December 11: John Wyer, the man who made Gulf colors a racing legend, was born on this date in 1909

They called him "Death Ray." That should tell you what kind of boss John Wyer was — but whatever his management style, the man with the slick hair parted with a bullet knew how to race. Wyer, born on this date in 1903, oversaw Aston Martin's only LeMans win in 1959 before joining Ford's first LeMans efforts with the GT40s in 1963. Wyle's GT40 MK1s didn't win due to reliability problems, but Wyle kept tinkering even after Ford won LeMans, then pulled out of racing.