Throughout
his career, John Buffum was known for his ability to take
charge of the ever-changing conditions of a rally course.
His photographic memory of roads and turns, and his ability
to drive with abandon to post the fastest times at the
finish, made him a legend in the world of Rally Racing.
For four years starting in 1977, Buffum drove factory
Triumph TR-7s and TR-8’s and teamed with Doug Shepherd as
his co-driver. The pair dominated the SCCA PRO Rally series
and the North America Rally Championship until British
Leyland dropped out of racing in the U.S. in 1981. They
tried running Audi 80 and Peugeot 504 racers, but could not
keep up with Rod Millen’s factory Mazda RX-7 rally entries.
In 1982, however, Audi supplied Buffum and Shepherd with its
new Audi Quattro racers and they were unstoppable. Millen
eventually showed up with a faster RX-7 but Buffum countered
with the Quattro A2 and then a Sport Quattro to up the ante
again. He would also rally occasionally in Europe where he
became the first and only American to win a European
Championship event (1983 Sachs Rally in Germany and the 1984
ERC event in Cyprus).
When Shepherd moved into a factory ride with Dodge, Buffum
hired veteran co-driver Tom Grimshaw and the pair won
back-to-back championships, including their 1987 undefeated
season. During this period, Buffum became the world’s most
successful rally driver ever, with 104 national championship
wins, far surpassing anyone else. He retired after the 1987
season and became SCCA PRO Rally series manager, helping the
sport maintain its stature through some lean years.
Since his retirement from active racing, Buffum has driven
in an occasional rally and managed to bring his total
victory count to 117 national championship wins. Not a man
to sit on the sidelines, he remains as active as ever as a
team manager for the Hyundai factory team, and builds and
prepares rally cars through his Libra Racing operation in
Colchester, Vermont. He is a past president of the American
Rally Association, which handled the field administration
and rules for the SCCA Pro Rally series in the mid 90’s.
Buffum also rose to prominence as an event organizer in 1991
when he founded the Maine Forest Rally in Rumford, Maine,
the only event in the U.S. to run a rally stage through a
downtown area.
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