1954 Carrera Panamericana

The 1954 Carrera Panamericana was the fifth and final running of the Carrera Panamericana Mexican sports car racing event, run from November 19–23, 1954. It was the sixth and final race of the 1954 World Sportscar Championship. The race was run from Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, over 8 stages and 3,070 kilometres (1,910 mi).^[1] 150 cars started the race, and 85 finished all 8 stages. The race was won by Umberto Maglioli in an Erwin Goldschmidt-entered Ferrari 375 Plus. He finished the race in 17 hours, 40 minutes, and 26 seconds, averaging 173.69 kilometres per hour (107.93 mph).^[2]

Pre-race[]

The 1954 Carrera Panamericana was won by a Ferrari 375 Plus

For 1954, the Touring classes were divided into three classes, over 3,500 cc (213.6 cu in), between 3,499 and 1,900 cc (213.5 and 115.9 cu in), and under 1,900 cc (115.9 cu in). The Sports classes were divided as before, over and under 1,500 cc (91.5 cu in). This was in order to accommodate the huge number of participants and the diverse breeds of cars within the race.^[3]

Going into the race, Ferrari had already won the championship, but victory would ensure the marque would score maximum points for the season. Although no works entries were sent from Italy, there was a number of top quality entrants from both Mexico and the United States, hoping the get that victory on behalf of the Maranello concern.

Heading into the event, pressure was mounting on Mexican government, as the annual death toll from the event caused the country to be shown in a negative light. This wasn't the kind of attention the locals wanted. It had been abundantly clear the days were numbered for the Carrera Panamericana. 1954 would be the last time the event was run in this format, although it did return as a revival event in 1988.^[4]

Race[]

The race was held in eight stages over a total distance of 3,070 km (1,910 miles). The race was won overall by Umberto Maglioli in a Ferrari 375 Plus. Maglioli finished the race in 17h 40' 26", his average speed of 173.7 kilometres per hour (107.93 mph) reflected the level of professionalism and technology that led the field: the inaugural 1950 event had been won in an average speed of 111 kilometres per hour (69 mph)- and the winner had taken 10 hours longer to complete the race distance. Phil Hill and Richie Ginther took second place in another Ferrari, over 24 minutes behind. The under-1500 sports car class winner Hans Herrmann finished third in his Porsche 550, a further 87 minutes behind the Americans. Ray Crawford and Enrique Iglesias won the over-3500 stock car class in a Lincoln, the European stock car class was won by Consalvo Sanesi and Giuseppe Cagna in an Alfa Romeo, and the small U.S. stock car class was won by Tommy Drisdale and Walter Krause, Jr. in a Dodge.^[5]

A number of the sedans from the US failed to make it through the first stage of the race. The Austin-Healey 100S of Englishman, Lance Macklin struggled from ignition troubles and retired before completing the first stage. The Ferrari 375 Plus of and had an accident that provided the first fatality, with the death of Robinson. Sadly, there would be fatality, when died following an accident on the fifth stage.^[6][7]

The Californian pairing of Hill and Ginther continued to look impressive, making it through the second stage in their Allen Guiberson-entered Ferrari 375 MM without incident and remaining close to the front of the overall standing. However, another American was not going so well: Carroll Shelby suffered an accident while driving his Austin-Healey 100S. Frustrated with his team-mate, Ray Jackson-Moore's slow pace, Shelby supposedly removed Jackson-Moore’s seat and took off on his own.^[6][7]

As the event progressed, the list of cars remaining grew shorter and shorter. Many of the strong competitors were either out of the race, or behind the leading Ferraris of Maglioli and Hill/Ginther. The two Americans continued to chase hard to rein in solo-driving Maglioli. It was a 375 MM spyder chasing after a 375 Plus, with still a long way to go before anyone could celebrate. After 1,900 miles (3,100 km) there was very little time separating the two cars.^[6][7]

Despite feeling the pressure, Maglioli strengthened his grip and did not make any mistakes in the closing stages of the race, finishing nearly 25 minutes ahead of Hill and Ginther.^[8][9]

Californian hot rodder Ak Miller became famous by finishing seventh overall, in his Oldsmobile-powered 1927 Ford.

