The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
By Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Bellows, Benita Lane and J. Frank Harrison(Willem Oosthoek Collection)
And then the final day of racing began, with two events on schedule.
The start of the Memorial Trophy with, from the left, Bob Grossman [Ferrari California] and the AC Bristols of Jim Miller, Bob Keyes and J. Collins leading the field. Grossman would soon take command.
Dissatisfied with his 570S Maserati, Shelby became available for the Birdcage ride. Here Casner is showing him the layout of the land, or rather the cockpit of a car in which Shelby had never sat before.
By Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Bellows and Benita Lane (Willem Oosthoek Collection)
Then the action began. After a few days of practice, the first 5-lap preliminary for the Tourist Trophy on November 29th was for under-2-liter GT entries. Johnny Cuevas and his 1.6-liter Carrera Speedster won over Jay Chamberlain’s Lotus Elite. In the 5-lapper for larger GT cars, Stirling Moss in a private Aston Martin DB4GT beat Roy Salvadori’s special-bodied works Austin-Healey 100S. In the 25-lap Tourist Trophy itself Moss dropped out after leading and Cuevas claimed CAMORADI’s first international victory, with Chamberlain second again.
Denise in the OSCA 750S (chassis 763) that ‘Lucky’ Casner acquired from Robert Publicker just before Nassau. No time for a respray in CAMORADI colors. The car was originally owned by Luigi Chinetti.
Story by Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Jackson, Benita Lane and Bob Bellows (Willem Oosthoek Collection)
Obviously, a number of English marques were present at Nassau. The two 4.7-liter Chevy-powered Listers came from Texas, one owned by Ronnie Hissom, the other by Jimmy Younger. Hissom was a wildcatter in Midland who had bought his car via CSSCI. Sources vary about its chassis number, either BHL18 or the more logical BHL118. Jim Hall owned the first Lister bought via the agency (BHL108) and since Hissom complained why he received a much older car than Jim’s, it was probably BHL18.
Ettore Chimeri and his 250TR. Is there a problem or is he just showing off the car to the local constabulary?
Story by Willem Oosthoek
Photos by Bob Jackson and Bob Bellows [Willem Oosthoek Collection]
Fantasy Football anyone? Oooops, wrong site. How about your fantasy road race? In my case, no need to fantasize since it actually happened way back in 1959, when the Nassau Speed Weeks took place from November 27 to December 7. The event that gets my vote would be the Speed Weeks-ending feature for the Nassau Trophy.
“The Bahamas Speed Weeks” was originally published in 2006 by Veloce Publishing (no relation). In 2013 a second, enlarged edition was published by Dalton Watson. This review, originally published in 2006, has been updated to include the most recent edition.
Terry O’Neil’s “The Bahamas Speed Weeks” is a one-topic book focusing on a series of very social, season ending races held at a third world airport with a tropical setting near Nassau from 1954 to 1966. Indeed, the story of the Nassau Speedweeks deserves a book, (for Ferrari, Maserati and OSCA fans in particular) and O’Neil has covered the races well, documenting every single event which took place at both venues, finding results, name, and serial numbers enough to fill 3/4 of the pages in the volume. [Read more…] about Bahamas Speedweeks, a Review