The Carrera Panamerica, also referred to as the Pan American road race, was a five-day, 1,912-mile sprint that began in southern Mexico at Tuxtla Gutierrez and went north to the Texas border. The road course “went up and down mountain grades, past decaying mud buildings of villages almost untouched by the present,” LIFE wrote.
Many of those roads were quite dangerous for high-speed racing, and especially in t953, when nine drivers died during the competition.
LIFE’s story, headlined “Racers Challenge Death in Mexico,” began with the statement, “In Mexico death in the afternoon moved from the bull ring to the open highway.”
The story enumerated the grim details:
Before the race was two hours old, two racers had been killed because of a tire blowout. Before the race was a day old, six more people had died because of another tragic accident….In all, the Mexican race brought death to nine people. One Italian entrant, when it was over, summed up the feelings of many of the drivers. “I will not return to Mexico to race again,” he said. “It will kill us all.”
The course was a long one, and LIFE staff photographer Ralph Morse was not on the spot for the deadly accidents. His photos mostly capture the flavor of stock cars and sports cars traversing Mexico in the 1950s. The only racing picture that hints at the danger is a shot of a car coming down a narrow mountain pass, with the driver is using a co-pilot to hold the door open to help the car bank around the curve. Morse also has shots of one of the racers’ wives showing her anguish as she hopes that her husband will safely cross the finish line.
Despite the disasters, the race did come back in 1954. But in the spring of 1955, following a horrific accident at the famed Le Mans road race that killed more than 80 people. the 1955 Carrera Panamerica was cancelled, and the race went dormant for years.
In 1988 the race came back in a modified form. One notable edition was in 1991, when the competitors included Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and manager Steve O’ Rourke. During the race Gilmour crashed his car and while he was unharmed O’Rourke, serving as Gilmour’s co-pilot, broke his leg. Their adventures were chronicled in the 1992 documentary La Carrera Panamerica, which featured a Pink Floyd sountrack.
Two members of the Lincoln’s 28 man crew napped in hammocks while others working on cars during the five-day Pan Am road race in Mexico, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Fans gathered at the side of the road in southern Mexico for the start of the five-day Pan Am road race, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The Pan Am road race went from southern Mexico 1,912 miles north to the border with Texas, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Drivers in the five-day Pan American road race went from southern Mexico 1,912 north to the border with Texas, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A man walking in the middle of the road carrying a large crate on his back was followed by a sports car during the five-day, 1,1912-mile Pan Am road race in Mexico.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from the five-day Pan American road race that began in southern Mexico and went north to the Texas border, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from the five-day Pan American road race that began in southern Mexico and went north to the Texas border, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from the five-day Pan American road race that began in southern Mexico and went north to the Texas border, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from the five-day Pan American road race that began in southern Mexico and went north to the Texas border, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from the five-day Pan American road race that began in southern Mexico and went north to the Texas border, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Mexican driver Vladimir Olanque quit five-day Pan Am road race in Mexico after becoming frustrated with gear trouble, 1953.
Scenes from the five-day Pan American road race that began in southern Mexico and went north to the Texas border, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from the five-day Pan American road race that began in southern Mexico and went north to the Texas border, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Scenes from the five-day Pan American road race that began in southern Mexico and went north to the Texas border, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
During the Pan Am road race in Mexico, a driver had a co-pilot open the car door to help bank the care around the steep curve, past the guarding soldiers, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Wives of racers in the five-day Pan American road race posed with each other, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Mary Faulkner, a wife of one of the drivers in the deadly 1953 Pan Am road race, was bent in anguish while waiting for her husband to cross the finish line.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A squeamish acting Mary Faulkner waiting for her husband to complete the 1,912-mile Pan Am road race in Mexico, in which nine of the competitors died.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Mary Faulkner went limp with relief after realizing that her husband was safe during the 1953 Pan Am road race, in which nine drivers died.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
A driver crossed the finisn line duringithe five-day Pan American road race that went from southern Mexico 1,912 north to the border with Texas, 1953.
Pan-American auto race, Stock cars and sports cars
The finish line at the end of the five day, 1,912-mile 1953 Pan Am road race in Mexico, 1953.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
Mexican racer Chuck Stevenson, the stock car winner of the 1953 Pan Am road race, spoke to the press from his car.
Ralph Morse/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock
The winner of the 1953 Pan Am road race, Walter Faulkner, received a congratulating kiss from his wife after completing the 1,912-mile course over five days.
