1953 Carrera Panamericana

The 1953 Carrera Panamericana was the fourth running of the Carrera Panamericana Mexican sports car racing event, and the first edition as a part of the World Sportscar Championship. The race took place from 19–23 November, and was run from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, over 8 stages and 3,077 kilometres (1,912 mi).^[1] 182 cars started the race, and 60 finished all 8 stages.^[2]

Pre-race[]

For the 1953 race, the existing Sports and Stock classes were both subdivided into Large and Small groups, giving four categories in which to compete. These were split by engine capacity; sports cars were divided under and over 1600 cc (98 ci), and stock cars under and over 3500 cc (213.5 ci). This was to accommodate the huge number of participants and the diverse breeds of cars within the race.^[3]

Going into the race, Ferrari had a slender championship lead of just two points over Jaguar. Although neither manufacturer had sent work entries to Mexico, the title could still be snatched by the Coventry marque, despite the Italian marque having more cars in the event.

Race[]

The race was won by a Lancia D24, similar to that pictured

Both Lancia and Lincoln came to the race highly organized and both factories swept 1–2–3 finishes in their respective categories. The Europeans dominated the sports categories, and the Americans the stock. Large Sports Cars was won by Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina and of Italy in a Lancia D24 Pinin Farina, Small Sports Cars by and from Guatemala in a Porsche 550 Coupé. Large Stock Cars was won by Chuck Stevenson and Clay Smith of the United States in a Lincoln Capri and Small Stock Cars by and , also of the U.S., in a six-cylinder Chevrolet 210. Stevenson has the distinction of being the only person to ever win twice in the original race.

The race was marred by the death of a number of competitors. The co-driver and pacenote systems championed by the Mercedes-Benz teams of the previous year were vindicated by the failure of an alternative system used by some other works drivers, notably those of Lancia. During pre-race runs of the route at much safer speeds, Felice Bonetto and Piero Taruffi, winner of the 1951 edition of the race, painted warning signals on the road to remind themselves of particular hazards. This resulted in the death of Bonetto who, leading the race under pressure from Taruffi, missed his own warning signs. Entering the village of Silao, he encountered rough pavement at excessive speed and impacted a building, killing him instantly.^[4]

As a result of and finishing in fourth place, in their Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta, they secured three points for Ferrari, thereby increasing the Maranello marque points lead over Jaguar, giving them the 1953 World Championship for Manufacturer title.^[5]

The race was held over eight stages over a total distance of 1,912 miles. Fangio and Bronzoni won in their works-entered Lancia D24 Pinin Farina. The pair finished the race in 18 hours and 11 minutes, averaging 169.221 kilometres per hour (105.149 mph). Second place went to their teammates, Piero Taruffi and , in their D24, just 7:51 minutes behind. The podium was complete by another of the Scuderia Lancia cars that of Eugenio Castellotti, with his co-driver, , in their Lancia D23, over 6:01 minutes adrift.^[6][7][8]

Official Classification[]

Class Winners are in Bold text.

