Sebring. 1966. A place where these three cars could share a corner and not look odd.
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Tag: Sebring
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1960 Works Team MGA Coming to Auction
Only at the Pebble Beach auctions does a car with a $250,000-$300,000 estimate qualify as “under the radar”. I don’t really know how it’s possible though. On auction at Gooding & Co. is one of three works team MGAs For the 1960 Sebring Endurance race (Chassis YD2/2571) and it is stupefyingly gorgeous.
Initially slated to participate in the 1959 Sebring, this example ultimately didn’t make the trip to Florida until the following year, at which time it got a brace of factory updates including: lightweight Vanden Plas aluminum hardtops and a special cockpit tonneau panel to accommodate a suitcase—a new FIA requirement for 1960. The one year wait was worth it, with this car bringing in 4th in Class and 29th Overall.
The car has some light SCCA history in its post-Sebring history, but has surprisingly few modifications; giving it a wonderfully preserved appearance and largely untouched (well maintained but not crazy updated) internals.
What an amazing machine. I can’t wait to see how the bidding goes. More information on Gooding’s Lot Detail Page.
Update: sold below the estimate for $236,500
I’ve been re-listening to the “Sounds of Sebring 1957” album I posted about last week and all this talk up and down the pit lane about the Corvette entry made me want to see them again. And the Maseratis. And the Lotuses.. And so on.
If you’re familiar with the BARC Boys (Binghamton Automobile Racing Club, that is) at all, you’ll know that if there was a race in the mid-century anywhere on the East coast, there’d be more than a few members there. The group of enthusiasts always had cameras in tow and became chroniclers of the East Coast SCCA scene. Naturally, they were at Sebring in 1957 and had these wonderful photographs to mark the occasion.
Now that I see these photos, I can understand why the racers were abuzz about the new ‘Vette. Sure, the interviewers were asking some questions that were… slightly leading, but you have to remember the context of the arrival of the new Corvettes. After a jittery start, the Corvette program looked like it might actually be ready to take on European road racing stalwarts.
The power and performance of the home-grown sportscar—from the largest carmaker in the world, no less—must have been a thrilling prospect for American racing fans. Perhaps it was even moreso for the American drivers that were scraping together a career on European racing circuits, they must have hoped for a real American racing program that might bring them on. This was always my favorite styling era for the Corvette and it’s marvelous to see her in action at Sebring… and a few more from the more traditional pits for good measure.
More at BARC Boys’ 1957 Sebring page.
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Sounds of Sebring 1957
The Riverside record company, in addition to a large catalog of musical acts, also put out a number of LPs of auto racing field recordings. Perhaps the most well known from their discography are the “Sounds of Sebring” series from 1956—1962.
For the 1957 outing, most of the pre-race interview chatter centered around Corvette’s effort for the race, which brought a huge unknown into pit lane. The concensus among the drivers and teams interviewed (including de Portago, Phil Hill, Briggs Cunningham, Huschke von Hanstein, Shelby, and others) was one of excitement that a huge manufacturer like General Motors was starting to enter European-style sportscar racing. Perhaps it’s just the American-centricity of the production and interviewer, but the interviewees really seemed impressed by the power and speed of the new Vettes. There were doubts (correctly so, as it turns out) as to whether they could go the full 12 hours, but it’s fantastic to see an as-it-happened impression that Chevy was making with people around the circuit.
Despite the gossip and chatter, Maserati was heavily favored and with Moss and Fangio in different cars, the only question was would the smaller 300 of Moss/Schell or the bigger 450 of Fangio/Behra take the checkers. I won’t spoil here, but it’s all there in the audio above.
I’ve started to track down the original LPs of these Riverside releases and when I sit in front of the turntable with the headphones on I imagine what it must have felt like for racing fans around the world—and particularly the United States (who had limited access to racing media)—for whom these recordings were the most visceral way to experience the race without actually venturing to the track. What a thrill it must have been to lie of the floor of a dimly lit room with stack of racing reports and magazine clippings spread out, hearing these astonishing engine notes for the first time.
You can almost hear the footfalls as the drivers run across the street and leap into their cars for the famous LeMans-style start. Glorious.
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More Camoradi at Sebring (and Elsewhere)
The earlier post of John Shea’s photo of the 1960 Sebring Camoradi Porsche 356 piloted by Joe Sheppard made me start digging around for more of the Camoradi effort at Sebring. This is some marvelous stuff narrated by Camoradi cofounder Fred K. Gamble. What a priceless insight into the formative years of America’s “olympic motor racing team”. Feel free to skip to about a minute 15 in to bypass the introductory text.
That’s part one of the video above, continued in part two below. Magnificent.
John Shea sent in this marvelous photo of his friend Joe Sheppard pushing hard in his Team Camoradi Porsche 356 at the 1960 Sebring 12 Hours. Joe went on to finish first in the 1.6 liter class and 9th overall. Not bad considering he also participated in the 4 hours race the day before. I hope Joe got plenty of sleep over the next few days—this must have been quite a long weekend for him.
Thanks for sending this in, John!
There’s an atmosphere captured in these shots of the Porsche pit crew servicing Siffert and Herrmann’s Porsche 910 at the 1967 Sebring that is hard to put into words. I don’t know if it’s something to do with the film grain or the sun setting behind the car, or something less discernable. But there’s just something about the shots that make the event seem important: an importance that transcends the perceived importance of a motor race. There’s something in these photos that gives them historic weight. Just amazing.
More at Gearheads and Monkeywrenches.
In the hours leading up to the start of the 1965 running of the Sebring 12 hours race, it seemed like a perfect day for racing. A bit hot maybe at 94° but that wasn’t unusual for a Florida afternoon—even in March. There were rumors of hard weather on the way, but radio jamming between the US and Cuba meant that there was no solid local weather report available trackside.
After 6 hours of racing the sky began to threaten rain. An hour later, at 5:25 pm the sky opened up. By the time the race was over, prototype drivers were saying that their cars were filling up to their elbows with rainwater. It sounds like hyperbole until you see the photos. Rain delay? What’s a rain delay?
There’s endurance racing, and then there’s endurance racing.
More on the race and the spectacular conditions it was run in at Sportscars.tv. Some photos from BARC Boys, Via Retro and The Inside Line.
What better time than International Women’s Day to showcase more footage from the Suzy Dietrich archive? This time, the 1958 Sebring Endurance Race. Lots of great footage here from the pits of the competitors arriving. Can you imagine this year’s competitors showing up for the race weekend pulling their racing car on an open trailer behind their Cadillac. More should.
Again, many thanks to Cliff Reuter for snatching these precious film reels from the Suzy Dietrich auction and releasing them into the wild.
Seems to me they had it all figured out for the 1963 Sebring 12 Hours.
via Nigel Smuckatelli.