1956 Sebring 12 Hours: Musso Impresses on American Soil

October 13, 2014 by Jeremy McMullen

Having more than proven himself within the 2.0-liter category with the factory Maserati team, Luigi Musso makes the short trip west from Modena to Maranello to drive for Ferrari. This would be a big step up in performance, for car and driver. Here Musso's real talent would need to be realized. Otherwise, the Italian would find himself an estranged patriot without a home. But, on American soil, the young Italian would find his place.

The Roman Musso had had an impressive run with Maserati. After being challenged for a spot within the factory team, he would respond powerfully. A first in class in the 1954 Giro di Sicilia would be followed by a 3rd in the Mille Miglia. This, and other, success would lead to Musso taking the Italian Sportscar Championship, a notable achievement for a man fighting just to get a place within the factor team.

But now, Musso would be fighting for a place within Scuderia Ferrari, a setting notorious for turning drivers against each other and not having any concern whatsoever about the feelings of any driver.

Musso's first test with the team would come in the 1956 Argentine Grand Prix. This would be a baptismal of fire in more ways than one. First of all, it was the Argentine Grand Prix and Juan Manuel Fangio was just one of the team's drivers for 1956. Then there was the usual South American heat that destroyed chances even without a driver pushing really very hard.

Luigi needed to demonstrate that he belonged and he would do just that taking the lead at the start of the race but would soon slip back a couple of places. Still, the Italian was running strongly while the great Fangio was struggling to make any kind of impression. Unfortunately for Musso, Fangio would retire from the race with mechanical troubles. This was the Argentine Grand Prix and even Scuderia Ferrari wasn't about to allow the great World Champion to sit out the remainder of a race he very well could win. But that meant somebody needed to give up their drive. Being the junior man on the team, Musso would be the one left out in the cold.

Fangio would take over Musso's car and, with a new lease on life, would set about lapping the circuit faster and faster until he was right up behind Stirling Moss battling for the lead. Moss would fade and Fangio would come home the victor. Luigi Musso would win his first Formula One World Championship race, his very first with Scuderia Ferrari, but he would not win it on his own merit. His place within the team was no more secure than a rusty screw.

A failure to finish in the 1000 Kilometer Buenos Aires sportscar race would not help his cause at all. Young Musso needed a result he could call his own, something that he could hang his hat on and declare he belonged. Thankfully, that opportunity would come at the end of March.

---

Trending News

• Enhanced Audi A3 Sportback and Saloon: UK pricing and specification
• Nissan shows in-construction all-solid-state battery pilot line in Japan
• London Concours 2024 to pay homage to a generation defining classic, the Jaguar E-type
• LEVC gives first glimpse inside its new L380 luxury MPV
• Polestar reduces relative greenhouse gas emissions by 9% per sold car and discloses 2040 climate roadmap

---

Heading to Florida at the end of March, Luigi Musso would be a major element in Scuderia Ferrari's assault on the Sebring 12 hour race. The team would enter three cars in the race. Two of the entries would be 860 Monzas. The third car would be a 857 S. The driving pairing would include Fangio and Eugenio Castellotti driving the number 17 860 Monza. American Jim Kimberly and Spaniard Alfonso de Portago would be behind the wheel of the 857 S. Therefore, the number 18 860 Monza would be reserved for American Harry Schell and Luigi Musso.

This was not Musso's first time at Sebring, but he would certainly hope it would go far better than what any other experience had. In 1954, he drove a Maserati A6GCS and would end up failing to finish as a result of failed brakes. One year later, he would be listed to drive a Maserati 300S with Sergio Mantovani. However, the car would not arrive and Musso would be left out of it.

Now, with Scuderia Ferrari and Harry Schell, he would have his best opportunity for success. The 12 Hours of Sebring was to become an exciting event in 1956. The motor racing community was still trying to recover from the terrible accident at Le Mans more than half a year earlier. Sportscar racing desperately needed a fantastic venue with intriguing story lines and Sebring, in 1956, provided just such a story.

