the shoot as a prop in a sly visual reference to the whole affair.

Or maybe a bugle....I dunno.

 

I'm pretty sure it was Roxanne (great name) in the Playboy, uh, spread. One year at Sebring ('76, I think?) I was in the Paddock Club drinking all day long and the Kimberlys were there. Jackie was gorgeous. Roxy and Jackie together makes for quite a daydream. A friend of mine had the white 246GTS mentioned above for a while. The stuff that must go on in Palm Beach.....

 

Thanks for the "Fact Check" Jack......

I just read it for the interesting articles.....

I ran across a lot of issues from '75, '76 recently and just HAD to buy them.

...and the one from the month I was born (May 1958) had the article in it about de Portago's death in the last Mille Miglia, he was supposed to write the coverage himself.

That's odd, eh?

Maybe not as odd as a trumpet, tho....

 

An historical note. The War Production Board was probably the most important link during WW2 between the Federal government and the private sector in coordinating the civilian production of all war materials. As a kid I can remember my father referring to it with the greatest admiration. Just to have been a part of it testifies to who "gentleman Jim" really was.He will be missed in many circles in addition to motor racing. just one man's opinion tongascrew

 

Hi my name is Steven and I'm the great grandson of James Kimberly. I am so happy to see people are still interested in him. I thought for the longest time that no one cared about him anymore. If any one has any questions or wants to exchange stories about him please contact me. I would also like to know more about some of his races and the time he was in the scca. My email is [email protected]