1937 Delahaye Grand Prix racer

They called themselves the Baeke Boys. Leather aviator caps snugged down over their ears, Dr. John L. Baeke and his dad, Dr. John O. Baeke, looked for all the world like barnstorming racers from the 1930s as they scrunched into the tiny open cockpit of their 1937 Delahaye Grand Prix racer. That was 1995, and they were competing in the Great Race. The elder Baeke was 76 and the oldest contestant.

The Baekes’ shared passion for automobiles dates back nearly 40 years when father and son first built Pinewood Derby racers together. Today their tiny racers today sit proudly in a display case in the younger Baeke’s living room. Little did they know that building Pinewood Derby cars would lead them to restoring a real racer many years later.

When the Baekes decided to enter the Great Race, they needed a suitable car. The younger Baeke and his mother, Marguerite, found this Delahaye at an auction in Atlanta in 1994. It is one of three known to be in this country. Another is owned by Jay Leno. The spidery Delahaye was, Baeke said with a laugh, “in museum condition.” That meant it looked great but didn’t run well. If this stunning French racer was going to compete in the Great Race, it needed a top-to-bottom mechanical restoration.

Stan Gilliland of Wellington, Kan., a family friend and a well-known auto restorer, brought the Delahaye back to health. The Baekes labored for hours as well.

For months, the father-and-son duo prepared the car for the race. They made lists, gathered parts and made repeated trips up and down a deserted stretch of rural Kansas highway to perfect their timekeeping. Preparation for the race was almost more fun than the actual event, said the younger Baeke. During the two-week-long time-distance rally/race for old cars, the doctors manhandled the Delahaye from Canada to Mexico City through rain and heat. Although the pair was once as high as second place in the standings, a two-minute penalty on the final day cost them dearly. Their magical run ended with a sixth-place finish.

In 1999, the elder Baeke had a subdural hematoma that left him a paraplegic after being in a coma for four months. He did not do well in a nursing home, so Baeke and his wife, Suzanne, brought his dad into their house for 24-hour care. “My Dad is my best friend,” Baeke said. “We’re both doctors,” he said, “and I still go to him for advice.”

The elder Baeke’s room is on the lower level of his son’s home, right next to a walk-out family room that is decorated with auto posters and bits of memorabilia from the Great Race. But the most impressive decoration is the Delahaye itself. It is in the family room, his son said, so that his dad can see it each time he is wheeled out of his room.

Like a pet that sleeps outside its master’s room, their Delahaye is a sentinel that keeps watch over the memories of the Baeke Boys.

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