Pos	Class	No.	Entrant	Driver(s)	Car	Stages	Time
1	S+1.6	36	Scuderia Lancia	Juan Manuel Fangio	Lancia D24 Pinin Farina	8	18:11:00
2	S+1.6	22	Scuderia Lancia	Piero Taruffi	Lancia D24 Pinin Farina	8	18:18:51
3	S+1.6	38	Scuderia Lancia	Eugenio Castellotti	Lancia D23 Pinin Farina	8	18:24:52
4	S+1.6	26	Scuderia Guastalla		Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta	8	19:40:29
5	S+1.6	6	Club Francia Amigos de la Panamericana	Louis Rosier	Talbot-Lago T26GS	8	20:11:22
6	S+1.6	23	Scuderia Guastalla		Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta	8	20:16:28
7	T	52	Bob Estes	Chuck Stevenson Clay Smith	Lincoln Capri	8	20:31:32
8	T	53	Bob Estes	Walt Faulkner Chuck Daigh	Lincoln Capri	8	20:32:55
9	T	95	Ronald Ferguson	Jack McGrath Manuel Ayulo	Lincoln Capri	8	20:33:07
10	T	51	Bob Estes	Johnny Mantz	Lincoln Capri	8	20:33:30
11	S+1.6	5	Efraín Ruiz Echeverría		Ferrari 250 MM Pinin Farina	8	20:48:29
12	T	66	A. B. Poe		Chrysler New Yorker	8	21:21:19
13	T	67	Knox Converse		Chrysler New Yorker	8	21:34:26
14	S+1.6	11	Akton Miller		Caballo de Hiero-Oldsmobile	8	22:07:36
15	T	60	Oscar Alfredo Gálvez	Oscar Alfredo Gálvez	Lincoln Capri	8	22:18:44
16	T	79	Jorge Descote		Lincoln Capri	8	22:27:01
17	T	64	E. N. de Milo		Lincoln Capri	8	22:28:36
18	T	59	Douglas Ehlinger		Packard Mayfair	8	22:34:40
19	T	72	Thomas A. Deal		Cadillac Series 62	8	22:40:30
20	T	93	Pat Zoccano		Buick	8	22:42:21
21	T	55	Union de Choferes		DeSoto Diplomat	8	22:45:02
22	T	101	Arturo Alvarez Tostado		Chrysler New Yorker	8	22:50:59
23	T	118	James Rice		Lincoln Capri	8	22:51:28
24	T	113	Ricardo Ramirez		Oldsmobile 88	8	23:01:10
25	S+1.6	25	Guillermo Girón		Jaguar XK120	8	23:01:49
26	T	102	Juan de Aguinaco		Oldsmobile 88	8	23:02:47
27	T	70	Al Rogers	Al Rogers	Chrysler New Yorker	8	23:13:45
28	T	88	Ernest C. Hall	Louis Unser	Buick	8	23:14:35
29	T	87	Luis Rafael Garzon		Oldsmobile 88	8	23:28:15
30	T	114	Hector Rivapalacio		Oldsmobile 88	8	23:28:20
31	T	82	Gilberto Julian Riega		Lincoln Capri	8	23:55:50
32	S1.6	152	José Herrarte Ariano		Porsche 550 Coupé	8	23:57:04
33	S1.6	158			Porsche 356 Super	8	24:18:25
34	TS	217	C. D. Evans		Chevrolet 210	8	24:48:21
35	TS	207	Norman Patterson			8	24:58:55
36	TS	209	Oscar Cabalen	Oscar Cabalén	Ford 6	8	25:03:48
37	TS	259	Scott F. Yantis		Chevrolet 210	8	25:09:51
38	TS	235	Malcolm Eckart		Hudson Jet	8	25:17:05
39	TS	238	Humberto Maneglia		Ford 6	8	25:34:27
40	TS	222	Hector Ortiz Palacios		Plymouth Belvedere	8	25:53:31
41	TS	204	Segurs Chapultepec		Hudson Jet	8	25:59:48
42	TS	225	Enrique Paredes		Hudson Jet	8	26:00:42
43	TS	245	Tadeo Taddia		Chevrolet 210	8	26:01:53
44	TS	268	Miguel Vinardell		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	26:03:33
45	TS	256	Baltazar Alaimo	Eliseo Rodriguez	Chevrolet 210	8	26:04:08
46	T	147	Clemente Aspe		Mercury Monterey	8	26:05:44
47	TS	282	Rafael Larocca		Ford 6	8	26:06:05
