24-hour party people
ALL MY LIFE I have been a sucker for great feats of endurance and derring-do. And I really mean all, from Charles Lindbergh to Franky Zapata. The appeal, I suppose, is not so much the reminder that some people just have more vision, more stamina and more sheer bloodymindedness than the rest of us, but that there are those who are still prepared to push the very boundaries of human ambition to the limit, and all too often beyond.
Obviously, the more bizarre challenges often stand out – crossing a choppy English Channel in a pair of Amphicars en route to the Frankfurt motor show, parachuting to Earth from Space – but sometimes the greatest endeavours happen on the most traditional of battlefields.
I never miss an opportunity to mention that I have twice done Club Triumph’s Round Britain Reliability Run, 2000 miles around the UK in 48 hours, an average of over 40mph even if you never stopped to refuel or eat. The first time we were two-up, the second time our crew was three-strong, but even then some people appeared to be driving solo (albeit with a companion to keep them awake).
But can you imagine racing all-out, permanently on the limit, for pretty much 24 hours straight? The mental and physical strains on Luigi Chinetti driving our cover car at Le Mans in 1949 must have been almost beyond human endurance; you can only assume that he was running on pure adrenaline. And to do that at the same time as setting the record as the oldest driver ever to win the race (at 47)…
Perhaps even more remarkably, while you might assume that Chinetti’s record of driving for probably (there are differing accounts) 23 of the 24 hours might have lasted for ever, it was actually eclipsed the very next year. Twice! You decide whether the more impressive was Eddie Hall driving the full 24 hours in his Bentley to finish eighth, or Louis Rosier doing a marginally shorter stint (all but two laps in fact) but winning outright in the Talbot-Lago.
Either way, Chinetti’s herculean drive is just another facet of this remarkable car and it was our privilege to become the first magazine (we think) ever to track test it. For rather less than 24 hours, it must be said.