Fangio with a broken tie-rod

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

Simon remarked that "Fangio once drove a car in the Mille Miglia with one 
front wheel doing a dance that resembled the Charleston. I believe he made it 
to the finish, but lost a few places. The fact that he continued at all on 
such dangerous roads under such conditions further testifies to the heroism 
he had at his command. Both are immortal icons to the ability of man and 
machine to perform miracles, and oh yes, to Alfa Romeo."

Right on all counts except one; he didn't lose a few places, just one, to a 
Ferrari. It was 1953, in a 6C 3000 CM, arguably the last great classic 
sports-racer Alfa built even if its brief competition record fell short of 
its promise. 3.5 liters, 248 hp, backbone spaceframe, DeDion rear end with 
inboard brakes, four-leading-shoe fronts (the last gasp of the drum brake), 
in a perfectly balanced car with the same wheelbase and track as a Duetto, 
but appreciably lighter, shorter and narrower. One of the six built later 
served as the base for a series of show-car bodies by Pininfarina, the last 
of which was in fact the styling base for the Duetto; it now resides in the 
Rosso-Bianco museum, a good reason for the duettisti to visit Ashaffenburg.

John H.
Raleigh, N.C.  

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