Reaction to the accident at Le Mans would be swift and dramatic. A number of races would be cancelled, including rounds of the Formula One World Championship. Motor racing in Europe sorely needed a holiday just to let the emotion of the terrible moment to stabilize. More than anything, motor racing needed to give people a reason to want to come back to the track. The United States offered an interesting prospect. Across the Atlantic, America offered a break from the bleak outlook of things in Europe.

But things looked as bleak in the United States. The outcry from Le Mans had reached the shores of America and it would lead to the AAA withdrawing its sanctioning partnership with such events as the Indianapolis 500 and the 12 Hours of Sebring. So while the United States offered a physical withdrawal from the storm in Europe.

There was a glimmer of hope. Jim Kimberly had become the newly elected president of the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). While initially unwilling to have the SCCA become involved in professional events, he would be willing to make some allowances, but none of these would be enough to have the race sanctioned. Nonetheless, Alec Ulmann would press on forging his own sanctioning body to get things rolling.

But there would be an advantage to Sebring. Though the news from Le Mans was terrible, the sad fact of the matter was that the event happened more than 3,000 miles away on the European continent. By the beginning of 1956, American attitudes began to return to normal and there was a renewed sense in motor racing building. This would be helped along by General Motors and Ford who would be developing their own cars to take part in the event. Chevrolet would have their improving Corvette and Ford would have their Thunderbird.

The participation of the American car companies in the race would bring out the European ones as well. Besides Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Maserati and even Porsche would all be among the factory efforts willing to enter cars in the race. The presence of Scuderia Ferrari was truly significant.

Scuderia Ferrari had never participated in the race at Sebring and, following the withdrawal of Mercedes-Benz from motor racing, would be a clear favorite having Fangio, Castellotti and American Schell driving for the team. Ferrari would further help its cause entering a car for Kimberly and de Portago. Two talented Americans in the lineup for Ferrari meant there was literally nothing that could stop the Sebring 12 Hour race from going ahead. Just when it seemed as though the race would not come off, there would be an incredible lineup of cars and drivers just waiting and looking for a chance to throw-off the dark clouds that continued to hang over motor racing.

The presence of the Corvettes in their first international sportscar race would help to fuel ticket sales for the race. Although they would have trouble just getting the car sorted enough to provide hope of finishing, people would come from everywhere to purchase tickets in the hopes an American-born car could beat the might of Europe.

So many factory and privateers entered, there would be a carnival-like atmosphere leading up the start of the race. Spectators would arrive at the circuit early to find campfires still going and a number of others all vying for the ideal locations along the circuit.

The circuit itself afforded plenty of room. Alec Ulmann was an engineer and was intent on finding a place in which he could restore military aircraft. But Ulmann wasn't just interested in restoring aircraft. Coming to Hendricks Army Airfield near Sebring, Florida, he would find a place he believed ideally-suited to hosting a sportscar endurance race. Many airfield circuits were popping up all over England and Europe, so Sebring seemed right from the same mold. Utilizing a few of the runways, taxiways and roads around the old base a course would be marked out and would host its first auto racing in 1950. The first 12 Hours of Sebring would come along two years later. In 1956, the 12 hour race was just five years old, but it was about to get a huge boost in notoriety and popularity.

Garaged about 7 miles away in downtown Sebring, the Ferrari squad would make its way to the circuit. This was not an easy affair with the crowds already beginning to swell and the roads heading in becoming increasingly blocked. They, and many other teams, would arrive and would set to work performing final checks and preparations.

The cars would be arranged according to engine size instead of by times set in practice. This meant the 5.2-liter Corvettes would be in the first few positions. The drivers would soon start to trickle in and some of the more famous would be eagerly sought after for last words and photographs before the start of the race. Of course, amongst the Ferrari contingent there wouldn't be anyone more popular than Fangio. However, Fangio almost didn't make it to the race at all after experiencing some trouble with the new Argentinean government.