Only months after its introduction in Mexico, the local distributor entered seven Volkswagen Beetles in order to prove their reliability and to make the car known. To maintain the given time bracket, they were required to keep an average speed of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), but had achieved 61 miles per hour (98 km/h) during the reconnaissance runs, so expectations to finish inside the time limits were high. As they were using standard Volkswagen engines, the cars were driving bumper-to-bumper in order reduce air resistance as available power was limited. By the time the event got to Ciudad Juárez, all seven Beetles were still within the given time limit, none was disqualified, with Alfonso de Hohenlohe and Alberto Álvarez coming home in 78th place overall (7th in class), albeit, the Beetles filled seven of the last eight finishing positions.^[10]

Official Classification[]

Results[]

Class winners are marked in bold.

Pos	Class	No.	Entrant	Driver(s)	Car	Stages	Time
1	S+1.5	19	Erwin Goldschmidt	Umberto Maglioli	Ferrari 375 Plus	8	17:40:26
2	S+1.5	20	Allen Guiberson	Phil Hill Richie Ginther	Ferrari 375 MM Vignale	8	18:04:50
3	S1.5	55	Dist. VW Central, S.A.	Hans Herrmann	Porsche 550 Spyder	8	19:32:33
4	S1.5	56	Jaroslav Juhan		Porsche 550 Spyder	8	19:33:09
5	S+1.5	22	Prado Américas		Ferrari 250 Monza Scaglietti	8	19:45:06
6	S+1.5	24	John Shakespeare	Luigi Chinetti	Ferrari 375 MM Pinin Farina	8	20:10:28
7	S+1.5	11	Akton Miller	Douglas Harrison	Caballo de Hiero Oldsmobile	8	20:21:09
8	S1.5	54	Monte Carlo Auto Sport	Louis Chiron	Osca MT4 1500 Morelli	8	20:34:56
9	T+3.5	149	Lincoln	Ray Crawford	Lincoln Capri	8	20:40:19
10	T+3.5	103	Lincoln	Walt Faulkner	Lincoln Capri	8	20:42:07
11	T+3.5	127	Barry Motor Sales	Keith Andrews	Cadillac Series 62	8	20:43:14
12	S1.5	58	Dist. VW Central, S.A.	Herbert Linge	Porsche 550 Spyder	8	20:46:23
13	S+1.5	9	Jean Trévoux	Jean Trévoux Armando González	Special	8	20:48:31
14	T+3.5	110	Adolph Otterstein		Cadillac Series 62	8	21:15:13
15	TE1.9	251	Alfa Romeo Finmeccanica	Consalvo Sanesi	Alfa Romeo 1900 TI	8	21:50:42
16	T+3.5	111	Coca-Cola Mexico		Buick Century	8	21:51:17
17	T+3.5	113	Coca-Cola Mexico	Ricardo Ramírez	Buick Century	8	21:59:34
18	TE1.9	256	Alfa Romeo Finmeccanica	Sergio Mantovani	Alfa Romeo 1900 TI	8	22:06:25
19	TE1.9	267	Alfa Romeo Finmeccanica		Alfa Romeo 1900 TI	8	22:06:50
20	TE1.9	255	Alfa Romeo Finmeccanica	Piero Carini	Alfa Romeo 1900 TI	8	22:19:04
21	T+3.5	119	Pacheco y Cia	Luis Solorio	Packard Clipper	8	22:23:34
22	T+3.5	115	Coca-Cola Mexico		Buick Century	8	22:30:39
23	TS	226	Tommy Drisdale		Dodge V-8	8	22:35:53
24	TS	217	Dickshire		Dodge V-8	8	22:50:44
25	T+3.5	133	Abraham Yunes		Packard	8	22:51:20
