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 consists of brash American stock cars, today mostly Panamericana specials based on spaceframe chassis and 600bhp 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. The arrival of La Carrera Panamericana at each of the provincial towns on its seven-day, 2,000-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, and salsa and tequila overflows. Includes 350 images, maps of modern and original 1950s routes, plus results of original events.

Reviews

La Carrera Panamericana – “The World’s Greatest Road Race!” is now available, as of 18th September 2008 from Veloce Publishing.

An Amazon customer wrote of this book:

It contains information on almost every kind of major motorsport in the world and also has information on some of the lower formulas.
John Tipler also brings his experience of racing an Alfa Romeo GTV6 in the AROC series to provide a detailed description of how racing cars have evolved over the years.
But arguably the books best feature are the amazingly detailed cut-away diagrams of many of the most important racing cars.
If that wasn’t enough the book also contains lists of all the winners of the major motorsport races and championships.
This book is a must for any motorsport fan.

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