Joining the pressure-packed Ferrari team appeared to do little to dampen Musso's mood. He would be light-hearted and would have fun with the experience, even going so far as to buy a cowboy hat and wearing it to the circuit the day of the race.

Then, after a driver's meeting, the starting drivers would slowly begin to take their places opposite their cars for the Le Mans-style start. The playfulness would continue as Schell and Musso would soon get in the way (purposefully) of the marching band making its way down the track. In position, some drivers looked ready, others did not. Moss would actually appear ready for a track sprint race, not a mere sprint to a car. Then, at precisely 10 in the morning, the flag would drop. The race would be underway, beginning with a foot race.

Musso would start the race in the number 18 Ferrari, but he would not be the first car on the move. That honor would actually go to Stirling Moss, but he was so far down in the lineup that he would not come out first heading into the first corner. The man in the lead would be Hawthorn in the D-Type Jaguar.

Among the Ferraris, Fangio would appear as though he was going out on a long drive across the country. He would not be fighting for the lead at the end of the first lap. In fact, he would appear totally unimpressed by the whole thing. Moss, meanwhile, would be the other way. Getting away from the lineup first had meant he had a little less work to do to get to the front, but it still would require him pushing flat-out to get up there in any amount of time. The Aston driver would do just that, and, at the end of just the first lap it would be Hawthorn in the lead with Moss sitting in 2nd place.

Musso's start to the race would be right in line with Fangio's. He would get away behind the Argentinean and would be right there in the same spot after the first hour. It appeared as though the Italian was intent on staying with the Argentinean champion to learn everything he possible could.

Around the bumpy circuit, the cars would be tortured each and every lap. The result would be the attrition would come soon and often. The first to fall short would actually be the Corvette driven by Dale Duncan and William Eager. They would be quickly followed by a number of other cars, including the Maserati 300S of Cesare Perdisa and Carlos Menditeguy and the Ferrari 375 of Troy Ruttman and Howard Hively. Stirling Moss would battle with Mike Hawthorn throughout the very early going of the race but soon the Aston would give up the fight with gearbox failure and Hawthorn would be left to lead the race followed by the fleet of Ferraris.

Following the departure of Moss' Aston, the real battle would be joined between the Jaguars and Ferraris. The lead would change hands nearly a dozen times throughout and Musso would be right in the mix during the early going.

After a couple of hours, the battle for the lead would be between Fangio and Hawthorn. Musso, however, would be looking very strong in just his second drive for the Scuderia. He would be in 2nd place and looking quite comfortable keeping pace in front of Jean Behra, Duncan Hamilton and others.

The carnage would continue to pile up. Carlos Menditeguy would be serious injured after a flip over some hail bails. Then there would be the Jaguar of Hamilton and Bueb. They would suffer a brake cylinder coming apart and their day would be done. The Jags would continue to suffer from brake problems.

It was now just an hour after the midway point of the race and still the battle raged between the Jaguar of Hawthorn/Titterington and the two Ferraris of Fangio/Castellotti and Musso/Schell. The lead would change hands with nearly every pitstop as neither would be really able to gain an advantage on the other. In many respects it would be a redo of the 24 Hours of Le Mans the year before. In that race, neither Hawthorn nor Fangio could pull out an advantage over the other. Of course, this helped to lead to the terrible accident that killed so many. But, as they battled into the setting Florida sun, it had the look and feel of being a sort of balm, a performance aimed at showing people what Le Mans '55 really should have been.

Still the battle raged. The daylight was now gone and darkness began to settle-in all over the circuit. Fangio held the advantage, but still, Hawthorn was within reach. Then there was Musso and Schell. This combination of American-Italian was proving competitive in its own right. While most of the attention would be upon Fangio and Hawthorn, the simple fact of the matter was that the number 18 Ferrari was also showing good pace. Heading into the final couple of hours it was firmly in 2nd place, and yet, garnered very little attention. Musso and Schell were in 2nd place without all of the drama.