26	T+3.5	124	Baja California		Lincoln Capri	8	22:52:16
27	TS	231	Ray C. Elliot		Dodge V-8	8	22:52:16
28	S1.5	51	Calzado Canadá S.A.		Porsche 550 Spyder	8	22:57:31
29	TS	211	Álvarez Tostado		Dodge V-8	8	23:00:18
30	TE1.9	252	Atoyac		Alfa Romeo 1900 TI	8	23:00:57
31	TS	238	Scott F. Yantis		Studebaker Commander	8	23:02:04
32	TS	208	Dehler	Moisés Solana	Dodge V-8	8	23:08:40
33	TS	209	Oscar Cabalen	Oscar Cabalén	Ford V-8	8	23:08:55
34	TS	331	Floyd Clymer	Piero Taruffi	Ford 6	8	23:15:51
35	TS	237	Ferreteria del Sol		Dodge	8	23:18:45
36	TS	201	Refrescos Jarrito	Johnny Mantz	Ford	8	23:19:06
37	T+3.5	117	Tony de Rosa		Lincoln Capri	8	23:27:31
38	TS	219	Malcolm Eckart		Hudson Wasp	8	23:28:09
39	TS	218	Puebla		Dodge Royal	8	23:37:47
40	TS	220	Manuel Luz Meneses		Studebaker Commander	8	23:47:42
41	TS	232	Félix Alberto Peduzzi		Ford	8	23:56:10
42	TS	326	Raimundo Caparrós		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:01:33
43	TS	243	Osvaldo José Mantega		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:07:51
44	TS	213	Abelardo Matamoros		Studebaker Commander	8	24:12:47
45	TS	320	Vincente Tirabasso		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:13:16
46	TS	216	Jorge Descote		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:13:17
47	TS	340	Tadeo Taddia		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:16:41
48	TS	342	Baltazar Alaimo		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:18:18
49	TS	229	Marcos Ciani		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:20:28
50	TS	227	Enrique Paredes		Ford	8	24:22:58
51	TS	245	Raúl Jaras		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:28:47
52	TS	205	Union de Choferes		Studebaker Commander	8	24:32:28
53	TS	330	Robert C. Lilienthal		Ford	8	24:37:27
54	T+3.5	130	Guillermo Suhr Contreras		Oldsmobile Super 88	8	24:42:00
55	TS	221	Rafael Larocca		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:43:48
56	TS	301	Jorge Zorzi Olazábel		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:49:46
57	TS	310	Ernesto Beronio		Ford	8	24:54:46
58	TS	247	Hernán Videla		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	24:58:20
59	TS	240	Salvador Torisse		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	25:03:34
60	TS	303	Ángel de la Rosa		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	25:11:40
61	T+3.5	107	Manuel Acosta Muñoz		Buick Century	8	25:15:09
62	TS	241	Pablo Gulle		Chevrolet Bel Air	8	25:33:21
63	TS	233	Andrés Ferreno Barreiro		Ford	8	25:43:39
64	TS	314	Daniel Musso	Alejandro Navarro	Ford	8	25:52:59
65	TS	321	Melvin H. Stickney		Ford	8	25:53:38
66	TS	325	Luis Egidio Parnisari		Ford V-8	8	26:01:04
67	S1.5	59	Otto Becker Estrada		Porsche 356 1500 Super	8	26:07:59
