Speaking of the Mulsanne, I've been reading Brock Yates' book Against Death And Time...got it from Amazon, along with Christopher Hilton's Le Mans '55. Both are interesting, but I can't see why Yates tried to be a novelist...the book would have played out better as factual. The best part, I think, was the story of Bill Vukovich. Those drivers of the '50's were certainly a breed apart from the "professionals" of today...much more colorful and inventive...A.J. Foyt used to say that if a car didn't handle well, you MADE it handle. Those guys certainly were courageous.
Reading Hilton's book, I was shocked at just how narrow LeMans used to be, especially the pit straight. In one picture, the cars at speed were so close to the ones in the pits that there didn't look like there was enough room for more than 2 abreast, and they would have to be practically sideswiping each other. A pit worker could literally stand at the front of a parked car and reach out and touch a car going by at 150mph.
Those were character-building and romantic days, I guess; and I came of age in 1964, which was almost as bloody as 1955...but I wouldn't ever want to go back to them...
BTW, I asked awhile back what Yates was up to now, and I just found out he's written a book about Mike Boyle, Wilbur Shaw's car owner from '39-'41. It looks like an interesting red, too.
Dan
