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John Fitch at Bonneville, 2005

We should all lead lives as full as John Fitch.

Fitch, 89 years young, is preparing for an attempt at the land speed record for the F/GT class (2.01L to 3.0L grand touring sport) at Bonneville this October. He first tried to set the record during Speed Week last August, an effort that, though unsuccessful, was captured in the acclaimed documentary, A Gullwing at Twilight: The Bonneville Ride of John Fitch.

Now, just over a year later, Fitch and the 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing owned by Detroit businessman Robert Surna will return to the salt in the hopes of besting the record of 168.721 mph set by Bob Norwood's Ferrari 308 back in 1985. In this weekend's New York Times profile on Fitch, he states that they'd like to set the mark at around 175 mph.

We wouldn't bet against him. It seems that in life, John Fitch only knows how to succeed.

(Continues after the jump. More pics follow as well.)

[Sources: New York Times, RaceSafety.com, Szwedo Productions, Southern California Timing Assoc.]

Continue reading At 89, John Fitch still has the itch

At 89, John Fitch still has the itch originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Aug 2006 18:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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