68	TS	323	Joaquin Salas Ferrer		Ford	8	26:13:38
69	TS	305	Alberto Loguló		Ford	8	26:16:22
70	S1.5	53	Ernst-Joachin Hirz		Porsche 356 1500 Super	8	26:22:24
71	TS	332	Carlos Pfeffer		Ford	8	26:31:25
72	TS	334	César Óscar Vidales		Ford	8	26:40:32
73	TS	312	Óscar Cremer		Ford	8	26:56:19
74	TE1.9	253	Carl Borgward	Adolf Brudes	Borgward Isabella	8	27:02:36
75	TS	316	Pedro Petinari		Ford	8	28:15:48
76	TS	242	Antonio Pingeon		Ford	8	28:18:23
77	TS	313	Americo Guzzini		Ford Crestline Custom 2 Door Coupe	8	29:02:01
78	TE1.9	261	Alfonso de Hohenlohe		Volkswagen 1200 De Luxe	8	30:14:12
79	TE1.9	263	Alfonso de Hohenlohe		Volkswagen 1200 De Luxe	8	30:15:54
80	TE1.9	262	Alfonso de Hohenlohe	Jan Wyers	Volkswagen 1200 De Luxe	8	30:17:56
81	TS	246	Bartollo Abello		Ford	8	31:01:04
82	TE1.9	270	Alfonso de la Peña Cardona		Volkswagen 1200 De Luxe	8	31:01:43
83	TE1.9	271	Alfonso de Hohenlohe		Volkswagen 1200 De Luxe	8	31:04:41
84	TE1.9	272	Ara Arakelian		Volkswagen 1200 De Luxe	8	31:11:07
85	TE1.9	269	Juan de Aguinaco		Volkswagen 1200 De Luxe	8	31:15:59
86 DISQ	S1.5	100	Jacqueline Evans de López	Jacqueline Evans	Porsche 356 SL	8	Over time limit
87 DNF	T+3.5	106	Philips Radio Mexico		Lincoln Capri	7	DNF
88 DNF	T+3.5	112	Coca-Cola Mexico		Buick Century	7	Accident
89 DNF	T+3.5	122	Pat Zoccano		Buick	6	DNF
90 DNF	TS	212	Dan Morgan		Ford	6	Accident
91 DNF	T+3.5	116	Super Diesel		Buick Riviera	5	DNF
92 DNF	TS	203	Leonel M. Garza		Chevrolet Bel Air	5	DNF
93 DNF	TS	210	Hollywood Deeptone		Ford	5	DNF
94 DNF	TS	215	Productos Automotrices		Studebaker Champion	5	Accident
95 DNF	TE1.9	268	Alfa Romeo Finmeccanica		Alfa Romeo 1900 TI	5	Accident damage
96 DNF	TS	315	Victorio Menghi		Chevrolet Bel Air	5	Fatal accident (Zabado)
97 DNF	TS	319	Santos Martín		Ford	5	DNF
98 DNF	TS	328	Carlos Battilana Olazábal		Ford	5	DNF
99 DNF	S+1.5	13	Javier Velázquez		Jaguar C-Type	4	Oil leak
100 DNF	S+1.5	16	Óscar Fano Bush		Jaguar XK120	4	Mechanical
101 DNF	TS	207	Lineas Union del Sur		Ford	4	Mechanical
102 DNF	TS	222	Bujias MexiCanas		Dodge Royal	4	Accident
103 DNF	TS	230	Plinio Larocca		Ford	4	Mechanical
104 DNF	TS	250	Patricio Achura		Ford	4	Accident
105 DNF	S+1.5	10	Allen Guiberson		Pegaso Z-102 BS Touring	3	Accident
106 DNF	S+1.5	32	Cabero		Cabero Special Ford	3	Accident
107 DNF	S1.5	60	Carl Borgward		Borgward Rennsport 55	3	Accident
108 DNF	T+3.5	105	Gas Atlas		Lincoln Capri	3	Wheel
109 DNF	TS	204	Mickey Thompson	Mickey Thompson	Ford	3	Accident
110 DISQ	TS	225	Frank Davis		Dodge	3	Accident
111 DNF	TS	234	Eduardo d'Alessandro		Chevrolet Bel Air	3	Over time limit
112 DNF	TS	249	Eugenio Guerrero		Dodge	3	Mechanical
113 DNF	TE1.9	257	Alfa Romeo Finmeccanica		Alfa Romeo 1900 TI	3	DNF
