THE FIFTH MEXICAN ROAD RACE

[Applause] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Thank you. [Music] [Music] Mexico with her wide skies and ancient churches with her people isolated from the uneasy age of the atom following old ways tuned to the tempo of a donkey's patient pace welcomes the roaring cars skilled mechanics and world famous drivers to the Carrera Panameana The fifth Mexican road race. [Applause] [Music] Dark eyed kids scramble for autographs and a wistful peak through a window pain. Five different kinds of cars are getting ready to compete. Big sports like the speedy Ferrari. Small sports, tough little Porsches. Big stock cars, Lincoln, Cadillac, Buick. Small stocks, Dodge, Ford, and European stock cars, the drivers, real pros. Chuck Stevenson, 53 winner. Buukovich, Indianapolis king, the incomparable Jack McGrath. Johnny Mance, another great, and CD Evans. Terufi, King of the Mountains, Daredevil drivers all, but you can't win without the almost nameless men who prepare the cars. It takes an inspired driver, a well setup car, superior teamwork, and lots of luck to win. Lincoln headlights get a safety mask. Every job's a must today. Spark plugs, nerve center of power. Only perfection will do. Lincoln faces a big challenge this year. With two straight wins, the Lincoln team will try for three in a row. This valve stem comes out, a new one goes in. No hopped up jobs here. Transmissions must be strictly stock or else. Inspectors have the final say. It's all in the rule book. Okay. The transmission's tamperproof with this official seal. [Music] Now for the engines. Balanced like jeweled watches, but toolled for speed and power. Now to check all important compression. One more Lincoln engine sealed and ready. A lot of people are excited this year about Dodge's entry in the small stocks. Another seals on and Dodge is all set. [Music] And now for tense competitors, there's nothing to do until dawn of the big day. [Music] Chuck Stevenson wonders if his luck will hold. He's not predicting. Maybe he's talking about the raceourse. Everybody does. 1,98 tough miles from Tusla Gutierrez near the Guatemalan border to Wararez on the Rio Grand. The race takes 5 days. The first day is the toughest of all, winding through nearly 2,000 mountain curves to Wajaka. Next day, rising to heights of 10,000 ft, the road twists through another thousand turns to Mexico City. Off on the third lap, the road winds, then straightens out to Durango. The fourth day brings stretches of 40, 50, even 60 miles of road without a curve to Chihuahua. The fifth and last day is a speedrun to war and the final finish. Of the great auto races, this is by far the toughest. In the tropical dawn, 149 cars await the starter flag. [Music] A little jungle town stirs from sleep. This is it. 1 2 3 go. The fastest cars, the big sports go first. One car a minute. Racing against the clock, each car is individually timed. With the big sports cars gone, small sports flash under the flag. Big American stock cars now are on the mark. Quake the root book. Lap by lap, mile by mile, this tells the story and Walt Faulner primes his Lincoln. [Applause] [Music] Ray Crawford goes for his fourth try. Now the small stock cars are ready for a razledazzle race. This shoulder harness can save your life, brother. The dodge goes. So, good luck, amigo. [Music] Last of five classes to take off are the European stocks. Italy's Alpha Romeo, sleek and fast, out to win. And little folks zips away. You tensions lift in the morning air. The waiting's over. At last, the race is on. So long, Tusla. From one end of the republic to the other, nearly 20,000 soldiers keep the road clear for the cars. [Music] With 175 more twisting miles ahead, everybody's hopes are still high as they flash along on the first day's blistering test. [Music] A split-second skid can spell disaster. [Music] Coming out of a curve at 120 mph, McAfei's big red Ferrari, crashed. Ford Robinson, the co-pilot, was killed. A white Ferrari leads the way. His flame red rival burns his heels. These boys are snaking through the hills at 90 m an hour. [Music] During the actual run, drivers and co-drivers can't accept help from anyone. At a pit stop designed for tire changing, Walt Faulner and his co-driver, using air powered devices, change four tires in 3 and 1/2 minutes flat. [Music] [Music] Now the toughest part of the run. Over the jagged mountain spine of Mexico on a pavement of volcanic ash. Past sheared off cliffs, s turns, roller coaster dips. 6 and 7,000 ft up they rocket to speed records. Leading the parade, Phil Hill of Santa Monica in his white Ferrari must beat the veteran Mlioli in the mountains. Or the Italians red Ferrari. But more power has the edge on the flat. [Music] Walt Faulner guns it. Two Buicks in a speed clash. Ray Crawford in his Flying Lincoln. Four. Alfa Romeo makes a determined bit. That first day finish just ahead. Wajaka. Aztecs manned a garrison here in 1486, but in 1954 it's Hills white Ferrari and Mlioli. Actton Miller in his homemade hot rod. The Porsches. Who's first now? Almost a photo finish. Caulner's Lincoln shows the way. [Applause] After each day's run, drivers and mechanics have just one hour for all this, including strategy talks. And to check it all off, the race doesn't really end at the finish line. Here, teamwork counts, for the cars must be driven to the impound area, sealed and locked up for the night. [Music] Count them. Only 127 cars made it of 149 that started this rugged first lap. [Music] Up and atom. Guaca is no sleepy town today. 