Racing Cars as Production Models

“I will end by saying that this car should not be considered a racing car. It has been built on the same principle as all the others, since I do not propose ever to race with a machine that is not strictly the same as is offered to my customers. The engine has only one change, namely roller bearings on the connecting rods and crankshaft, and a special extra-light front axle, round and hollow. All other parts are similar to those of production cars.”

““There’s another thing that ought to be said, while we're at it. When a car manufacturer builds a racing car he always employs the best possible—the best workmen, the best en- gineers, all the best that his firm can provide. Nothing is too good, nothing is too dear. You’ve got to win, whatever the cost; you work day and night, if necessary. “The car built for a customer (the same one as before, of course) cannot be given such attention (which is the best) because it would cost him too much, nor the same steel, be- cause it’s too dear, nor this or that, to the point where nothing at all can be used. “This is a pity for the customer (still the same one). And this is where I would ask you to pay a short visit to my fac- tory, to see for yourself what you would not find in any other car factory in the world—that my racing cars are pro- duction models just like my sports cars, and that even my tourers have the same engines and mechanism as my racing cars, are built of the same materials and are assembled by the same workmen.”