Last Legs: A Story Of The Final Carrera Panamericana

摘要

Thousands lining the road to Jaurez leaned in as the Cadillac roared for the finish line at 125 mph. Its pursuers, a pair of factory-prepared Lincolns, weren't visible in the Caddy's chromed mirrors, but driver Keith Andrews and co-driver Bluford "Blu" Plemons knew they weren't far behind. The leaders in the Large Stock-car class of the 1954 Carrera Panamericana hadn't been more than minutes apart since barreling out of the mountains two days before. They had run wide open across the flattening terrain of northern Mexico, through Durango, toward the trophies and prize money at Ciudad Juarez, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. Eyeing the mail-order tachometer screwed to the dashboard, Plemons watched its needle vibrate on the 4000-rpm hash. He considered the Caddy's 3.07:1 final drive and the rolling diameter of its 15-inch Firestones, and calculated that the unmodified but craftily tuned 331-cid V-8 was whistling the big coupe over the crude pavement at 139, maybe 140 mph.