1950 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Holiday Hardtop

Oldsmobile Rocket 88

When an original car from an event in history has been lost to the scrap heap, one way to recall its legend is to carefully recreate a replacement. That is the case with this car, which is an exact duplicate of the winner of the grueling 1950 Carrera Pan-American Mexican Road Race. The original, driven by 22-year-old Hershel McGriff of Portland, Oregon, was scrapped in 1958.

The race was a driving marathon through Mexico, North to South, from the Texas border to Guatemala. The event was sponsored by the Mexican government in celebration of the completion of the Pan-American Highway.

1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88 - Winner of the 1950 Mexican Road Race

This vehicle is an exact duplicate of the winning car driven in the Mexican Road Race in 1950 by 22-year-old Hershel McGriff of Portland, Oregon.

The Carrera-Pan American-Mexico road race was a driving marathon through Mexico from the Texas border to Guatemala. The event was sponsored by the Mexican government in celebration of the completion of the PanAmerican Highway.

All entries in the 2,178-mile race were required to be unmodified 5-passenger sedans. Of 132 entries, only 52 cars completed the race. McGriff's speed over the often treacherous terrain average 78.421 miles an hour. The generous purse he and assistant driver Ray Elliott took home to Portland ('the City of Roses') totaled more than $17,000.

This car was restored over a three-year period by the owner, Roy Asbahr of Gresham, Oregon, using historical information provided by Hershel McGriff.