On Sunday I had the opportunity to participate in a local event organized by the Mexican Jaguar Club held at historic Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez race track in Mexico City. We had a blast! The event was vintage oriented, too bad we have very few pre 60s hot rods (or they are well hidden) anyways, what was very special and of interest of the HAMB members was the fact that three LT Specials raced on the track. Why are these special? Well, the first of these cars was built with fiberglass in 1954 (Red LT in pics) by Juan Lerdo de Tejada (LT is the car emblem and stands for Lerdo de Tejada) and was intended to race in La Carrera Panamericana in 1955; this race was suspended that year and the car never got to race it. It is claimed to be the first fiberglass car built in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com</st1:country-region>Mexico. It was first built over a modified up 1941 Ford Chassis owned by racer Freddy Van Beuren and used modified 1947 Studebaker fenders, I have no idea what it had for powerplant. The first car has a birth tag of December 12<SUP>th</SUP> 1954 and after being raced multiple times it was abandoned. Years later Juan Lerdo de Tejada Jr. found his fathers car (where he worked as a kid) and restored to race it again. The car was crashed in 98, the story does not end there, it was again restored using a Chevy chassis and powertrain. It is now raced in vintage events. There were several LT Specials built over the years. In one of the pictures you can see Juan Lerdo de Tejada Jr. (senior man with red jacket) being interviewed. There is also a bonus pic of a Jag which was raced on Sunday.<O</O Hope you enjoy.<O</O
Built by Juan Lerdo de Tejada in Mexico City 1954, at least the first one anyway. Google them: "LT special race cars" for some history.
The Jalopy Journal
