Russell Clifford "Cliff" Durant was an Americanracecar driver. He was the son of William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors and his 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, whom he married September 1, 1911, was a singing star who later married WW1 fighting ace Eddie Rickenbacker.
Early life
Durant was born on 26 November 1890 in Flint, Michigan, the son of William C. Durant and Clara Miller Pitt. He attended Flint Grammar Schools and later the University of Detroit and the Pennsylvania Military Academy. Durant's older sister, Margery Durant was three years his senior. When Durant was young, the family lived at 704 Garland St. in Flint, Michigan and were attended by servants. In 1908, Durant's parents divorced and in the settlement, Durant's mother Clara was granted the house on Garland St.
Married Life
Cliff Durant had a number of marriages and was rumored to treat his wives poorly through extramarital affairs and physical abuse.
Racing activities
Santa Monica 1919
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 81.28 miles per hour in the open topped machine for a total of 3 hours and 4 minutes. His teammate Eddie Hearned finished only 7 minutes behind Durant. Throughout the run, neither Durant or Hearne were lapped by any other drivers in all of the 250 miles 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 100 miles per hour. The race was not a success for all, however as Hudson Special driver, Walter Melcher,lost control of his vehicle on the curve by the Soldier's Home and crashed, suffering injuries from which he later succumbed.
Durant was a co-owner of the Beverly Hills Speedway, a 1-1/4 mile board track. The speedway was owned by the Speedway Association, owned by Durant, Cecil B. DeMille, Jake Densinger, and Silsbee Spalding, among others. It is located where the Beverly Wilshire Hotel is today. In its day it rivaled the Indianapolis Speedway. In May 1923 Durant shattered eight world speed records for events and under at the Beverly Hills Speedway.
Detroit Special
Early in 1927, Durant financed the design and construction of an 8-cylinder front-wheel drive vehicle which was designed and built by Tommy Milton and C.W. Van Ranst. The vehicle was assembled in a basement laboratory of the General Motors Building in Detroit and, as such, was named the "Detroit Special" in honor of the city in which it was built. The vehicle was later bought by Harry Hartz, who installed a new Miller engine. Durant was to have driven the car in the 1932 Indy 500 race, but Fred Frame drove it to victory instead.
Other Racing Accomplishments
He competed at many tracks and events around the country, including: Santa Monica road races, Tacoma Speedway, Cactus Derby, the Vanderbilt Cup, and the Indy 500 from 1919 to 1932. In 1923 Durant had the largest stable of cars ever to participate in the Indy 500 until modern times. He came in 7th that year. Durant was the financial backer of the famous Harry Miller racing engines which dominated the racing world in the 1920s–30s.
Other activities
Durant had his own flight school, airplanes for sale, and field, “Durant Field” in Oakland, California in 1919. It was located between 80th Ave., 83rd Ave., and Snell Street. He also had Air Mail contracts for mail delivery with the government. He had a large estate in Roscommon, Michigan on the South Branch of the Au Sable River, where "The Castle", a 54-room mansion, burned to the ground February 6, 1931. On the estate was his own private air strip, with several planes. On April 27, 1930, test pilot Herb Fahy died two days after an airplane he had been showing Durant had crashed on takeoff at this airstrip. Herb and his wife Clair Fahy, both prominent pilots, acted as sales agents for Lockheed. Durant agreed to buy the airplane if Fahy could prove that the Sirius could land and take off safely from Durant's personal strip. Herb and Claire landed the plane without incident, but as they took off, one of the wheels hit a partially hidden stump, which flipped the plane over. Herb, at age 33, suffered a fractured skull and a severe concussion from which he never recovered. The community airport in Roscommon, Michigan, was named Durant Field in his honor on July 16, 1933. At various times in his career he presided over the West Coast division of Durant Motors, and vice president of sales for Chevrolet in Oakland, California. He left Chevrolet in 1921, after his father, W.C. "Billy" Durant, left General Motors. Cliff was an accomplished musician as well, playing the violin. He owned the Guarneri del Gesu violin, and played the piano and trumpet. He was at one time the owner of one of the most prized collections of violins in the world. In addition to being a businessman, race car driver, aviator and musician, he was also a yachtsman who owned the sailing yacht "Aurora."
Death
Durant died on October 31, 1937, at his Beverly Hills home of a heart attack at age 46, and is buried in Los Angeles, California. His wife, Charlotte Phillips, summoned medical assistance, but he was pronounced dead when the assistance arrived.
