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A hellish race, the Carrera Panamericana Mexico attracted the best drivers in an extraordinary setting for five editions in the early 1950s.
The Carrera Panamericana was initially an idea of the Mexican government, which saw it as a great way to promote its new road network, namely the Mexican portion of the Pan-American Highway. Thus, in 1950, the first edition started in Ciudad Juárez in the north of the country, heading south and the province of Chiapas, finally reaching the border with Guatemala in the far south. To complete this crazy race, competitors had to cover 3,373 km.
On May 5, 1950, thirty-two competitors presented their machines in Ciudad Juárez (in Chihuahua), a Mexican city located near the border of the United States, for the start of the first edition of the Carrera Panamericana Mexico. They did not know it yet, but they were preparing to face the most dangerous car race in the world. Nine stages. Six days of racing. Nearly three thousand five hundred kilometers representing the Mexican part of the axis linking Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina, from the north to the south of the American continent. Six days of unbridled competition across the desert plains of the North, the mountains of the central region and the tropical forest of the South. A hellish course conducted at high speed on open roads. Well, more like tracks made of sand or really damaged tarmac. A race without a safety net. Where bravery is used as a doping agent.
While the first edition in 1950 was mainly attended by amateur drivers, it didn’t take long for word to spread and drivers from all over the world to return to Mexico to take part in the following races, especially since the Mexican government knew how to attract stars, with big checks to back it up. In 1954, stars of the time such as Juan Manuel Fangio, Carroll Shelby and Phil Hill were at the start. Despite the winding mountain roads, average speeds quickly exceeded 160 km/h.
Fangio was familiar with this type of track, having cut his teeth behind the wheel on similar bumpy roads at home in Argentina. In 1953, he became the first and last Formula 1 world champion to win the Carrera Panamericana, driving a Lancia D24.
Determined to outwit its rivals Ferrari and Lancia, Mercedes entered three 300 SLs in the 1952 edition. And success was forthcoming for the German marque, with its driver Karl Kling winning the race, followed by his teammate Herman Lang. But it was not so much Kling’s victory that allowed him to enter the annals as his accident…
As the driver was taking a right-hand bend at high speed, a vulture crashed head-first into his windshield. The glass shattered into pieces, cutting the face of his co-driver Hans Klenk in several places. Despite everything, the Mercedes continued on its way and won the event by half an hour ahead of the second-place finisher.
Unfortunately, others were less fortunate. During the five years of the race, no fewer than 27 competitors died. Even in an era renowned for its danger in motor racing, this number was enormous. But the danger did not seem to frighten the crowds; it is estimated that nearly two million people gathered on the edge of the Pan-American Highway between 1950 and 1954 to come and watch the spectacle.
It was only in 1955, when tragedy struck the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, that the Mexican authorities realized how the human cost of the Carrera Panamericana was no longer tolerable, and simply abandoned the race.
As intense as it was tragic, the Carrera Panamericana is now one of those legendary races that have come to populate the folklore of motor sports.
In five years of existence, the Carrera Panamericana has attracted more than 2 million spectators. A record in the world of motor racing. But crossing Mexico at an average of more than 170 km/h with peaks of 300 km/h caused many victims on the side of both the public and the drivers. In 1955, the government decided to ban the Carrera.
Against all expectations, the Pan Am reappeared in 1988 and still exists today in the form of a historic rally. Recent winners include some famous rally drivers, such as Stig Blomqvist and Harry Rovanperä.
Elsewhere in the world, the term “Carrera” (Spanish for racing) has become famous as the name of two models associated with motorsport: the Porsche and the Tag Heuer watch of the same name. Incidentally, it was Jack Heuer, the boss of the luxury watch brand, who registered the “Carrera” trademark for this watch model after hearing about Pan Am in the early 1960s.
This year, the 32nd edition of its new era, which will take place from October 10 to 17, 2019.
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