The Mille Miglia and Targa Florio may have stolen the limelight, but in the early 1950s, the most dangerous, grueling, and celebrated long-distance road rally wasn’t in Italy—it was in Mexico.
The Carrera Panamericana was, without doubt, Mexico’s greatest road race, running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954 and attracting some of the greatest names in motorsport, from Formula 1 World Champions Alberto Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio to 24 Hours of Le Mans-winner Louis Chiron and hot-rodder Mickey Thompson. Anyone who was anyone in endurance, stock car, or sports car racing in the 1950s wanted to test their mettle in the intimidating South American epic.
Such was the legacy of the famous short-lived race that it would continue to influence some of the greatest brands of the 20th Century, with both Porsche and TAG Heuer naming flagship models after the rally following their joint success in 1953. In 2023, the brands marked Porsche’s famous 1953 class win—achieved with the help of TAG Heuer chronographs—with a spectacular reimagining of the famous 1953 550 Coupé based on the new Porsche 718 GT4 RS. Two cars were built by Porsche Exclusive Manufaktur in Zuffenhausen, with the number 154 car driven in the 2023 edition of the Carrera Panamericana. The second car, numbered 152, didn’t compete, and is now being offered for sale via Sotheby’s Sealed from 12–16 March. A portion of the funds raised in the auction is set to benefit Mexican families through the social foundations TECHO, Make-A-Wish, and World Vision.
1952 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL
The third running of the Carrera Panamericana attracted an incredible entry, with Mercedes-Benz putting forward two of its W 194 300 SLs. Karl Kling and Hans Klenk won the race in spectacular fashion, covering some 3,111 kilometers at an incredible average speed of over 165 km/h. They were followed by the sister car of Hermann Lang and Erwin Grupp, making for a Mercedes-Benz 1-2 finish.
Kling’s car became one of the most instantly recognizable cars to ever compete in the Carrera Panamericana thanks to a mid-race high-speed collision. The German’s Silver Arrow struck an enormous vulture while travelling at more than 250 km/h, totally destroying the windscreen and injuring co-driver Klenk. Engineers were quick to replace the screen and afterwards jury-rigged eight vertical metal bars to protect both driver and navigator in the event of another bird strike. The pair romped home to a stunning victory, while the modified Mercedes-Benz became the stuff of legend.
1953 Ferrari 250 MM Berlinetta by Pinin Farina
The 1952 Carrera Panamericana may have been dominated by Mercedes-Benz and the seemingly unstoppable 300 SL of Karl Kling and Hans Klenk, but in many ways, the result was flattering to the Silver Arrows. Much of the post-race chatter instead focused on Giovanni Bracco and his ferociously quick Ferrari 250 MM Berlinetta prototype, which led the race from the second stage until its transmission gave out just 300 miles from the finish.
Bracco’s pace was a revelation to Mexican driver Efrain Ruiz Echeverria, who had campaigned a 212 Inter Berlinetta in 1952. For 1953, Echeverria ordered a brand-new 250 MM just like Bracco’s directly from Modena. Supported by riding mechanic Pedro Villegas, Echeverria took on the might of Lancia in an epic David vs Goliath battle. A spirited performance saw him climb from 13th place at the end of the first stage to as high as 6th, ahead of the Talbot of Louis Rosier. By the time he took the chequered flag, Echeverria had finished 7th in the sports car class, finishing as the top privateer and the highest-ranking Mexican driver in the five years the race was run.
1954 Ferrari 375 Plus Pinin Farina Spyder
Like all the great road races of the 1950s, the inherent danger and inevitable death toll that came with such white-knuckle racing eventually caught up with the Carrera Panamericana, and 1954 marked the final running of the event proper. It went out with a bang thanks to a spectacular flame-spitting, 5-litre V-12-powered Spyder in the blood red colours of Scuderia Ferrari.
