Cadillac engineers have just put the finishing touches to a unique restoration of a car that starred in one of the world's toughest auto races more than 50 years ago.
The 1954, privately entered Cadillac Series 62 coupé challenged tough competition from factory-backed teams on the 3000km Carrera Panamericana road race in Mexico and beat all rivals on the final two stages.
The then Mexican government inaugurated the Carrera Panamericana road race in 1950 to mark the completion of the Pan-American Highway. Thereafter it was run annually, the length of Mexico, for five years and attracted the world's best drivers, including Formula 1 World champions Phil Hill and Juan Manuel Fangio in special cars from Ferrari, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
The races are still regarded as one of the toughest events in motor sport history.
In 1954 amateur racers from America, Keith Andrews and Blu Plemons, persuaded a Colorado Springs car dealer, Barry Motor Sales, to loan them a Cadillac Series 62 coupé.
Andrews and Plemons, with three friends, set out to challenge the factory-backed teams - one of which arrived with four cars, 28 mechanics, a doctor and a cook as well as a PR man and two photographers.
The Andrews-Plemons Cadillac completed the race in less than 21 hours and won the two final stages outright after averaging nearly 190km/h for the final 650km.
"We were just five ordinary guys from Colorado," said Plemons, who recalled a "wild adventure" still sharp in his memory after 52 years. It's an adventure that strikes a chord with Cadillac today.
In preparation for the 2006 Carrera Panamericana road race, a "new" 1954 Cadillac Carrera Panamericana has taken shape at GM's Performance Division in Warren, Michigan. The recreation began with a 1954 classic discovered in GM's vehicle inventory that matched the original race car's specifications, down to the paint colour.
"We made updates that would enhance the vehicle and occupant safety but maintained the original design intent," said Al Oppenheiser, GM Performance Division's director of concept vehicle engineering.
"We kept the project in-house using the Performance Division Garage, the pre-production trim shop and the show car paint team. For example, the instrument panel is as we found it but the seats and soft trim were re-upholstered."
Passion for driving
Cadillac's rich heritage in performance vehicles began with the introduction of America's first V8 engine in 1914, followed by the first V16 in 1929, and the first high-compression OHV V8 in 1948. Today, the latest V-Series CTS, STS and XLR models continue to express Cadillac's performance heritage with power and style.
The 1954 recreation, GM says, shows the enthusiasm within GM's Performance Division and Cadillac to deliver excitement to people who have a passion for driving great cars.
Plemons will be reunited with the 1954 Carrera Cadillac in November at the start of this year's restaging of the Carrera Panamericana at Oaxaca in Mexico.
The Carrera Cadillac recreation is just one of the more than 700 vehicles to be found in GM's Detroit Heritage Collection of historically significant vehicles that date back to the early 1900's.