The All-American Eagle back on the racetrack

One of the most famous Formula One cars of all time will be on show this coming weekend at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit near Melbourne. Dan Gurney's 'screaming' Weslake V12-engined Eagle F1 will be in full flight at the Shannons Phillip Island Classic (February 26-27). Built by Gurney's own All American Racers, the Eagle F1 took Gurney into the history books when he won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix, becoming only the second GP driver in history after Jack Brabham to win a Formula One race driving the car he built.

This car, which was raced by both Gurney and team-mate Bruce McLaren in 1967, is one of 17 very special racing and sports cars flown from Europe, Britain and America to join a record 430-plus local entries in 33 races at Phillip Island over the weekend.

The story of the All-American racer is an interesting one, and nearly as fascinating as Gurney's long and chequered career as a consistent and landmark innovator at the highest level of motorsport for six decades.

As a racing car driver his record makes him one of the greatest drivers of all time. As a constructor he built a company to build an all-American Formula one car which he drove to victory himself. He's won at pretty much everything he's ever attempted, including the first no-holds-barred Cannonball Run which spawned the movie.

He's even the guy who started the Champagne-spraying tradition - that's Dan on the victory podium at LeMans starting a fine and universal tradition.

Gurney got a late start in motor racing due to action in the Korean War and didn't seriously take to the sport until he was 24 years of age in 1955. A recommendation from Phil Hill to Ferrari saw Gurney rocket to prominence, entering Formula One just four years after his first race. He had driven just 23 races of any form before he made his Formula One debut in 1959 for the famous Maranello marque.

As a driver he has entered every major motorsport hall of fame relevant to his era - he is one of only two drivers in history to have won races in Formula One (4), Indy Car (7), NASCAR (5) and Sports Car Racing, highlighted by his win in the GT40 at the Le Mans 24 hour where his spontaneous gesture of spraying the champagne on the victory dias began a global motorsport tradition - yes, folks, Dan Gurney is credited with creating MotorSport's money shot, the enduring public image of four wheel success.

Gurney has another element to him which endeared him to the public - a cavalier charisma highlighted by his win in the original, no-holds-barred Cannonball Run - the 1971 Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash was the public roads race that inspired the films, created an international outcry and will be forever enshrined as hotrod culture legend.

The initial record set by Gurney and motorsport journalist Brock Yates for the 2,900 miles on public roads was 35 hours, 54 minutes - an average of 80 miles per hour including petrol and food stops, and it was only broken in the fourth and final Cannonball Run in 1979. Legend has it that Gurney was booked by Nevada police for travelling at 135mph in a modified Daytona Ferrari during the race, though Dan recalls it as being a slightly lower speed these days.

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