As soon as I saw that the 1951 Le Mans Special Crosley was up for auction at Bring a Trailer I meant to do a post - the Le Mans Special is probably the second most-important factory-built Crosley that still exists (Paul Gorrell's 1937 CRAD prototype is definitely number one.) But, I didn't get around to it before the car sold for an unbelievably paltry $53,000 (about half of what you'd pay for a nice split window VW bus, of which there were over 1.7 million produced.) Somebody got a deal. A steal, really.
Once the car sold I thought I'd do a follow up, with some of the history and other photos... and ... dang it, Ped Watt at The Driven beat me to it. Honestly, I'm glad he did, because the photos he took to go with his article are fantastic.
So, what can I add?
For me, the Le Mans Special was semi-mythic. Like most, I discovered the car through the 1958 Road and Track article that co-pilot Phil Stiles wrote about he and George Schraft's 1951 effort in "Le Biplace Torpedo." I read the article over and over - trying to memorize every detail of what was almost Crosley's greatest moment.
Living on the West Coast, I got used to regularly seeing famed racing Crosleys like the Eyerly Special and Marty Stein's 1952 Siata, and even got to know the legendary Nick "Braje" Brajevich, who built the speed equipment that powered all those cars. Crosley race cars aren't exactly a dime-a-dozen out here, but I've seen some of the best there are.
But not this one.
I couldn't believe it when I first found out that the Le Mans Special still existed and was raced regularly in events back east - it was like finding out that Marilyn Monroe was still alive and doing summer stock in Poughkeepsie. No offense to the guys east of the Rockies, but the West Coast Hmods set the standard - and the track records - for vintage racing. The Le Mans Special needed to be out here - I could feel it.
But, it never came this way and I never got to see it in person. Instead, I pored over the photos in old articles and the occasional new shots that appeared in race magazines and web sites. I was psyched that it was campaigned by John Aibel, who had founded the Crosley Auto Club back in 1969. I've never met Aibel, but with that pedigree I knew he appreciated the car, and knew exactly what he had.
When my Italian race-car fanatic buddy Davide found out about my obsession with Crosleys he thought they were, novel, if somewhat silly. Years later I detected a note of newfound respect when he discovered that Crosley had campaigned in Europe's highest profile event. The car inspired a blog post and we were both chuffed when the post got comments from Aibel and Phil Stiles' granddaughter.
After stewing on the car (and that damned Marchal generator) for decades, my one lament is that Crosley opted to go with a one-off design for the body. I understand the reasoning, and the body looks great, but had the Le Mans Special looked more like the stock Super Sports, I can't help but wonder if it could have helped with sales. Obviously, by 1951, it was going to take a miracle to turn Crosley's fortunes around, but having photos of something that looked like a Crosley tearing up the track at Europe's most famous race couldn't have hurt.
Don't think that I didn't - just for a moment - wonder if my bank account (and marriage) could survive a reasonable bid on Le Biplace Torpedo. And, as cheap as it went, the answer to both is a definite maybe.
But, in the end, I'm not really a race-car guy; I'd much rather drive an ancient shitbox on a thousand mile road trip than torture an expensive piece of machinery for half hour on the track... and I'd never sleep again if I spun a one-of-one car into a retaining wall because I misjudged a turn.
I'll be curious to see what the new owner does with this - and I hope he/she brings it out west at least once!
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