48	TS	210	Morelos		Studebaker Champion	8	26:10:36
49	TS	228	Luis Maria Martorani		Ford Victoria	8	26:11:56
50	TS	244	Guillermo G. Airaldi		Chevrolet 210	8	26:25:21
51	TS	258	Domingo B. Lombardi		Ford 6	8	26:27:41
52	TS	277	Robert E. Barckimer		Ford 6	8	26:40:39
53	TS	215	Leones Doroles Club, Hidalgo		Nash Statesman	8	26:54:23
54	TS	272	Carlos Fortunati Firpo		Ford 6	8	27:00:50
55	TS	276	Oscar Martorani		Ford 6	8	27:01:13
56	TS	248	Carlos Pfeffer		Ford 6	8	28:07:55
57	TS	278	Carlos Battilana Olazabal		Ford 6	8	28:14:19
58	TS	255	Guillermo Marenghini		Chevrolet	8	28:24:41
59	TS	227	Sebastian Gonzalez		Ford Victoria	8	28:27:21
60	TS	257	Omar Nestor Bide White		Chevrolet 210	8	30:53:14
61 NC	S1.6	155	Hans Hugo Hartmann		Borgward Hansa 1500 RS	8	Over time limit
62 DNF	S1.6	154	Jaroslav Juhan		Porsche 550 Coupé	7	Mechanical
63 DNF	S1.6	162	Manfredo Lippmann		Porsche 356 Super	7	Mechanical
64 DNF	TS	218	Remo Gamalero		Ford 6	7	Mechanical
65 DNF	TS	269	Mario Reibaldi		Ford 6	7	Over time limit
66 DNF	TS	271	Jorge Daponte	Jorge Daponte	Chevrolet 210	7	Mechanical
67 DNF	T	63	Liga Nacional del Transporte		Lincoln Capri	6	Over time limit
68 DNF	TS	233	Andres Ferreno Barreiro		Ford 6	6	DNF
69 DNF	TS	262	Agustin Aguaviva		Ford 6	6	DNF
70 DNF	S+1.6	9	O'Farrill	Jean Trévoux	Packard Motto Special	5	DNF
71 DNF	T	57	E. Carl Kiekhaefer		Chrysler New Yorker	5	Over time limit
72 DNF	S1.6	151	Calzado Canada		Porsche 356	5	Engine
73 DNF	TS	212	Douglas Marimon		Ford 6	5	DNF
74 DNF	TS	240	Vincente Tirabasso		Chevrolet	5	DNF
75 DNF	TS	254	Angel Lovalvo		Ford Victoria	5	DNF
76 DNF	S+1.6	7	Club Francia Amigos de la Panamericana	Jean Behra	Gordini T24S	4	Accident
77 DNF	S+1.6	8	Club Francia Amigos de la Panamericana	Jean Lucas	Gordini T16S	4	Over time limit
78 DNF	S+1.6	12	Scuderia Guastalla	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta	4	Lost wheel, accident
79 DNF	S1.6	153	Guillermo Suhr		Porsche 356	4	Over time limit (Accident)
80 DNF	TS	280	Jose Brea		Ford 6	4	DNF
81 DNF	S+1.6	34	Scuderia Lancia	Felice Bonetto	Lancia D24 Pinin Farina	3	Fatal accident
82 DNF	S+1.6	50	Scuderia Lancia	Giovanni Bracco	Lancia D23 Pinin Farina	3	Accident
83 DNF	T	61	Philips Radio Mexico		Lincoln Capri	3	Engine
84 DNF	T	80	Hayes/McNamamra	Keith Andrews	Cadillac Series 62	3	DNF
85 DNF	T	149	Ray Crawford	Ray Crawford	Lincoln Capri	3	Engine
86 DNF	TS	221	Manuel Hidalgo	Manuel Hidalgo	Ford 6	3	DNF
87 DNF	TS	223	Jose Rubiol Roca		Ford 6	3	Engine
88 DNF	TS	239	Daniel Musso		Ford 6	3	DNF
89 DNF	TS	241	Manuel Cobas		Ford 6	3	DNF
90 DNF	TS	247	Ricardo Julian Manrique		Chevrolet	3	DNF
91 DNF	TS	252	Fernando Tirabasso		Ford Victoria	3	DNF
92 DNF	TS	253	Hugo Servetto		Ford Victoria	3	DNF
93 DNF	TS	286	Ruben J. Joly		Chevrolet	3	DNF
94 DNF	TS	288	Eugenio Veicier		Chevrolet 210	3	Accident
95 DNF	TS	300	Anza Hermanos		Ford 6	3	Accident
