Fast In The Bar, Slow In The Car: Lucha Libre Fairlady Gears Up For The Mexican Road Race

Remember the Carrera Panamericana-veteran '67 Nissan Fairlady we saw at the Motoring J Style show a few months back? Those locos from Lucha Libre Racing are at it again, donning their wrestler masks, climbing in the Datsun, and heading to Mexico next month to race some more! These guys aren't just crazed Datsun racers looking for hoonage kicks- they'll be delivering much-needed school supplies to rural Mexican schoolkids en route. And because those supplies cost real money, they're selling team caps, shirts and decals; make the jump to see what I've done with my LLR decal. [Lucha Libre Racing] More »

La Carrera Panamericana: Are Studebakers Amphibious?

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La Carrera Panamericana: Rachel's Story, Finally

As Coop pointed out, raceblogging is tough business when you're covering the kind of ground that the drivers on La Carrera Panamericana do. So of all of our La Carrera pals, Rachel ended up writing the least on the race. That's now changing. Scotto enlisted her to write a five-part story for 0-60. Go check it. – Davey G. Johnson More »

La Carrera Panamericana Hangovers

Coming down off the end of a marathon drive is always a little tricky; adapting back into the real world after spending thousands of miles watching for hazards and pushing oneself to the limit. But as Coop notes, "Maybe the fear of death does this to you, but food tasted better, the air smelled sweeter, everything just seemed to be turned up a notch or two higher somehow." And when it's an event like La Carrera Panamericana it must be even more amplified. The racers have been home for a bit and Coop's finished his tale; he also directed us to Kristin Stewart's blog, which is a great chronicle of her experience in a '52 Lincoln Ford. We think the only races that come close to La Carrera's cool factor are the 24 Heures du Mans, Paris-Dakar and the Baja 1000. So get to reading. More »

A Whole Mess of La Carrera Panamericana

Haller, Rachel and Coop have all checked in with updates on the state of the race. There've been a number of hairy wrecks with at least one person, the navigator in an E-Type, landing in the hospital. Coop reports: More »

La Carrera Panamericana: Coop Checks In

Everyone's favorite fully-bearded Oklahoma-native pin-up, hot-rod and rock 'n' roll artist finally turned in a report from the Mexican road race, and he claims there's much more to come. He, Gerie Bledso and Jim Silver qualfied 7th and took 7th overall in the first stage. Then some do-gooder complained that their Mustang's engine was too powerful and they got bumped from the Historic C class to the Exhibition class. Keep Gerie and Jim away from the cliffs, Coop. Everyone stay safe out there! – Davey G. Johnson More »

La Carrera Panamericana: It's a Race, Not a Rally

Inverting the maxim constantly bandied about by competitors in the Gumball 3000 and Bullrun, among other events, La Carrera Panamericana is most assuredly a race. We've had radio silence from our correspondents from the last day as they were busy with qualifying (qualifying isn't mandatory for La Carrera, but a good session moves you up in the grid). Meanwhile, Haller got his blog on and has a cornucopia of snippets, including this Mini crash photo taken while the pilots of the diminutive British econobox suddenly noticed a Stude piloted by a couple of dudes named Carlos who ended up in the weeds. Thankfully, everyone was okay, and not only that the Mini's back on the grid. Oh, and Rachel qualified 16th of 103 cars in her mostly-stock Lotus. More »

La Carrera Panamericana: Mothers of the Pearl

We ended up finding the website for Nicolina H bert and Anna S rensson's La Carrera effort, the pearl-gray Saab 96 simply down as the Pearl. It turns out that it started with the two women meeting at a party and striking up a conversation, when H bert admitted that she'd dreamed of doing the Mexican road race since she was a little girl. And now they're in Veracruz. Oh, and their engine builder, Niklas Enander, managed to wrest 90 horsepower out of the 850cc 3-cylinder two-stroke. It originally had a whopping 38. Here's to hoping the Pearl holds together all the way to the Texas border. More »

La Carrera Panamericana: The Pearl is Ready to Rock

Nicolina Hubert (right) and co-pilot Anna Sorensson are set to run their vintage Saab 96 — bearing the Steinbeckian sobriquet of "The Pearl" — in La Carrera Panamericana. The 96 was famously campaigned in rallies by Erik Carlsson back in the early 1960s and enjoyed a 20-year production run, with the last one trundling off the line in 1980. Quirk appeal? Totally. Distaff factor? Awesome. The qualifying flag drops in the morning. The cars have been stickered and painted up. Blood types have been added to the sides of doors. God, we we wish we were there. Vaya con Ronnie James Dio, friends! More »

La Carrera Panamericana: Rachel Arrives in Veracruz

Ms. Larratt did a bunch of towing and hauling to get from the Eastern Midwest to the Southern Mexico, and just prior to that, a bunch of bandaging and rollcaging her Elise. We'll tell you this: preparing for an event like La Carrera is a whole helluva lot of work. We didn't manage to pull it off. But at least we've got Coop and Rachel safely ensconced in their firesuits. Check out her blog for photographic and written evidence of her thrash to get to the starting line. – Davey G. Johnson More »

La Carrera Panamericana: Coop Arrives in Veracruz

Wherein, Mister Chris Cooper and Se or Gerie Bledso make it to Veracruz and are greeted by a big, giant head. Plus, pictures of neat scenery and beyond-cool racing cars. If Coop can manage to stay awake after a day of high-speed navigating, we predict the boy's race reports will be wicked-awesome. Click over to the only site that indexes positive apes for his latest dispatch. More »

Jalopnik Movie Night: French Documentary on La Carrera Panamericana

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More La Carrera Panamericana: Rachel's Blogging, Too!

