The fear of his life

Chris Amon, the unluckiest Grand Prix racing driver of the last century, had found some glory in sports cars, with victories at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT40 alongside his fellow New-Zealander Bruce McLaren and at the 1967 24 Hours of Daytona, partnered by Lorenzo Bandini in a Ferrari 330 P4.

That same year, he tried his luck at the 500 Miles of Indianapolis at the wheel of a REV500 Special entered by JC Agajanian. The car had suffered and accident in practice with veteran Masten Gregory, but he failed to qualify (picture below).

Three years later, the popular Kiwi tackled the Speedway again in a works McLaren M15 (picture above), but had a big scare and decided not to race, after witnessing his team mate’s Denny Hulme crash. Extreme sadness for the McLaren team a few days later, when Bruce McLaren died at the wheel of a Can-Am car at Goodwood. Half-a-century later, thankfully, the orange race cars have regained their superb!