This color newsreel film compresses the 24 Hours of Le Mans into nine minutes, and focuses on the race rather than the worst accident in racing history. Take a look.
Every car enthusiast probably knows the horrible story of the 24 Hours of Le Mans—the gruesome accident and fire that claimed the lives of driver Pierre Levegh and 83 spectators. To this day it remains the worst accident in the annals of motorsports.
However, inconceivable as it may seem to modern sensibilities, the race was not stopped. The event continued on for the full 24 hours, with participants and much of the audience unaware of the utter tragedy that had unfolded. This film, still in very good condition, records the entire event, including the victory of Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb in a works Jaguar D-Type, hollow as it was. The tragic crash at the end of lap 35 is given a respectful but oddly distant handling, and In that regard the reportage is simply a product of its time. To step back into 1955, press play.
Gotta chuckle at the commentator @ 5.50;
“The cars in British racing green become conspicuous for their reliability”
Not words you would normally hear folks string together.
Agreed!
Yes, I came to comment on the “conspicuous reliability” as well. I owned several British cars, and twenty-four hours is about the limit of their ruggedness.
The narrow tree-lined track looks much nicer then. I was surprised that the marshals allowed that TR2 driver to keep tossing sand over the wall. That sand trap had to be completely reconstructed before it could be effective again, and it was done by workers practically standing on the racing surface.
While MCG mentioned that the tragedy received distant handling, I still expected a less distant view of the scene. I know the newsreels were there, I suppose that Standard-Triumph didn’t want to denigrate a sport that they were trying so hard to succeed in.