<VV> John Fitch Exhibit

[Robert Marlow, Vairtec Corp.]

The Northeast Corvair Council is pleased to announce:

A truly special exhibit
John Fitch: An American Racing Hero
Presented by Mercedes-Benz
at the Saratoga Automobile Museum
110 Avenue of the Pines
Saratoga Springs, NY

beginning July 29

Fighter pilot, race driver, racing team manager, Lime Rock Park 
circuit director, highway safety innovator, automaker, entrepreneur 
John Fitch has done it all, and more.

Born in Indianapolis in 1917, John attended his first Indy 500 as a 
passenger in a Stutz Bearcat. During World War II, he flew the P-51 
Mustang and was one of the first Americans to shoot down a 
Messerschmitt. Shot down himself two months before the war ended, 
John was a POW when hostilities ceased.

Back home he began his racing career in an MG TC. His GP of Argentina 
win in an Allard J2 catapulted him into the limelight. Joining Briggs 
Cunningham, he co-drove a Cunningham C4R to victory at Sebring with 
Phil Walters in 1953.

The legendary Alfred Neubauer chose John as the first American driver 
for the Mercedes-Benz racing team, an adventure capped by his 
remarkable fifth overall and class win in the 1955 Mille Miglia 
driving a production Mercedes-Benz 300SL and breaking the class 
record by over an hour.

Heading up the Corvette racing team at Sebring following his return 
to the U.S., he transformed a passenger car-based boulevard sports 
car into a world-class competitor. Using his extensive experience at 
European and America circuits, he helped engineer Lime Rock race track.

During the 1960s John created the Fitch Sprint, based on Chevrolet's 
Corvair coupe, and the Fitch Phoenix, a one-off sports coupe with a 
modified, four-carburetor, 170-bhp flat six Corvair engine.  As part 
of the exhibit two Fitch Sprint Corvairs will be on display by 
arrangement with the NECC.

  In his final racing years, John drove such diverse mounts as a 
Lotus 11, a 2.0-liter Maserati, a Cooper Monaco, and a Genie. He 
co-drove his last race with Briggs Cunningham in a Porsche 904 at 
Sebring in 1966.

Thereafter John began his crusade for automobile safety. His Fitch 
Inertial Barriers (the yellow, sand-filled plastic barrels used at 
intersections and bridge abutments) are credited with the saving of 
countless lives. His racing safety innovations include the 
Displaceable Guardrail, the Compression Barrier, and the Fitch Driver 
Capsule. His Fitch Fuel Catalyst enhances fuel volatility, improves 
mileage and reduces emissions. Like the steamboat pioneer from whom 
he is descended, John Fitch is a tireless and creative inventor.

Inducted into the National Corvette Hall of Fame in 2000, John has 
since competed at Bonneville in a specially-prepared 300SL Gullwing 
and hopes to set a record there this year. Eighty-nine years young, 
John Fitch is a hero, a legend, and a truly remarkable man.

Historical information courtesy of John Fitch, Carl Goodwin and Rich Taylor.


Robert W. Marlow
Vairtec at optonline.net