Scott
McKenzie has been involved in all forms of recreational
four-wheeling since he bought his first vehicle, a 1946 CJ2A
Jeep. His competitive life as a driver was marked early with
a second place finish in the 1956 MG Club of America
‘English Off-Road Trials’ in his stock 1955 VW. This was an
event against the clock in the hills above Encino,
California, near Scott’s home in North Hollywood. Later he
would win the 1960 MG Club of America event held in Vasquez
Rocks, California not far from where he lives today.
With subsequent vehicles Scott fabricated, he won 108 events
in Sand Drag Hill Climbs as a driver. His first event in
off-road racing turned out to be his last event as a driver.
Jim Cameret put on a race in the El Paso Mountains near Red
Rock Canyon State Park in California. Scott finished 3rd
overall in his Sandmaster buggy out of a field of over 300
entries who lined up in a mass start. McKenzie hated driving
in the dust but loved the challenge so he retired from
driving and concentrated on the design and construction of
winning off-road race cars.
Some of Scott’s early innovations were the first rear-engine
VW powered sand buggy, the first single-seat buggy VW
powered buggy and the first implementation of turning
brakes. Scott was also an engine builder, producing the
first large displacement VW motors for performance use in
the early 60’s.
The evolution from sand racing to desert racing was a
natural one for McKenzie. In spite of his impressive career
in the sand, off-road racing is where Scott set a standard
that others can only aspire to. With the cars that Scott
designed and built, first with his Sandmaster brand and
later as McKenzie Automotive, his drivers dominated desert
racing. Five consecutive overall Mint 400 victories, 9 time
Baja overall champions and countless other wins in too many
races to list.
The cars that Scott produced all had one thing that set them
apart: reliability. His philosophy using only tried and true
combinations was almost unstoppable and many others with
cutting-edge approaches were left behind in the end. Having
a good car is only one part of the equation and Scott had
some of the best drivers on his teams to back up the
technical work. Rick James, Bobby Ferro, Gene Hirst, Don
Guth, Johnny Johnson, Rick & Roger Mears, Ivan Stewart,
Malcolm Smith, Bud Feldkamp, and even Parnelli Jones all
drove Scott’s cars to numerous victories. With drivers like
these legends of the sport, desert and short-course races
were constantly dominated by Scott’s entries.
With Scott’s successes in racing it was natural that people
would seek out his experience and two successful businesses
were the result: Sandmaster and McKenzie’s Automotive.
Scott’s original partner was Charlie Lyon and then Don Arnet
with Sandmaster. Scott started McKenzie’s Automotive and
later, race team owner, Tracy Valenta became his partner.
To win it takes a team and Scott had some of the best. Brian
Skipper (owner of Sway-A-Way), Judy Smith (respected
off-road journalist), Steve Mudra (fabricator & ace
mechanic), and Greg Lewin and Kirk Cartwright (founders of
Off-Road Engineering), to name just a few. Scott worked with
Gil George of Funco to develop the chassis and countless
component suppliers to produce products that helped off-road
racing prosper. Scott closed the race car fabrication part
of his business in 1981 and concentrated on his parts
business which had become a major player in off-road racing.
In 1988 McKenzie decide to “retire” and sold the business to
Jeff Quinn who continues to operate the business as
McKenzie’s performance parts.
Scott has over 53 years of off-road participation having
been successful throughout his career. He is generous to a
fault, always helping but never needing help. He is an
inspiration to all who know him, is honest and fair,
meticulous and creative, a mentor to several generations of
off-roaders whose innovations have been instrumental in
bringing the sport to where it is today.
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