Special Feature

A Unique Time

Art Evans
Roger Barlow in his Simca Special leads Bill Pringle in a similar car at Torrey Pines in July 1952. Notice the large crowd and lack of considerations for spectator or driver safety. Torrey Pines was a WWII Army base located just north of San Diego; now it is two golf courses. During the fifties, road races were held on the abandoned base streets. Events there sometimes attracted as many as 30,000 paid admissions. Photo: Felipe Turich from the Cliff Emmich Collection

Sports car racing in the U.S. during the ’50s was unique. It was very different from the American circle-track or drag racing of the time. It was also different from previous decades or those that came after.

First of all, it was an amateur sport. But unlike most amateur sports—except perhaps for something like the Olympics and college football—it attracted considerable press attention and often thousands of spectators. At the March 27, 1955, Palm Springs event when James Dean won the race for small production cars, there were more than 30,000 spectators. If any of us were found to have accepted money to race, we were summarily expelled from our racing club membership and not allowed to compete.

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