Houston we got a problem. But the race continues

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Has the rain stopped by now in Texas? Let’s hope so. The news about Houston being flooded was rather overwhelming and did recall the picture above. You will know it? If not, let’s go back to 27 March, 1965 when the Sebring 12-hours race was to take place for the World Sportscar Championship. 50,000 spectators had come over to the track in Florida, and it was to become a race they would not forget. A change of rules had made the event eligible for American cars, too, and an absolute favourite was the 5.4-litre Chevrolet powered Chaparral with secret automatic transmission of Texas oilman Jim Hall. Shelby had come out in force, too, as had Ferrari, Porsche, and of course Ford with their GTs. But it wasn’t just the cars and their drivers they talked about; subject of the day was the weather. In the hours leading up to the start, there was nothing unusual for Florida with blue skies and a temperature of 94° Fahrenheit. Pretty hot for March. But some sources said this all could change heavily.

And boy, it did. Half way during the race the skies began to turn dark. And at seven hours into the race they opened. Within a short period of time the track turned into a massive ford, with the cars having to wade through. That didn’t decide the organizers to stop the race, though. While drivers were saying that their cars were filling up to their elbows with rainwater, the race continued. Lap times dropped dramatically to 12 minutes, but the cars continued to drive as fast as they could through inches of water. Some crashed, other fell out with soaken ignition. The photographs of race cars forming giant splashes have become famous, just like the one of the big coupe in the Shelby pit during a stop, seen above. A month earlier a similar coupe had won at Daytona, hence the name Daytona Coupe. They wanted this win, too, and they were willing to dig deep to pay for it, rain or shine. And so they carried on. The Daytona Coupe seen here eventually came at a disappointing 21st place; another three works entered sister cars came 4th, 7th and 13th overall. And the winner? The mighty Chaparral of Jim Hall, open top or not. Oh - do we have any film footage? We do!

(words editor, picture PWC archives)

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