96 DNF	S+1.6	4	Allen Guiberson	Phil Hill Richie Ginther	Ferrari 340 Mexico Vignale Coupé	2	Accident
97 DNF	S+1.6	21	Tony Bettenhausen	Tony Bettenhausen Duane Carter	Kurtis-Chrysler 500K	2	Over time limit (Electrical)
98 DNF	S+1.6	45	Scuderia Guastalla	Luigi Chinetti Alfonso de Portago	Ferrari 375 MM Vignale Spyder	2	Over time limit (Engine)
99 DNF	T	89	Universidad Militar		Oldsmobile 88	2	DNF
100 DNF	T	97	Mario Andreini		Mercury Monterey	2	Over time limit
101 DNF	T	150	Charles Royal	Charles Royal George Clark	Cadillac Series 62	2	DNF
102 DNF	S1.6	159	Dr. Ing. Porsche K.G.	Karl Kling	Porsche 550 Spyder	2	Drive shaft
103 DNF	S1.6	160	Dr. Ing. Porsche K.G.	Hans Herrmann	Porsche 550 Spyder	2	Steering arm, accident
104 DNF	S1.6	165	William Doheny	Ernie McAfee	Siata 208s	2	DNF
105 DNF	TS	219	Juan Fernando Piersanti		Chevrolet	2	DNF
106 DNF	TS	243	Osvaldo Jose Mantega		Chevrolet 210	2	DNF
107 DNF	TS	251	Arnaldo de Tomas		Ford Victoria	2	DNF
108 DNF	S+1.6	1	Robredo		Chrysler New Yorker Special	1	Engine
109 DNF	S+1.6	10	José Antonio Solana		Solana–Oldsmobile	1	DNF
110 DNF	S+1.6	13	Javier Razo Maciel		Glasspar –Mercury	1	Over time limit
111 DNF	S+1.6	14	Fernando Dujan Mejia		Cadillac	1	Over time limit
112 DNF	S+1.6	16	E. Carl Kiekhaefer	John Fitch	Chrysler New Yorker Special	1	Over time limit
113 DNF	S+1.6	35	Jose Ham Gunam		Ham Special	1	Over time limit
114 DNF	T	54	Fernando Carriles Pagaza		Lincoln Capri	1	Over time limit
115 DNF	T	56	E. Carl Kiekhaefer		Chrysler New Yorker	1	DNF
116 DNF	T	58	Vinilsa		Cadillac Series 62	1	Over time limit
117 DNF	T	69	H. W. Dietrich	Rodger Ward	Lincoln Capri	1	Accident
118 DNF	T	92	Edward Stringer		Cadillac Series 62	1	DNF
119 DNF	T	96	Arquimedes A. del Saz		Mercury Monterey	1	Over time limit
120 DNF	T	99	William Toia	Duane Carter	Lincoln Capri	1	DNF
121 DNF	T	103	Juan Jose Courtney		Oldsmobile 88	1	DNF
122 DNF	T	121	Alianza Camioneres de Mexico		Lincoln Capri	1	DNF
123 DNF	S1.6	199	Joaquin Castillo de la Fuente		Porsche 356 SL	1	Over time limit
124 DNF	S1.6	200	Jacqueline Evans de López	Jacqueline Evans	Porsche 356	1	Over time limit
125 DNF	TS	201	Carlos Rogelio Anza		Ford V-8	1	DNF
126 DNF	TS	202	Bonos del Ahorro Nacional		Ford V-8	1	DNF
127 DNF	TS	205	Jose Antonio Marin		Plymouth Belvedere	1	DNF
128 DNF	TS	208	A. B. Poe		Plymouth Belvedere	1	DNF
129 DNF	TS	211	Dario Ramonda		Ford 6	1	Over time limit
130 DNF	TS	214	Chiapas		Studebaker Champion	1	DNF
131 DNF	TS	229	Alberto Augusto Crespo	Alberto Augusto Crespo	Ford Victoria	1	DNF
132 DNF	TS	236	Roberto Salmon Corona		Ford V-8	1	DNF
133 DNF	TS	249	Pedro Beamonte		Ford 6	1	DNF
134 DNF	TS	250	Kaiser Mexico		Kaiser Manhattan	1	DNF
135 DNF	TS	261	Carlos Maria Silva Ferrer		Ford 6	1	DNF
136 DNF	TS	265	Ramon Enrique Bauzada		Ford 6	1	DNF
137 DNF	TS	273	Marcelo Alos Vercher		Chevrolet 210	1	DNF
138 DNF	TS	279	Constante Luis Mundo		Chevrolet 210	1	DNF
139 DNF	TS	295	Benito Flores Estavillo		Ford 6	1	Over time limit