A few long hours ago, we pointed you in the direction of Coop's Positive Ape Index in hopes of enlightening those of you who don't yet understand the sheer awesomeness of the Mexican Road Race. We also mentioned Rachel Larratt, who would be a mensch if mensches had vaginas. Plus, she's occasionally Canadian, has many tattoos and drives a Lotus. Is further endorsement needed? Anyway, Rach just informed us that she's got a blog of her own, and will be — as time allows — writing down her adventures in Mexico for all to scope. So go scope. Meanwhile, Wert...what's the feminine of "mensch?" – Davey G. Johnson More »

We're Not in Mexico, But Coop is: It's La Carrera Panamericana Time!

Because we suck, we are not running La Carrera Panamericana this year. We came oh-so-close, but funding and timing simply were not on our side. As such, we sit here and send our regards and good faith to the mighty Coop, who is navigating for Gerie Bledso on the historic side of things, and the awesome Rachel Larratt, who threw a cage in her Elise to run the Unlimited Class. Gerie, Coop, Rachel, Haller and Kevin, we wish you all the best. Come back in once piece. Because as Coop says, "You're not really having an adventure unless knowledge of your blood type is required beforehand." More »

Looking For Mister Goodcar: La Carrera's Unlimited Class Seeks FXX

So we were yammering with Haller too late at night, and as late-night yammering between car guys often ends up, ridiculous ideas spring forth. On the spot, he decided to offer free entry into La Carrera Panamericana's Unlimited Class to any hombre with cojones enough to subject his Ferrari FXX to the Mexican endurance test. And here's a note to the kids over at the Scuderia: if you boys want data, here's a way to gather it. The invite is open. All you have to do is get your car to Mexico. More »

Bullrun Madness!

So, as the kids in the cross-country, rich-people-rallying community (and those who obsessively follow such things) know, the Bullrun kicks off tomorrow in Spinelli's backyard. What only a few kids know, is that if all goes according to plan, Davey G. will be an embedded reporter with the crew of Kevin Ward's absolutely nuts-of-a-cheetah '54 Studebaker along with La Carrera Panamericana Unlimited Class co-founder Bret Haller, as well as with a few other crews for the last three days of the rally, catching a flight to an undisclosed locale, and then hauling ass (at legal speeds, of course — it's a rally, not a race), back to Los Angeles. Sadly, we won't be partying with Andretti, as he's apparently wussing out and only driving the beginning of the festivities. More »

Coop to Run La Carrera Panamericana?

We reported earlier today that Gerie Bledso was looking for a co-driver for La Carrera Panamericana. Noted artist, Jalopnik commenter, Plomb tool fetishist and all-around good guy More »

Who Wants to Blast Up Mexico in a Studebaker?

Gerie Bledso needs a co-pilot for this November's La Carrera Panamericana. He's got a '54 Stude. '54 Studes are wicked-fast when prepared correctly, and according to Bret from The Unlimited Class, this one is indeed correctly prepared. If we were going, we'd dress as Kaiser Wilhelm and carry a photocopy of the Zimmermann telegram with us. Or maybe as Thomas Magnum. What would you wear for such an event? Contact Gerie via the Unlimited Class blog. More »

Our Mad Existence: Lincoln Carrera Panamericana Replica

While the Virgin of Guadalupe probably graced a number of dashboards in the Mexican Road Race, it's highly doubtful that Madonna will ever appear on the decklid of any of its competitors, especially since it went tits-up after 1954 — four years before Madge was born. However, Eva Peron did grace the trunk of one Argentine entry; a two-door hardtop Lincoln, a replica of which reader Marc submitted to us. Our friend Suz owns a '54 Capri she's convinced she wants to turn into a sled. We keep telling her she needs to build a Panamericana replica, as the Lincolns were ass-whuppers in the short-lived-yet legendary competition. So far, no dice. Maybe this will convince her. More »

Tequila! Cadillac Recreates La Carrera Panamericana Racer

If there's a road race in history that's cooler than the original La Carrera Panamericana — a dusty, tequila-and-Lucky-Strike-fueled 1,900-mile trek up the Panamerican Highway from Southern Mexico to the Tejas border, held between 1950 and 1954 — we'd eat our sombreros. It was a matter of pride for the world's storied drivers, like Phil Hill and Juan Manuel Fangio, to compete in the race, which pitted modified American muscle against unforgiving terrain and manifold-melting heat. It was revived in 1988 as a rally for vintage cars, though the danger and bravado is impossible to recreate. Nonetheless, GM Performance is working up a 1954 Cadillac Model 62 hardtop — an homage to the privateer car that finished third in the '54 race, at an average speed of around 115 miles per hour. No word on whether the Caddy will compete in the rally, not that it matters. We're sticking with romanticizing the original. More »