Lost Road Races: A History of the Carrera Panamericana
Carrera Panamericana
With 24 fatalities during its five year sojourn, the Carrera Panamericana was perhaps the most dangerous motor race ever.
An open road border-to-border dash across Mexico’s section of the newly completed Pan-American Highway, it ran for five consecutive years between 1950 and 1954. Drivers from practically every discipline attended including Formula 1, rallying and NASCAR along with major European and American manufacturers.
The brainchild of Enrique Martin Moreno, the race was supported by President, Miguel Aleman Valdes, as a way to increase tourism and investment into Mexico.
Held over five days, the route was comfortably in excess of 2000 miles and comprised several major elevation changes.
Backed by the government, the enormous prize fund attracted a stellar entry right from the off.
Until 1952, the race was restricted to five-seat sedans.
1950
The inaugural event of 1950 differed from subsequent years in two ways: it was held in May (as opposed to November) and ran from north to south (later reversed).
When the race began, Mexico’s section of the Pan-American Highway had only just been completed.
The route started in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, on the Texas border. It finished five days and nine stages later in Ciudad Cuauhtemoc, Chiapas, on the Guatemala-Mexico border.
Hershel McGriff and Ray Elliott won the 1950 event in their Oldsmobile 88. Driving at an average speed of 88mph, their Oldsmobile was smaller and lighter than many of the other cars in the race. They passed the lead Cadillac 62 of Thomas Deal and Sam Cresap on the final day to scoop a 150,000 Peso first prize (equivalent to around $17,000 at the time).
Other notable finishers were Piero Taruffi / Isidoro Ceroli (fourth) and Felice Bonetto / Bruno Bonini (eighth). Taruffi and Bonetto were driving specially prepared Alfa Romeo 6C 2500s entered by the Automobile Club d’Italia.
In 1950, the race was marred by the deaths of two competitors and two spectators.
The opening stage saw four-year-old Juan Altamirano fatally injured when he was struck by the Lincoln Cosmopolitan of Jesus Valezzi and Adolfo Duenas Costa. Later in the stage, Guatemalan driver, Enrique Hachmeister, was killed when the Lincoln he shared with Francisco Toscana Valle lost control.
On the fourth stage, the Peruvian, Jesus Reyes Molina, died when the Nash he co-drove with Henry Charles Bradley hit a bridge. A spectator was also killed on stage four after being struck by the Nash Ambassador of Eddie Sollohub and Nicholeo Scott.
Death toll aside, the 1950 Carrera was considered a great success.
1951
To attract more professional teams for 1951, the event was re-scheduled to November when the American and European seasons had concluded. The route was also reversed and ran from south to north so the media could take advantage of better infrastructure at the finish. It would start in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, and conclude in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.
Although the number of competitors was less than in 1950, the quality was higher.
The entry list was headed by a two-car Ferrari works team run under the Centro Deportivo Italiano banner. Backed by the Sinclair Oil Corporation, Ferrari’s specially prepared blue and silver 212 Inters were genuine five-seat road cars and therefore permitted to run.
Lancia also sent a two-car team, but both their B20 Aurelia GTs failed to finish.
Instead, it was the Ferraris that took a famous one-two finish. Piero Taruffi and Luigi Chinetti emerged victorious with Alberto Ascari and Luigi Villoresi second.
Once again, the race suffered several fatalities which further enhanced its reputation for danger.
On the opening stage, Mexican car dealer and veteran racer, Jose Estrada, along with his co-driver, Miguel Gonzalez, were killed when their Packard went off the road and tumbled into a ravine. The Mayor of Oaxaca, Lorenzo Mayoral Lemus, also died on stage one when his car careered off a mountain road.
The next day, famous Mexican aviator, Carlos Panini, was fatally injured. Panini’s Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS crashed into a wall while dicing with Bobby Unser on the second stage. The Alfa Romeo exploded on impact. Panini’s co-driver, his daughter, Terese, escaped with minor injuries.
1952
Ferrari’s 1951 victory led to more manufacturer participation in 1952. Ferrari and Lancia were joined by Mercedes-Benz and Gordini. All four teams would run in the new Sports car class.
Despite turning up with a trio of 340 Mexicos that had been designed specifically for the high speed event, Ferrari lost out to Mercedes-Benz in 1952.
The German team finished first and second; their enormous budget and pioneering use of pace notes gave them the edge. Karl Kling and Hans Klenk took the win from Hermann Lang and Erwin Grupp in second. Best of the Ferraris was that of Luigi Chinetti and Jean Lucas in third.
Like Mercedes-Benz, the works Lincoln team also used pace notes. Their trio of Capris took first, second and third in the Touring class.