140 DNF	TS	296	Carlos Buenaventura Perez		Mercury Monterey	1	DNF
141 DNF	S+1.6	3	Owen Gray		Chrysler New Yorker Special	0	Mechanical
142 DNF	S+1.6	15	Scuderia Guastalla		Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina Berlinetta	0	Fatal accident
143 DNF	S+1.6	17	Jack Ensley		Kurtis-Cadillac 500K	0	Out of fuel
144 DNF	S+1.6	18	Francisco Ibarra		Jaguar C-Type	0	DNF
145 DNF	S+1.6	19	Jorge Moctezuma		Ford V-8	0	Accident
146 DNF	S+1.6	20	E. Carl Kiekhaefer		Chrysler New Yorker Special	0	Accident
147 DNF	T	65	Hilton Motors	Bill Vukovich	Lincoln Capri	0	Gearbox
148 DNF	T	74	Raimundo Corona Illescas		Packard Mayfair	0	Accident
149 DNF	T	75	Aldredo Macias		Mercury Monterey	0	Mechanical
150 DNF	T	83	Rudolph Ryans		Lincoln Capri	0	Fire
151 DNF	T	85	Jacobo Muniele Falick		Lincoln Capri	0	Mechanical
152 DNF	T	148	Hugo Aspe		Mercury Monterey	0	Accident
153 DNF	S1.6	156	Adolf Brudes	Adolf Brudes	Borgward Hansa 1500 RS	0	Accident
154 DNF	S1.6	157	Jacques Péron		O.S.C.A. MT4 1100	0	Tyres
155 DNF	TS	203	Morelos		Studebaker Champion	0	Accident
156 DNF	TS	213	Alfonso Cesar Franc—o		Ford 6	0	Accident
157 DNF	TS	216	Antonio Adrian Zarantonello		Ford 6	0	Accident
158 DNF	TS	220	Ramiro Aguilar, Jr.		Chevrolet 210	0	Accident
159 DNF	TS	224	Surroz Ford	Bob Christie	Ford 6	0	Accident
160 DNF	TS	226	Alberto August	Mickey Thompson	Ford 6	0	Accident
161 DNF	TS	230	Ernesto Nanni		Chevrolet	0	Mechanical
162 DNF	TS	232	Alfredo Cogorno		Ford 6	0	Mechanical
163 DNF	TS	234	Radio 620		Willys Aero	0	Accident
164 DNF	TS	242	Nestor Luis Lafage		Ford 6	0	Mechanical
165 DNF	TS	246	Adolfo Sogolo		Ford Victoria	0	Mechanical
166 DNF	TS	266	Mario Jorge de Poli		Ford 6	0	Mechanical
167 DNF	TS	267	Jorge Pedro Castellano		Ford 6	0	Mechanical
168 DNF	TS	270	Radio 620		Willys Aero	0	Mechanical
169 DNF	TS	275	Miguel Gustavo Molinero		Ford 6	0	Mechanical
170 DNF	TS	285	Francisco Casuscelli		Plymouth Belvedere	0	Mechanical
181 DNF	TS	290	Federico Herrero		Ford 6	0	Mechanical
182 DSQ	T	73	Richard D. Doane	Jim Rathmann	Oldsmobile 88	8	21:16:47/Illegal heads

^[6][7][8]

Class Winners[]

^[6]

Standings after the race[]

Pos	Championship	Points
1	Ferrari	27 (30)
2	Jaguar	24 (28)
3	Aston Martin	16
4=	Cunningham	12
4=	Lancia	12

• Note: Only the top five positions are included in this set of standings.

Championship points were awarded for the first six places in each race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars. Only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table.

References[]

Further reading[]

• John Pickworth. Carrera Panamericana. John Morton Pickworth. ISBN 978-8492726523.
• Daryl E. Murphy. Carrera Panamericana: History of the Mexican Prad Race, 1950-54. iUniverse, Inc. ISBN 978-0595483242
• Johnny Tipler. La Carrera Panamericana: The World’s Greatest Road Race. Authors Online Ltd. ISBN 978-0755202355