Mighty Caddy endurance racer on the road again

Keith Andrews and Blu Plemons set a fast and furious pace in 1954.

Cadillac engineers have restored a car that starred in one of the world's toughest endurance races more than 50 years ago.

The 1954 Cadillac Series 62 coupe challenged tough competition from factory-backed teams on the 3000km Carrera Panamericana road race in Mexico, beating all its rivals on the final two stages.

The race, devised by the Mexican Government in 1950 to mark the completion of the Pan-American Highway, ran the length of Mexico for five years. It attracted some of the world's best drivers, including Formula One world champions Phil Hill and Juan Manuel Fangio, who used the race to test Ferrari, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz cars.

In 1954, American amateur racers Keith Andrews and Blu Plemons persuaded a Colorado Springs car dealer, Barry Motor Sales, to lend them a Cadillac Series 62 coupe.

They and three friends set out to challenge the factory-backed teams, one of which arrived with four cars, 28 mechanics, a doctor, a cook, a jlpublic relations man and two photographers.

The Andrews-Plemons Cadillac completed the 3000km race in less than 21 hours, winning the two final stages outright and averaging more than 190km/h for the final 650km. "We were just five ordinary guys from Colorado," said Blu Plemons. The performance of the Andrews-Plemons Caddy prompted the carmaker - owned by General Motors - to prepare an identical car for this year's restaging of the Carrera Panamericana.

The recreation began with a 1954 classic discovered in GM's vehicle inventory that matched the original race car's specifications, even the original colour. "We made updates that would enhance the vehicle and occupant safety but maintain the original design intent," said Al Oppenheiser, GM's director of concept engineering. 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 overhead-valve V8 in 1948.

Plemons will be reunited with the 1954 Carrera Cadillac in November at the start of the Carrera Panamericana at Oaxaca, Mexico.