John Fitch, the racer who cheated death at the 1955 24 Hours of LeMans, competed and lived through the most dangerous era of Grand Prix racing the world has ever known, was a P51 Mustang pilot with a confirmed kill, a WWII POW, and was a prolific inventor and race track builder/designer has died at age 95. He was on the level with Moss and Fangio, but father time was a man he couldn’t outrun. Cry not for John Fitch. He lived a live of adventure and accomplishment. From his racing career, which was world class made him a household name in America during the 1950s. Fitch was on a short list with guys like Shelby and Phil Hill who competed and actually won against competition in Europe. As a testament to his talent, Mercedes Benz hired him in 1955 to race with Fangio, Karl Kling, and Sterling Moss as a member of their sports car team. Many people consider this to be the greatest sports car factory team in the history of road racing. The year was also one of the darkest in Fitch’s life as he was the co-driver with Pierre Levegh at the 24 Hours of LeMans. This was the scene of the worst racing disaster in the history of the sport in any genre as Levegh crashed into Lance Macklin’s Austin Healey 100 and launched into the stands resulting in the deaths of more than 80 people. The event changed racing history forever.

Fitch was out of competitive road racing by the mid 1960s but the 1955 incident stuck with him forever and really inspired an interest in racing safety as well as safety on public roads and highways. That interest resulted in the invention of the Fitch Barrier system, Fitch Compression Barriers, and the Fitch Full Driver Capsule which was a sort of HANS device literally decades before the thought was approached again. Outside of safety stuff the guy held patents on several automotive suspension innovations and other inventions as well. Brilliant would be an understatement.

John Fitch was the first general manager of the Lime Rock Park road course in Connecticut which still stands as one of the great road courses in America. It was him that conceived and executed the famous Formula Libre race that we have written about here on BangShift. That was the race that saw Rodger Ward destroy a field of high end exotic sports cars with an Offy Midget. He also had a hand in the design of Mosport and St. Jovie in Canada as well as the famed Watkins Glen International Raceway right here in the USA.

John Fitch’s life is that of several men. Fighter pilot, POW, international racing hero, inventor, and race track designer. He was the last remaining significant American link to that romantic but deadly period of road racing in the 1950s and 1960s. Tonight we’ll raise a glass to a life well lived. John Fitch’s physical life may have been 95 years, but his name will ring immortal in the hallowed halls of American racing.

We’re thinking that Fangio and Fitch are breaking Ol’ Shell’s nuts right about now in the sky and tearing off around Monza in a pair of vintage Aston Martin race cars.

Rest in peace John Fitch…you earned it.