Yahoo Autos 2022 Porsche 911 Carrera S Panamericana Special celebrates 1952 again
Over the summer, Porsche North America unwrapped its celebration of the 1952 356 America Edition with a 2022 Porsche 911 GTS Cabriolet America Edition. When we got up close to the car at the Sports Car Together Fest last month, we learned how much work the design teams put into making its specials special. The year 1952 included a bigger and more successful triumph than the 356 America Edition: Class victory in the 1952 La Carrera Panamericana, a 3,000-kilometer road race through Mexico that was like the Baja for passenger cars. This was the event's third year, and automakers were already eyeing it as a torture test for race cars. Mercedes-Benz finished 1-2 in 1952 with a pair of 300 SLs, and would pick half of the race name for its Panamericana grille. Porsche's first tilt at the race ended with eighth overall and that class win, plus picking the other half of the race name for a range of engines in the 1960s then applying it to the 911 road cars.
Porsche Mexico and Porsche Latin America are celebrating the car and the victory with a 911 Carrera S Panamericana Special. In contrast to the 100 examples the U.S. and Canada will get of the America Edition, our neighbors to the south have commissioned Porsche Manufaktur to product one Panamericana Special. The region did the same in 2021 with a gulf-livered 911 Turbo S that commemorated Mexican racing driver Pedro Rodriguez. The Rodriguez car came together with the help of the late driver's family. This time, designers used footage from the 1952 race and the recollections of the Porsche team's co-pilot for the #10 car and sole mechanic at the race, Herbert Linge.