The Ferrari 375 Plus Pinin Farina Spyder left Maranello at the beginning of 1954 and was campaigned by Giannino Marzotto and Gioia Tortima in the Mille Miglia in May of that year, then driven a month later by Louis Rosier and Robert Manzon at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car retired from both of those races, but came good at the final Carrera Panamericana, where it romped to victory at the hands of endurance racing specialist Umberto Maglioli. The Italian averaged 172 km/h over the race distance, covering the final stage at a blistering average pace of more than 222 km/h.
1953 Porsche 356
One of the most visually arresting cars from the Carrera Panamericana didn’t even finish the race in the required time to be classified, but it nonetheless became an icon of the “Last Great Road Race.” The car was a 1953 Porsche 356, and it was driven by Jacqueline Evans, a British-born actress who had married a Mexican and went on to star in South American cinema. Unlike the big money teams with factory backing and full support team, Evans’ five consecutive efforts were self-funded, and her attempts all driven solo. The striking German coupé became a star of the race for its brilliant livery, which featured, painted across the bonnet, a portrait of Eva Peron in tribute to the pioneering First Lady of Argentina.
Evans herself became emblematic of the race, despite falling short of classification in her Porsche 356. The driver became the first woman to compete in all five iterations of the race, racking up a number of impressive performances in the process. She finished 45th in the inaugural running in 1950 while behind the wheel of a Chrysler Windsor and 37th in 1952 in a Chrysler Saratoga, before changing tack and opting for Porsche power.
1953 Lancia D24 Pinin Farina Spider
Lancia had come within an inch of victory in 1952 thanks to Umberto Maglioli and the supercharged Aurelia B20, and so the Italian team redoubled its efforts the following year. Five cars were entered, including a trio of all-new B24s, which featured a 3.3-litre 265 horsepower V-6 engine, a shorter wheelbase than the outgoing D23, and the firm’s trademark transaxle hung out over the rear axle to improve traction. The firm was so determined to win that Gianni Lancia even followed the race from an aeroplane, filming his cars from above.
The Lancia D24 Pinin Farina was not only beautiful, but quick, having outpaced—at least prior to its retirement—Ferrari’s 4.5-litre 375MM at the Nürburgring earlier in the year. In the hands of racing great Juan Manuel Fangio, it was practically unstoppable. The Argentinean ace completed the Mexican epic in just over 18 hours, finishing ahead of teammates Piero Taruffi and Luigi Maggio in the sister D24. Underlining the model’s supremacy, it would go on to carry Alberto Ascari to victory at the 1954 Mille Miglia, followed by an outright win for Taruffi at the Targa Florio.
1953 Porsche 550 Coupé
No other manufacturer is as closely linked to the legend of the Carrera Panamericana as Porsche. Such was the significance of the race to the firm that the name “Carrera” would become a permanent feature of Porsche’s model lineup. Porsche had its first taste of victory in 1953, when Guatemalan racer Jose Herrate stole the headlines with a class win in the Small Sports Car category at the wheel of a 550 Coupé—but greater success was to come.
In 1954, sports car specialist Hans Herrmann and Jaroslav Juhan took the race by storm, not only finishing 1st and 2nd in the sub-1,500 cc Sports Car class but taking 3rd and 4th positions in the overall standings—an incredible accomplishment considering the pedigree of the opposition. Herrmann managed to complete the 3,070-kilometer race at a dizzying average speed of 157.12 km/h, proving the competitiveness, performance, and incredible reliability of the 550 Spyder. The result was one that would remain in the history books, with 1954 marking the final running of the iconic endurance race. Amid increasing costs, and in the long shadow cast by the 1955 Le Mans disaster, the Carrera Panamericana would never again be run in its original form.
In 2023, Porsche honored the memory of the original race, and the incredible 550 Coupé that delivered the firm a famous class win in 1953. Two magnificent homages to the legendary 550 were created based on the 718 GT4 RS, one of which is now being offered via Sotheby’s Sealed. Click the link below to find out more, and for your chance to own the legend.
