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With these humble words and a few old photos began my interest and journey
into the exciting world of sports car racing history of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. My father, Gordon Dahl
Wing raced small displacement sports cars during this golden period in local, regional and national Sports Car Club of America
(SCCA) events.
What is it about things being small and going unnoticed? When
I received this photograph in 1994, the year Gordon passed, I was interested as most any son would be. But, more interesting
than the family connections to this car... are the unique, innovative and historical part these sports cars and
the nearly forgotten drivers played in this period.
You are looking at one of only 3 cars ever made
by the manufacturer… The 1955 Deutsch-Bonnet (Le Mans) HBR DB-Panhard roadster in the photo above is one
of the three ex-factory DB’s (French Say: Day-Bay) which raced at the 23 ‘ems Grand Prix d’ Endurance les
24 Heures du Mans, France - World Sportscar Championship Round 4 at the Circuit de la Sarthe which is better known as, The
24 Hours of Le Mans. Following their success at LeMans, was the 1955 Tourist Trouphy at Dunrod, UK and
then off to the States for a new series in 1956 the 12 Hours of Sebring, FL.
As was the practice of foreign car racing marquees of the day, these three team
cars were sold to US owners to raise money for next year’s team cars. It is in this way that my father, Gordon
eventually came upon one of them (now an ex-factory 1955 team car) on the parking lot of a foreign car dealer in Fairborn or Yellow Springs, near Dayton, Ohio.
Following the trail of these long lost and forgotten sports cars has been a passion
of mine for some 10-plus years now. When I first received the photo and began my research, the Internet was young and
"good luck" finding a shelved book at your local library on small displacement French racing cars of the 1950’s!
In fact, at one point I truly believed that I might possibly own the only remaining photograph of these 3 cars.
Since that time and with many hours of searching and emailing, I have put together
the short history contained upon this website. Without these efforts, support, help, stories, and great memory of Gordon’s
brother Wil, this historical documentation would not have been possible. Wil bought Gordon’s 1955 DB-Panhard ex-factory
team car late in 1957. He first re-built and modified it to fit his tall stature and then campaigned it during
the 1959 and 1960 seasons at places like: Marlboro, MD; Lime Rock, CT; Thompson, CT; Bridgehampton, NY; Montgomery,
NY; Vineland, NJ and Road America, WI.
Wil painted the D-B “Chevy Cashmere Blue” (See Photo Below) and later sold the car to Bill Kyle of South Plainfield, NJ. Bill Kyle drag raced this car (which
the car was totally unsuited for) and died sometime shortly thereafter. This car’s history ended there
as far as I knew, however in December of 2008 I located and spoke with the current owner of the racecar, Bernard
Dervieux who lives in Palm Desert, CA. Not lost at all but winning car show trophies and still racing!
Bernard told me that the other 2 team DB-Panhards from the 1955 Le Mans have returned to France.
Having found your way to this website, I can only assume that you ARE “interested”,
an enthusiast or that you just don’t have anything better to do with your time… In the very hopeful case
that you are interested, have a question, or have additional information about any of these 3 ex-factory team cars, you
may contact me at:
gnwing@msn.com
| Wil Wing spins front wheels at Vineland, NJ - 1960 |
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