La Carrera Panamericana—for which the Porsche Carrera and Panamera models are named—is a grueling, weeklong, 2,000-mile rally race consisting of numerous, daily speed stages which traverses Mexico from south to north. It attracts professional and amateur drivers and race teams from around the world, and today is the last top speed open road race of its kind. 

The race started in 1950 and was a veritable corpse-a-thon over the first five years of its existence: twenty-seven people—racers, navigators, and spectators—lost their lives during this time period. In 1955 the race was shutdown, no doubt in part due to the extreme danger of racing cars that had recently doubled their top speed but were built with safety features that had not kept pace. Now couple that with a driver mentality of winning at all costs.

In 1988, organizers from Mexico revived their historical race with new safer protocols and rules. The race has been run annually ever since. That said, La Carrera Panamericana is still one of the most dangerous rally races in the world, placing a premium on speed and endurance. As the “ultimate road race”, it has one of the bloodiest track records and highest mortality rates per race in the history of motor sports and averages a thirty-percent attrition rate yearly.