114 DNF	TS	311	Bartolomé Ortiz		Ford	3	Engine
115 DNF	TS	341	Eugenio Modica		Chevrolet Bel Air	3	Accident
116 DNF	S1.5	52	Escuderia Espaňa	Roberto Mieres	Osca MT4 1500	2	Engine
117 DNF	T+3.5	101	Ángel Acar		Lincoln Capri	2	DNF
118 DNF	TE1.9	265	David Cerezo		Alfa Romeo 1900T	2	Accident
119 DNF	TS	318	Antonio Gómez		Ford	2	DNF
120 DNF	S+1.5	8	Donald Healey	Carroll Shelby	Austin-Healey 100S	1	Accident
121 DNF	S1.5	61	Carl Borgward	Franz Hammernick	Borgward Rennsport 55	1	Accident
122 DNF	S1.5	62	Manfredo Lippmann		Osca MT4 2AD 1500 Morelli Super	1	Mechanical
123 DNF	T+3.5	108	Lincoln	Bill Vukovich	Lincoln Capri	1	Accident
124 DNF	T+3.5	114	Coca-Cola Mexico		Buick Century	1	DNF
125 DNF	T+3.5	123	Luis Rafael Garzón		Lincoln Capri	1	Accident
126 DNF	TS	206	Pedro Ovies Sánchez		Ford	1	DNF
127 DNF	TS	228	Pepe Russo		Ford	1	DNF
128 DNF	TE1.9	258	Pedro J. Llano		Alfa Romeo 1900T	1	DNF
129 DNF	TE1.9	260	Guillermo Airaldi		Alfa Romeo 1900T	1	DNF
130 DNF	S+1.5	1	John Edgar		Ferrari 375 Plus	0	Fatal accident (Robinson)
131 DNF	S+1.5	2	Scuderia Espana	Alfonso de Portago	Ferrari 750 Monza Scaglietti	0	Oil pipe
132 DISQ	S+1.5	3	Dominicana	Porfirio Rubirosa Ernie McAfee	Ferrari 500 Mondial Scaglietti	0	Over time limit
133 DISQ	S+1.5	4	Erwin Goldschmidt	Roberto Bonomi	Ferrari 375 MM	0	Over time limit
134 DNF	S+1.5	6	Jack Ensley	Robert Christie	Kurtis-Nash 500S	0	Engine
135 DNF	S+1.5	7	Donald Healey	Lance Macklin Donald Healey	Austin-Healey 100S	0	Ignition
136 DNF	S+1.5	12	Bill von Esser		Chevrolet Corvette	0	Engine
137 DISQ	S+1.5	14	Hotel del Prado	Giovanni Bracco	Ferrari 750 Monza Scaglietti	0	Over time limit
138 DISQ	S+1.5	17	Duane Carter	Duane Carter	Kurtis-Oldsmobile 500S	0	Over time limit
139 DNF	S1.5	99	Cruz Blanca		Cassidy Special MG	0	Mechanical
140 DNF	T+3.5	102	Lincoln	Chuck Stevenson Chuck Daigh	Lincoln Capri	0	Engine
141 DNF	T+3.5	104	Lincoln	Johnny Mantz	Lincoln Capri	0	Engine
142 DNF	T+3.5	109	Lincoln	Jack McGrath Manny Ayulo	Lincoln Capri	0	Accident
143 DNF	T+3.5	118	Lincoln		Lincoln Capri	0	Engine
144 DNF	T+3.5	120	Ronald R. Ferguson		Lincoln Capri	0	Mechanical
145 DNF	T+3.5	128	Ernest C. Hall	Louis Unser	Buick	0	Mechanical
146 DNF	T+3.5	167	Converse Motors		Chrysler	0	Mechanical
147 DNF	TS	202	Refrescos Jarrito		Ford 6	0	Accident
148 DNF	TE1.9	254	Anaconda Nacional		Alfe Romeo 1900 T	0	Mechanical
149 DNF	TS	302	Jean-Manuel Bordeu	Juan Manuel Bordeu	Chevrolet Bel Air	0	Mechanical
150 DNF	TS	324	Humberto Maneglia		Dodge Royal	0	Mechanical

^[5][11][12]

Class Winners[]

^[8]

Standings after the race[]

Pos	Championship	Points
1	Ferrari	32 (38)
2	Lancia	20
3	Jaguar	10
4	O.S.C.A.	8
5	Maserati	7

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