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Concept
Cliff Durant
Summary
Russell Clifford Durant (November 26, 1890 – October 31, 1937) was an American racecar driver. He was the son of William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors and Durant's first wife, Clara Pitt. Cliff Durant had four wives: Lena Pearl McFarland, Adelaide Pearl Frost, Lea Gapsky, and Charlotte Phillips. His second wife, Adelaide Pearl Frost (1885–1977), whom he married on September 1, 1911, was a singing star who later married WW1 fighting ace Eddie Rickenbacker.
Durant was born in Flint, Michigan, the son of William C. Durant and Clara Miller Pitt. His older sister, Margery Durant, was three years his senior. In 1900, the family lived at 704 Garland Street in Flint and were attended by servants. Durant went to Flint grammar schools and later the University of Detroit and the Pennsylvania Military Academy. In 1908, his parents divorced and in the divorce settlement, Durant's mother, Clara, was granted the house on Garland Street.
Durant had a number of marriages and was rumored to treat his wives poorly through extramarital affairs and physical abuse.
In 1919 Durant was named the "Pacific Coast Champion," when he drove a blue Chevrolet Special to victory at the Santa Monica Road Race. He averaged in the open topped machine for a total of 3 hours and 4 minutes. His teammate Eddie Hearne finished only 7 minutes behind Durant. Throughout the run, neither Durant nor Hearne were lapped by any other drivers in all of the on the course. Durant only pitted twice, for tire changes. One of those pit stops was for a tire that blew while he was running almost .
Durant was a co-owner of the Beverly Hills Speedway (1920–1924), a board track, along with the Speedway Association, which was owned by Durant, Cecil B. DeMille, Jake Dansinger and Silsbee Spalding, among others. It is located where the Beverly Wilshire Hotel is today.
In its day it rivaled the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for speed. In May 1923 Durant shattered eight world speed records for events and under at the Beverly Hills Speedway.
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