This sequence of images of a Porsche 718 RSK going shiny side down is the kind of thing we don’t often see. Not because there weren’t horrific crashes in the era—quite the opposite—but because there simply wasn’t the kind of camera coverage we’ve come to expect today. Even the most popular events had spotty photographic coverage, nevermind film. The only reason we can see these harrowing sequence of photos from Spa today is that this event was being shot for the 1960 film L’ennemi dans l’ombre.
Take special note of the last photo. Can you believe that this driver just stood up and dusted himself off after this series of acrobatics?
More commentary on the film and this photo sequence on the Internet Movie Cars Database. From that discussion, a commenter named Dodo seems to have identified the race as the May 3, 1959 running of the Grand Prix de Spa, where Christian Heins crashed one of the three RSKs entered. Another RSK piloted by Carel Godin de Beaufort went on to win.
0 replies on “Wrong Side Up in a Porsche RSK”
Carel Godin de Beaufort…one of my favorites. One of several “royal” sportsmen drivers at the upper echelon of the sport. Sadly, left us early on.
If I was the photographer I would have run away screaming like a little girl. lol
The tumbling car is an awesome shot. Glad to read that the driver survived it!
[…] talk of the dangers of early motor racing, it always surprises me to see images like this (and this) where, despite the terrors captured in the photograph, the driver was uninjured. Geoffrey walked […]