328 grinding tough miles to go. Indianapolis veteran Walt Faulner gets ready. Mickey Thompson first in the small stocks. It's a big day for Phil Hill. He's matched against some of Europe's best. Can he hold that 4-minute 9-second lead? [Music] Mlioli waits. [Applause] Hills away. [Music] and Muglioli. [Music] Faulner's chasing them, running the grim gauntlet of the mountains. Over 3,000 curves in two days. Beauty rides with danger in these sunburned hills. Anything can happen and did in Atlico. [Music] At Quebla, all cars halt for fuel and lunch. As Faulner arrives, Maggioli looks up from his car and surprise. Phil Hill almost has to use sign language, but Muglioli's Italian helps. Just 30 minutes for everything. Got to watch that time. Grab a sandwich. Tighten her up. How we doing? Let's go. At these stops, cars were refueled with PMX gasoline. Before the mountain heights, Cadillac roars a challenge to Faulner's Lincoln. Driving like fury, Walt's chopping 2 minutes off the lap record. Every school kid learns it. Popo Catapal towering above Mexico City. Fifth largest on the continent. [Music] It's Independence Day. For on this day, 1910, modern Mexico was born. She celebrates with Latin gusto in front of the president's palace. And out on the highway, thousands jam every inch of space, awaiting the first wild screech of wheels. It's Maggalioli first, then Hill. Ray Crawford establishes a new lap record. Four stock cars roar across the line. [Applause] But the big cheers are for two Mexican drivers who won't give up. For two tortured miles, Masiel and his co-pilot push their stalled Buick. At last, the checkered flag and the exhausted drivers are carried away. After drivers roar across the line, they halt 2 miles later at a booth where they get a ticket stamped with the time of their arrival. 1 hour later, they're due at the impound area. Let's go, man. We've got work to do. [Applause] [Applause] Today the after race once over is a little longer because of Mexico City's heavy traffic. Putting a strict time limit each day on repairs makes it a fairer test of a car. In other years, crews worked all night, practically rebuilt their cars. Now they can make only a few essential adjustments. [Music] Then they go into the impound area for the night. One minute later than the time stamp on the card can put a car out of the race. [Music] The third day, the most decisive, Mexico to Durango with a halfhour stop at Leyon. 590 heartbreaking miles. 100 miles out, it's Hill and Magioli almost neck andneck. [Music] Crawford [Applause] Mickey Thompson comes to greet. Wow, [Applause] this is a tricky curve. Halfway, Tom. Lay off. Four centuries old. A 30 minute rest and fuel stop for all cars. Leon is famous for golden embroidery, also for handwoven blankets, and especially for its towering arms. [Music] Now 150 mi to go. And at the ancient aqueduct at Zakatus, Hill slithers through cautiously. He's lost the lead. No bull fight today. This is race day. Everyone's out to see and to cheer. A Porsche singing by [Music] to greet Crawford and Faulner and watch the redhot race of small stocks. [Applause] [Music] These boys are rolling along at over 120 m an hour. Now Dodge grabs the lead in the small stops with all the others falling behind. [Music] No more corners, only raw speed counts today. [Music] Ray Crawford still leading the big stocks and his Lincoln roars into Durango in front and a Dodge burst in its place. This is the fourth day. Chihuahua 437 miles ahead. Dodge teammates trade the lead. They'll be in Chihuahua in oh 5 hours or so. From here north, the road tilts gently downward on straightaways that seem almost built for speed. [Music] Long before the conquest, vanished tribes of Indians blazed a trail over these rippling miles of sage and sand. A water- hungry land of arid pastures and ancient towns drowsing in the sun in the shadow of snowcapped peaks. And now blazing a 20th century trail, Ray Crawford with a two-minute lead. [Applause] Hill trails Megalioli by 25 minutes. It's a blistering duel among the stocks. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. [Music] Chihuahua to Wararez. heads 222 string straight miles. The dash for glory. Uglioli and Hill neck and neck and hot rod Miller. 25 more miles to go. There's trouble. [Applause] Mexican EVO and she's back in the race. [Music] Magglioli averaging a tremendous record setting 107 mph for the entire race. That yen for speed pays off today. 15 miles to go. 10 more miles. Five miles at Vuarez. End of the trail. Tension mounts. The crowd's on edge. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. [Applause] [Music] [Music] Oh, [Music] [Music] Oh, [Music] hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Garrison finish for the mighty Volkswagens. And that does it. The race is over. [Music] [Applause] And so to rest for the pot of gold boys, all of whom give due credit and thanks to the mobile oil used in their cars throughout the race. Crawford, popular grosser from Pasadena, $17,200 richer for that big Lincoln win. Malle's jackpot was $18,000. As he put it, dangerous sure, but once you get the fever, you'll be back for the great Ketta Panameana of 1955. Hasta la vista.