Hawthorn and Titterington had performed well. They had fought for the lead, or sat in 2nd place, for the majority of the race. But, with less than two hours remaining in the race, the brakes on that D-Type had also given up the fight. They had locked up. Hawthorn managed to crawl back to the pits to have the crew work on them, but it was too late. There was no chance.

Musso and Schell were now, well and firmly, in 2nd place. They had nothing for Fangio and Castellotti, but they had consolidated a fine result as long as they made it to the end.

Making it to the end was what was on Castellotti's mind as he appeared in the pits for the final stop. It was custom that the team leader start and finish the race. But Castellotti wanted to be the one, an Italian driving and Italian car, over the line at Sebring. After some animated conversation with Fangio, which would even include a dance to indicate his vibrancy, Castellotti would jump back into the car and roar off into the night.

Musso and Schell could not match the performance of their teammates over the course of the 12 hour race, but they would still impress nonetheless. It was just the second race for Musso with Ferrari and he had raced like a mature veteran. Clearly there was talent. The speed would come when he really felt comfortable with his new team.

Speed was something Castellotti lacked in the final moments of the race. Fully aware of the fact some terrible things could come out and bite him in the darkness he would lap the circuit almost painfully slow to ensure he didn't do anything stupid. Having two laps in hand over Musso and Schell, there was little chance of coming under threat in the final moments.

Then, at 10pm in the evening, Eugenio would round the final corner and would cross the line to take the victory. Despite creeping around in the final 45 minutes of the event it was a record distance. Completing 194 laps and 1,008 miles, it would be the first time the 1,000 mile mark would ever be eclipsed in a race. But there was even more good news for Ferrari. Anchored by the flying American Schell, Musso would help to put together an impressive performance in his own right. They would keep things together throughout the 12 hour race and would end up coming across the line in 2nd place giving Ferrari a one-two finish. It would be the first time in the history of the Sebring 12 Hour race that a manufacturer finished one-two.

But, the finish did more than just give Musso $1,500 to split with Schell. Following the retirement in the Buenos Aires 1000 Kilometer race, Musso needed a fine result to help him build confidence at Ferrari. The atmosphere at the Scuderia was harsh with Enzo often playing drivers against each other. In Sebring, he had pushed and worked hard and had come away with a very quiet 2nd place. He had earned a 2nd place while being quiet and overshadowed in a 12 hour race. Certainly he had to take some solace and confidence from the fact that when he truly felt comfortable within the team he could really push, not just go quietly into the night. Then, what might be possible?

Musso would help Ferrari to make the 1956 Sebring 12 Hours a memorable event. It was what Le Mans should have been the year before. In just his second race with the famed team he had finished 2nd to the great Fangio. Ferrari and the Italian public had two Italians with a bright future in Castellotti and Musso. Just one year later, they would be left with just Musso, and still, the future seemed bright. In the darkness of Sebring, Musso's career was really just beginning to dawn. He had found a home…or so he thought.

Sources:
'Complete Archive of Luigi Musso', (http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/archive/Luigi-Musso-I.html?page=2). Racing Sports Cars. http://www.racingsportscars.com/driver/archive/Luigi-Musso-I.html?page=2. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

'Sebring 12 Hours 1956', (http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Sebring-1956-03-24.html?sort=Results). Racing Sports Cars. http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Sebring-1956-03-24.html?sort=Results. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

'Drivers: Luigi Musso', (http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-muslui.html). GrandPrix.com. http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/drv-muslui.html. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

Galanos, Louis. '1956 Sebring 12 Hours Grand Prix-Race Profile', (http://www.sportscardigest.com/1956-sebring-12-hours-grand-prix-race-profile/). Sports Car Digest: The Sports, Racing and Vintage Car Journal. http://www.sportscardigest.com/1956-sebring-12-hours-grand-prix-race-profile/. Retrieved 17 July 2014.

Wikipedia contributors, 'Sebring International Raceway', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 May 2014, 16:01 UTC, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sebring_International_Raceway&oldid=606784123 accessed 17 July 2014