by Johnny Tipler

The Carrera Panamericana was first run to celebrate the inauguration of the Panamerican Highway, and traversed the length of Mexico, from Tuxtla in the south to Juárez near the Texas border. Firms like Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Porsche took advantage, and as class winners, Porsche even applied the event's Carrera name to its sportier models. Since its 1987 revival, it's been run rally-style with half-a-dozen special stages a day. Just as it did in the early-'50s, half the entry comprises brash American stock cars, today mostly Panamericana specials based on spaceframe chassis and 600 bhp NASCAR V8 engines and running gear, lurking beneath period Studebaker, Hudson, Lincoln or Oldsmobile bodywork. The '50s and '60s European classics are no less heavily modified. Mexicans love a fiesta, and the arrival of La Carrera Panamericana at each of the provincial towns on its seven-day, 2000-mile progress through central Mexico last November provided an excuse for wild celebrations. Everywhere the entourage is mobbed by enthusiastic spectators, waving, cheering and demanding souvenirs. Crowds throng, brass bands play salsa, and the tequila overflows. Includes 350 images, maps of the modern and original 1950s routes, plus results of original events.

Contents:

• 1950, THE FIRST GREAT ROAD RACE
  - Establishing La Carrera Panamericana
  - The route
  - Rules and regulations
  - Prize money
  - The field
  - The story of the race
• 1951, THE LONG WAY UP
  - Changes for 1951
  - Rules and regulations
  - The field
  - The story of the race
• 1952, ENTER THE MANUFACTURERS
  - Rules and regulations
  - Registration and prize money
  - The field
  - The story of the race
• 1953, WORLD SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP
  - Rules and regulations
  - Registration and prize money
  - The field
  - The story of the race
• 1954, THE END OF AN ERA
  - Rules and regulations
  - Registration and prize money
  - Private line-up
  - The field
  - The story of the race
  - La Carrera's swansong
  - Interview with class winner Hans Herrmann
• 1988 TO 2005, REVIVAL AND RENAISSANCE
  - Class acts
  - Kenneth Olausson sets the scene
  - A winning partnership
• LA CARRERA 2006 AND 2007
  - The 2006 race
  - Variety in the paddock
  - 2006 gets under way
  - 2007: Getting stuck in
• Appendix I
  - LA CARRERA PANAMERICANA RESULTS 1950 TO 2007
  - 1950 to 1954
  - 1988 to 1994
• Appendix II: RESOURCES

Hardcover, 26 x 26 cm, 272 Seiten, 350 größtenteils farbige Abbildungen, englischer Text