This Modern Carrera Panamericana Class Winner Looks Straight Out Of The Original Race - Jalopnik
tags:Amongst the hundreds of meticulously restored cars up for auction at Monterey Car Week, this one practically jumped out of the screen at me. It caught my eye specifically because it's not something like Carroll Shelby's Cobra Daytona Coupe or a $26 million one-off Ferrari that you'd expect to see, but a 1950 Ford with a roll bar, lots of stickers, and crossed American and Mexican flags. This car isn't just a veteran of the Carrera Panamericana, but a class winner.
We've covered the history of this race before, but to sum up, it was Mexico's way of celebrating its portion of the highway that was supposed to take you from the Arctic Ocean to the tip of South America. (It remains incomplete today, mainly thanks to the dangerous Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia.) It brought the European style of open road racing to North America, complete with the same drivers, teams, and death tolls that accompanied it. The original race only lasted a few years until the 1955 Le Mans disaster plus several high-profile deaths of its own put an end to it.
The race returned in 1988, this time as a vintage stage rally, not flat-out runs on open roads like its predecessor. It's a little-known fact that Pink Floyd entered the race in 1991, while also creating a documentary with an original soundtrack. Nick Mason and co-driver Valentine Lindsay finished eighth overall, while David Gilmour crashed out, with his co-driver and band manager Steve O'Rourke suffering a broken leg. While safer than the original version, the modern Carrera Panamericana still has its fair share of mishaps. That version of the race still runs today.
A vintage racer twice over
This 1950 Ford Standard Sedan is old enough to have competed in the first Carrera Panamericana, which took place that same year. It sure looks the part, but instead competed in the 1995 running of the modern version. Bob Primmer and his son Rob drove it to a class win that year. It also competed in the 1998 running of the California Mille. That makes this car a vintage racer twice over. Its racing career in the 1990s happened almost as long ago from the present day as the original Carrera Panamericana took place from the modern remake.
The interior is the only place any modern (for the 1990s) upgrades are visible. The original speedometer has been replaced with a tachometer, which is really the only gauge the driver needs in front of him. A large custom-made central gauge cluster contains all the other gauges and switches the team needs, in clear view of both the driver and co-driver so that both can monitor them. A CB radio sits below this for local communications. An exposed fuse box sits in front of the co-driver, enabling him to diagnose and replace blown fuses on the fly without slowing down. A spare tire rides in the back seat, with another in the trunk along with a 22-gallon fuel cell.
Under the hood is the classic Ford flathead V8. Originally 239 cubic inches, renowned tuner Art Chrisman punched it out to 290. The auction listing says it makes nearly three times as much horsepower as the original engine. That's a bold claim, but Chrisman was known for building powerful engines for hot rods, drag racers, and Bonneville. There's no paperwork to back up the horsepower claim, but I'd consider it plausible. That power goes to the rear wheels through a Borg Warner T10 four-speed manual transmission, not original equipment, but the right tool for the job.
This vintage race car goes up for auction on Friday, August 14. If you're more of a Mopar fan, this 1954 Dodge Royal Club Coupe by the same team is up for sale, too. It never placed as well as the Ford, even though it ran three times (1999, 2001, and 2003). Whether they're museum pieces or future race entries, both of these cars are pieces of Carrera Panamericana history.