Author: Floyd Clymer

Publisher: Valueguide

Published: 2009-02-01

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9781588501165

148 pages, 344 illustrations, size 8.25 x 11 inches. Why is this book considered by many automotive historians as the "Most Complete Account" of the 1950 Carrera Panamericana Race? When the inaugural "Carrera Panamericana" road race was run in 1950, there was very little coverage of the race printed in the contemporary press of the day. Most European publications totally ignored the race or perhaps they did not even know it was happening, and while a few US newspapers managed to print a paragraph or two on a daily basis, it certainly was not "front page" news and much of the information was questionable and sometimes inaccurate. Even the reports that appeared in the specialized "Auto Racing" magazines were sketchy at best, and it appeared that those magazines did not take the race too seriously, or attach any significance to the possible future potential of the event. Looking back, it was fortuitous that publisher Floyd Clymer secured the services of Roland Goodman, a US newspaper reporter living in Mexico, to cover the race in depth and to document all of the finite details such as the race statistics, accurate lists of the drivers, cars etc. Had the Clymer-Goodman relationship not happened, much of the history of the 1950 race would have been lost forever. All too often details become clouded over the years and the Spanish language custom followed by most Mexican parents of attaching the mother's name after the father's name such that the son Agustin of Mr. Garcia and the former Miss Lopez would be named Agustin Garcia Lopez and, at times, may be referred to as Garcia or Lopez, which makes for questionable interpretation of reports at a later date. In other words, you had to be there to get it right and Roland Goodman was Floyd Clymer's "man on the spot" and our thanks should go out to both of them for creating this comprehensive record of the 1950 "Carrera Panamericana."