Seventy years ago, the Carrera Panamericana was one of the toughest and most lethal road races in history. A cross-Mexico dash, the event saw the likes of Phil Hill and Juan Manuel Fangio compete in a mixed gaggle of sports cars and tuned American saloons and coupes.
Both named after the race
The fact that it was called the Carrera should have twigged you to the fact that the famous name has been carried on in both motoring and watch forms - both Porsche and TAG Heuer have products bearing the Carrera name, and so the two have teamed up to celebrate an anniversary.
It was 70 years ago, in 1953, that two customer teams, each with a Porsche 550 Coupé, took part in the spectacular Carrera Panamericana. Ten years later, Jack Heuer created a chronograph watch bearing the Carrera name, while Porsche had already by then used it to denote the sportiest versions of its famed 356 coupe.
To mark the birthdays, TAG Heuer and Porsche of Latin America have come together to create a pair of 718 Cayman GT4 Coupes - the modern successor to those original 550 Coupes. The official name for this project is the 'TAG Heuer x Porsche - Legends of Panamericana Sonderwunsch project, which we kind of love for its complication.
Hollywood star power
The cars aren't just for show, either. While both cars were shown this past weekend at Porsche's vast Rennsport event in California, the one with the number 154 on the doors will be taking part in this year's - much gentler than in period - running of the Carrera Panamericana, with actor, racing team manager, and long-time Porsche enthusiast Patrick Dempsey at the wheel. The No.152 car will be auctioned off for a good cause at a later date.
The two cars are painted in Le Mans Silver Metallic, a colour repeated on lots of the trim and detail elements. The special paint was created in a successful collaboration between Porsche France, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and the experts at Porsche AG. On the occasion of the 100-year anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this paint was developed especially for the '911 Carrera GTS Le Mans Centenaire Edition' and is also being used in the 718 GT4 RS project.
There's also lots of exterior carbon fibre, dark grey TAG Heuer logos, and a 'Pegasus' badge, a throwback to 1950s racing Porsches, which carried the original Mobil Oil logo. Inside is Guards Red leather upholstery and tricoloured cross-stitching in the colours of the Mexican flag and the TAG Heuer logo. There's also a GT4 RS Panamericana Special badge milled into some of the interior metalwork.
Classic stopwatches
In the centre of the dash lies a special addition - a classic-style TAG Heuer brace of stopwatches, which the car's co-driver would have originally used for timing the car on the stages of the real Carrera. These days, it's more decorative, of course, but it still looks really cool, and TAG won't be making these for general sale; they're just for these two cars.
"We are delighted to be presenting one of our pair of Sonderwunsch one-off cars as a highlight of this year's Rennsport Reunion. Both cars incorporate design characteristics of the legendary Porsche 550 Coupé. At the same time, the project demonstrates once again what the Sonderwunsch programme of Porsche AG is capable of," explains Alexander Fabig, Vice President of Individualisation and Classic at Porsche AG.
"The Carrera Panamericana has a very special status, as for a long time it was seen as the toughest race in the world. I'm privileged to be following the path of Porsche's early motorsport successes and TAG Heuer's legendary Carrera, and to be at the starting line of the prestigious race this year," says Patrick Dempsey, actor, racing driver, and brand ambassador for TAG Heuer and Porsche Design.