Walt Hansgen

One of the greatest American sports car drivers of the 1950s, Hansgen built a mighty reputation with his own Jaguar XK120, before racing a D-Type for Briggs Cunningham from 1956. In 1958 he visited Britain to take delivery of a Lister-Jaguar, which he raced briefly before returning home to campaign the car with great success.

In the early 1960s Walt undertook occasional single-seater drives, earning fifth place at Watkins Glen in 1964 in a Lotus with a steady drive, and finishing 12th at Indianapolis the same year.

But it was in sports cars that Hansgen really shone, taking victories in a wide variety of machines including a Cooper-Monaco, before racing John Mecom’s stable of cars which boasted a Ferrari 250LM, a Lotus 19, a Scarab Chevrolet and a Lola T70.

Hansgen began 1966 sharing the Ford MkII with his protégé Mark Donohue, taking third at Daytona and second at Sebring, but he was killed when he crashed the car in the Le Mans 24 Hours test weekend in April 1966.