1954
By 1954 the race had shifted from a largely amateurish basis to become a highly technical exercise. This is reflected by the winning of the final stage by eventual race winner Italian Umberto Maglioli, in a Ferrari at an amazing average speed of 222 kilometres per hour (138 mph) over the 365 kilometres (227 mi) stage. To put this into context, McGriff had won the 1950 race with a combined time over 27 hours - eight hours longer than even Kling and Klenk would take just two years later in their 300 SL. Phil Hill won second place in another Ferrari with Ray Crawford winning the stock car class in a Lincoln. Two new classes were in effect in 1954; the European stock car class was won by Sanesi, of Italy, in an Alfa Romeo and the small U.S. stock car class was won by Tommy Drisdale in a Dodge. Californian hot rodder Ak Miller became famous by winning fifth place in his Oldsmobile powered 1927 Ford.
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