Amazingly Macklin's Austin Healey still exists and went up for auction in 2011... It's now restored to pre-accident livery, Green #26... Image Unavailable, Please Login
There's a good bit out there on this including the book https://www.amazon.com/Mans-crash-changed-motor-racing/dp/1780911009 A great read, and keep googling videos. A lot of footage exist, horrific.....
The 1955 Le Mans incident very nearly caused the end of racing as we know it especially in Europe. With the spectator and driver deaths being so soon after the war had a huge impact on racing in general with no less than the Vatican making proclamations that racing should be banned. And, as we know, Switzerland banned racing altogether as a result, a ban which still stands today. When we go back and see the amount of racing fatalities from those days, it could almost be counted on at least one or more drivers would be lost at nearly every event, those whom were lucky enough to have survived those eras are literally walking miracles. BHW
Also back then spectators were also taken out to often. My eyes look like saucers watching video from back then, spectators walking on the track trying to "touch" a car going by at 100 mph plus
Yep, and right up to the early 70s, credentialed photographers were allowed to practically stand on the racing surface to get pictures. Looking back on all that footage and images from those days, it's incredible that this sort of incident didn't happen more often. BHW
And no less than S. McQueen laid down on the tarmac @ LM during early filming in front of the oncoming 917 & 512S so he could get "a true idea of how fast they're going" ....... Needless to say, the producer lost his cool.....
Yeah, and even though "Le Mans" was a movie, during production Derek Bell was lucky to escape with burns to his face when his 512 inexplicably erupted in flames and of course David Piper lost his leg in a massive shunt in a 917. While McQueen's heart was definitely in the right place, the actual production was nothing short of a train wreck and it was a wonder how the cobbled together final product ever emerged. When you look back at the 917/512 era, it is amazing how skittish those cars were especially under braking. When they'd hit the brakes they'd jump all over the place and such as in the case with Piper, if anything broke or went wrong there was no recovering. BHW
I had not previously realized that until 1955, there was a small right-hand kink in the straightaway approaching the pits, which is why Levegh's errant Mercedes wound up where it did. It was also incredible that there was absolutely no deceleration lane for the pits. The track was only two lanes wide and the cars heading for the pits had to slow down on the actual circuit.
Thats right. The Le Mans pits remained like that until the early 70s with cars racing right past the pits with no pit lane to speak of until a guard rail/wall was installed. BHW
Yes, but in 1956 they eliminated that kink in the straight and did add a deceleration lane for cars coming into the pits.
In 1977, Lance Macklin was working as a car salesman in London and my father bought a Fiat 132 2.0 from him.