1952 saw the lowest fatality rate of any Carrera. The only death was Mexican driver, Santos Letona, who crashed his Jaguar XK120 on stage three between Texmelucan and Mexico City.
1953
For 1953, the Carrera’s status was enhanced as it became the final round of the inaugural World Sportscar Championship. The Sports car class was expanded to over and under 1.6-litre machinery while the Stock car category now had over and under 3.5-litre divisions.
As they had switched focus to Formula 1, Mercedes-Benz did not return to defend their crown. The premier unlimited Sports car class would therefore be a straight battle between Ferrari, Gordini and Lancia.
Highly fancied were the Lancia squad that arrived with a five-car team of D23s and D24s plus a full complement of top flight drivers.
In the under 1.6-litre Sports Car class, Porsche made their Carrera debut. They would be up against limited opposition from privateers in Siatas and OSCAs.
Lancia’s investment paid off and they took a convincing 1-2-3 finish. Victory went to Juan Manuel Fangio and Gino Bronzoni. Piero Taruffi and Luigi Maggio were second. Eugenio Castelotti and Carlo Luoni rounded out the podium.
Although their works cars failed, Porsches still finished first and second in the junior Sports class despite finishing well down the leaderboard in 32nd and 33rd overall.
The premier Stock car class once again fell to Lincoln with their Capris taking seventh through tenth overall.
Unfortunately, 1953 went down as the bloodiest Carrera yet with nine fatalities.
The opening stage between Tuxtla Gutierrez and Oaxaca was carnage. Six spectators who had gathered to get a better view of another car that had plunged over the embankment were killed when Mickey Thompson’s Ford 6 crashed into them after his brakes failed.
On the same leg, Antonio Stagnoli and his co-driver, Giuseppe Scotuzzi, died when their works Ferrari 340 Mille Miglia blew a tyre and crashed near Juchitan de Zaragoza.
Race leader, Felice Bonetto, was then killed on stage four. Bonetto and team-mate, Giovanni Bracco, were running single seat Lancias without co-drivers; in the absence of pace notes, they had painted warning signs along the route. However, Bonetto missed a notification warning him of a dip in the road approaching the village of Silao. He crashed his D23 into a building and died instantly.
1954
Despite retaining its status as the final round of the World Sportscar Championship in 1954, manufacturer participation was down on previous years.
Nevertheless, more mouth-watering cars arrived for the race than ever before.
Ferrari sent a brand new 4.9-litre 375 Mille Miglia for Umberto Maglioli plus 750 Monzas for Alfonso de Portago (driving solo) and Giovanni Bracco / Riccardo Livocchi. The works team were backed by a hoard of well funded privateers running the latest cars from Maranello.
Porsche also returned. Determined to do better than in 1953, they arrived with a team of new 550 Spyders.
In 1954, there would be two new classes, one for European Stock cars and another for Small US Stock cars.
Proceedings got off to a bad start when the race was preceded by a double tragedy. En-route to the start, a non-competing Jaguar XK120 service car crashed, overturned and killed occupants David Ramsey and Ed Shelton. Earlier, two Argentine competitors, Juan Antonio Gatti and Alfredo Doura, had been fatally injured when their Ford crashed into a canyon south of Puebla.
More bad news was to follow when the race got underway.
On the opening stage, the Ferrari 375 Plus of Jack McAfee and Ford Robinson blew a front tyre and barrel rolled off the road. McAfee suffered multiple injuries but survived while Ford Robinson was fatally injured.
This incident was followed by another on stage five: Leopoldo Olvera Zabado died when the Chevrolet Bel Air he shared with Victorio Menghi crashed near Durango.
Ferrari’s Umberto Maglioli was the eventual winner in 1954. Phil Hill and Richie Ginther finished second in a privateer 375 Mille Miglia.
The works Porsche 550s took third (Hans Herrmann) and fourth (Jaroslav Juhan) to secure the under 1.6-litre class.
In the premier Touring category, Lincoln once again emerged victorious. They finished ninth and tenth overall for a class 1-2.
Abandonment
1954 would prove to be the last running of the Carrera.
The Mexican authorities were already under pressure to cancel on grounds of costs and safety. Since 1950, speeds had risen exponentially and, in 1954, it had not been uncommon for the leading cars to top 180mph. Between 1950 and 1954, the winning car’s average speed had gone from 88mph to 138mph.
Following the deaths of 83 spectators at the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours, that year’s Carrera Panamericana was abandoned.
After 1957, the Mille Miglia, was also dropped from the calendar.
By the early 1960s, top level point-to-point road racing had all but disappeared.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: La Carrera Panamericana: https://lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/home/ & Mercedes-Benz - https://www.mercedes-benz.com
