Bob Holbert, 84; early Porsche dealer raced the cars on pro circuits

Bob Holbert, 84, who opened one of the first Porsche dealerships in the United States and raced the German sports cars on professional circuits in the 1950s and ‘60s, died Monday in Warrington, Pa.

Holbert drove for the Porsche factory team at Le Mans in 1961 and finished fifth, along with co-driver Masten Gregory, in the 24-hour endurance race in the French countryside. He won the 1963 U.S. Road Racing championship, racked up a record six class victories at Sebring International Raceway in Florida and won several times at the now-defunct Riverside International Raceway. He gave up racing in 1964.

His son, Al, also a racing driver, was killed in a plane crash in 1988. The two were 2004 inductees into Sebring’s Hall of Fame in a group that included Mario Andretti and Carroll Shelby.

Born in 1923 in Warrington in Bucks County near Philadelphia, Holbert grew up working in his family’s hardware store.

During World War II he served in the Navy, helping to maintain the V12 engines that powered PT boats in the Pacific.

Holbert’s Porsche, Volkswagen and Audi dealership began in a garage where he started selling parts for sports cars in 1951.