John Fitch – A Pictorial Remembrance Page Five
Perhaps the best year for John was 1955. He became a member of the Mercedes-Benz team and the only American ever to drive for them. The first event was the Mille Miglia in Italy. John waited with the production 300 SL for tech inspection.
John’s navigator was German journalist Kurt Gesell.
John Fitch and Kurt Gesell in the production Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing at the 1955 Mille Miglia.
John has told me that was the most significant race for him. He won the Gran Turismo Class and finished 5th overall.
Stirling Moss won overall in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR. Chief Engineer Rudy Uhlenhaut (left) congratulates navigator Denis Jenkinson (center) and Stirling Moss.
Next it was off to Le Mans for the Mercedes-Benz team. Neubauer teamed John with Frenchman Pierre Levegh. The two talked it over before the start.
Talking shop in Le Mans, 1955 – John Fitch (left), Pierre Levegh, who had a fatal accident during the race, and racing manager Alfred Neubauer.
Start of the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hours. Levegh was selected to drive the first leg.
After two hours, Levegh was still at the wheel. Lance Macklin in an Austin-Healey swerved to the center of the track to avoid Mike Hawthorne’s much faster D-Type Jaguar. Levegh hit the Austin-Healey, became airborne. The 300 SLR hit an embankment, disintegrated, the magnesium alloy caught fire and the remains of the car went into the crowd. More than 80 died in what has been called the worst racing accident in history.
Next for Mercedes-Benz was the Tourist Trophy on September 17, 1955. Fitch was teamed with Stirling Moss in a 300 SLR.
John Fitch driving the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR – the Tourist Trophy took place in Northern Ireland over what was called the Dunrod Circuit on 7.42 miles of narrow, twisty public roads. Fitch and Moss brought Mercedes another victory in the contest for the World Manufacturers Championship.
Great photographs, Art. You really captured the essence of John Fitch, particularly his early years of breezy sailboating, cool girlfriends and aromatic pipe tobacco.
What a wondereful photographic tribute to John Fitch! He led a very adventurous and successful life. RIP John
Over the last 30 years I had seen Mr Fitch at Lime Rock, each year getting closer and listening to his stories. A most interesting man. A full life, no man can ask for more. What a wonderful tribute.
Thank you Mr. Evans for a wonderful photo story of a life well lived.
Wonderful recollections of a true renaissance man We were fortunate enough to have John as honored guest in 2010 at the 50th anniversary of the first Elkhart Lake Road Races. It will be fondly remembered by the members and guests of the Elkhart Lake Historic Race Circuits Preservation Society who were there,
What an inspiration this man proved to be. Thank you, Art Evans, for this splendid photographic record of a fine career. To repeat myself, John Fitch was an inspiration. They don’t make ’em like that anymore. – David White, Slovenia.
Most excellent. Thank you.
What a great man. And he drive so different cars over the years. Men and machine has always been fascinating to read about.John Fitch was such a man Gentleman dont exist so often this days.
Art,
What a pleasure this Thanksgiving morning to go through wonderful photos encapsulating John’s very significant life. Well done, your love and respect for the man shines through in your photos, especially the one with Bob Bondurant, Stirling Moss and an obviously failing Phil Hill.
I never had the privilege of speaking to the man but was close to him doing appearances and signing books at several vintage racing events. A true American hero loved the world over. Wish we had more like him.
For those of us kids in the ’50s who were just catching on to sports cars, John Fitch was an idol. Learned much more about him reading Sports Car Digest Weekly, a tribute to your good journalism. Fabulous memories, SCDW. I had the pleasure of visiting Briggs Cunningham’s Museum in Costa Mesa, CA in the 1980s and talking with John Bishop about the cars you mention that Fitch drove.
Bud Suiter, SCCA Racer from the 70s..
Superb job by Art Evans and his supporting cast, and thank you to SCD for running it. John Fitch was “A True American Hero.”
A beautiful and moving photo essay on a great life. Thank you.
Thank you for such a great photo tribute. John never stopped trying to make things better and safer.
Your Pictorial Remembrance of John Fitch in Sports Car Digest is fantastic. I hope all Fab Fifties folks see this.
Thanks to you Art for getting this all together and thanks to Sports Car Digest for publishing this photographic bit of Sports Car History.
Thanks for Remembering a Good and Great Man. Have visited with John and is a Hero to this 84 year old person.
john and zora can race corvettes again. rip
What a fantastic life and great homage to what I can only assume from all information, an incredible man. He came of age when the race car became such a serious missile that in the wrong hands or bad fate, led to a bad ending. But John survived all those perils only to make it safer for everyone who followed.
thank you for furthering my knowledge of such an icon. I only wish I could have met the man.
I think I remember reading years ago, in the 50’s, that John Fitch while flying a P-51 in Europe during WW2, actually shot down a German ME-262 jet. Does anybody else remember reading that?
Disappointing to find no record of John’s 1949 exploits on the streets of Bridgehampton in an Effyh 500 from Sweden. As yet this seems to be poorly documented (unexplored?) for the post-war history of racing at Bridgehampton:
The first Euro formula car raced in the US? The “batmobile” towcar team?
Fitch’s very first “professional” ride? What followed???
Bruce Stevenson’s son may have recollections of the war.
Please help us start at the beginning.
Thanks for everything you’ve done for motorsports, Art.
Guy Frost for Bridgehampton Racing Heritage Group
He , was a absolutely gentlemen. Have the opportunity to know him at CC of MB at Irving Ca. He is a real example for the future generations. God bless him and his family.
John was one great guy and certainly one of a kind, we sure did enjoy a few drinks at the bar at Sardi’s in NYC when we were members of a club together, and yes John was credited with having shot down the first German jet in WW II.