Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2008 - (Page 26)

Opposite page: Fitch drives the car he designed to be the “American Porsche” to the Lime Rock Park Race Track, which he created and managed. He is holding his trademark blue-and-white racing helmet. became the only American to race for the Mercedes team, driving alongside racing legends such as Sir Stirling Moss, Peter Collins, and Juan Manuel Fangio. “Driving with Mercedes was an education in how a race team should be managed, but above all, it was a great adventure,” Fitch says. With Mercedes, Fitch drove his best race, the 1955 Mille Miglia. After weaving through 1,000 miles of twisting “LADIES … LOVE IT” While racing, Fitch Italian roads, Fitch’s 300 SL Gullwing, a designed and built ﬁve sports cars. In 1966, he produced production car, ﬁnished ﬁrst in his class his most stunning creation, the Fitch Phoenix, a sleek, black and ﬁfth overall, behind four racing car that resembles the Batmobile with a vintage twist. sports cars: two Mercedes 300 SLRs, a Fitch is obviously proud of the Phoenix. While eating Ferrari, and a Maserati. at a local diner, Fitch encouraged the servers to step outside Fitch was also driving a Mercedes to see his one-of-a-kind car. Earlier that day, he drove the during what many consider the worst car he designed to the Lime Rock Park Race Track. day in racing history—the 1955 Le Fitch designed and once managed the world-famous Mans race. For the 24-hour marathon 1.5-mile track, which is frequented by the actor and ﬁlm race, Mercedes entered three 300 SLRs, director Paul Newman. (“He’s quite the remarkable race driven by Fitch and Pierre Levegh, Juan driver for his, or any, age,” Fitch says.) At the track, Fitch drove out of his way to give the driving school students who were on their lunch break a chance to appreciate his ride. Manuel Fangio and Sir Stirling Moss, “It’s a striking car,” Fitch says. “The ladies, in particular, love it.” and Karl Kling and André Simon. To create the “American version of a Porsche,” Fitch combined an Italian steel body with With the dynamic combination of the engine of the Chevrolet Corvair, in the same manner the Porsche ﬁts an Italian body over unbeatable drivers and fast cars, a a Volkswagen engine. The car weighs around 2,000 pounds, measures 45 inches tall, and can Mercedes car was expected to win. reach speeds of 130 mph, according to Automobile Quarterly magazine. “During that race, we got up to “It’s a helluva nice car, in fact, and I think old John Fitch is going to sell a bunch of them,” 190 mph, in the fog, at night,” Fitch raved the automobile journalist David E. Davis Jr. in a 1966 edition of Car and Driver. Despite says. “It was insanity, but I wouldn’t Davis’ prediction, only one Fitch Phoenix was produced, because it was too small to meet new reghave missed it for the world.” “The 300 SLR probably would ulations on automobile size, and Chevrolet stopped producing the Corvair. have won,” says Donn Gurney, owner of Racing Legends and a racing enthusiast since 1951. “In the early stages of the race, the Mercedes and Jaguar were neck and neck.” A quick, unexpected turn by the Jaguar forced the AustinHealey beside it to swerve in front of Levegh’s Mercedes. Levegh hit the Healey at 150 mph and then struck the embankment surrounding the track, which sent the Mercedes tumbling into the grandstands. The car disintegrated, killing Levegh and at least 84 spectators. Despite the calamity, the race was continued to prevent departing crowds from delaying the ambulances and police cars that were entering the track. Fans and drivers hurried to help the wounded. “A number of my friends were across the track,” says Gurney, who watched the race from the stands. “I ran to help pull people out.” 26 lehigh alumni bulletin Meanwhile, Fitch convinced Mercedes to sacriﬁce their lead position and withdraw from the race out of respect for the dead, following a prewar Mercedes tradition. Following the 1955 racing season, Fitch established the Corvette as a world-class racing sports car. Only two months before the 1956 race in Sebring, Fla., the Corvette team realized that the car would not survive one lap of the 12-hour endurance race without breaking, and Corvette’s chief engineer claimed that it could not be redesigned in time. So, the Herculean task of reengineering the Corvette to be raceworthy fell to Fitch, Corvette’s team captain. “It was a nightmare, but we did it,” Fitch says. During the 1956 and 1957 Sebring races, Corvette achieved two class wins and the team prize. “It was less than we hoped for, but probably more than we deserved,” he says.

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2008

Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2008 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Ugly is in the Eye of the Beholder Fitch's Law of Motion A Blessing to the Community The Amidonian Acclamation China Trip Bridges Cultures, Generations From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News The Last Word

Alumni Bulletin - Winter 2008

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