Vehicle Description
1962 Huffaker Genie MkV
VIN: H-005
Built by Huffaker Engineering in late 1962, H-005 was sold as a
rolling chassis to European Motor Products, known to most of the
world as EMPI, who would hire future Trans-Am champion Jerry Titus
to drive. It is the only Huffaker Genie chassis that was ever built
to accept a Corvair flat-six engine. All other Genies until the VB
powered MkVIII were made for either BMC, Ford, Alfa Romeo, or
Coventry Climax engines.
Sports Car Graphic would do articles on the car in November 1962
and January 1963 calling it "Light, powerful, and very, very fast
... it may be the most competitive American-built sports/racing car
ever built." Titus would go on to race the car through 1963 with an
overall win at Willow Springs, and pole position at Del Mar. He
would follow up with podium finishes in 1964.
In August of 1964, Ed LaMantia Sr. would acquire the car from EMPI.
He immediately began racing it with a 2nd in class at Candlestick,
and a class win at Laguna Seca before the end of 1964. In 1965 he
would get a 3rd in class at the Daytona Run Offs.
In 1968 family matters forced the sale of the Genie to one of his
crew, Lionel Pitts. He would later relocate to Washington State
taking the car with him. The car would sit in storage for the next
37 years until the death of Ed LaMantia Sr. in 2005.
Pitts contacted Ed LaMantia Jr. to see if he would be interested in
purchasing his father's former car. A deal was struck and the car
and it spares were sent to LaMantia Jr. who would contact Huffaker
to verify and restore the car.
This one-off Genie has been verified by Huffaker as the original
H-005, which was called "the ultimate MkV Genie" by the press in
the day. In 2008 Huffaker began a four-year restoration of the
Genie-Corvair, which was completed in 2012 at a cost of over
$200,000.
The restoration was based on original drawings and period photos of
the car. The goal was to put the car back to the way it was when
owned by EMPI and raced by Jerry Titus. The result is one of the
fastest cars in its class at any historic racing event. In fact, at
its first outing at the Monterey Historics the Genie came in first
in class and 6th overall.
The Genie-Corvair is currently in race-ready condition and has been
cosmetically detailed. It comes with a complete list of spares
including: one set of wheels and tires, a rebuilt spare engine, air
filters, glass pack mufflers, and its logbook. This sports car is
welcome at any historic racing event worldwide, and as one of the
fastest cars of its day is bound to running at the front of the
pack.
