In the late 1950s, two young lions roared out of Mexico and bounded onto the international racing stage. Handsome, brave and exceedingly talented, they exuded a Latin-hot passion for racing and flashed so brilliantly through the sport that their memory lingers to this day.
Pedro Rodriguez and his brother Ricardo, financed by their wealthy father, started their racing careers on motorcycles. Pedro, age 13, became champion of Mexico in 1953 and repeated that feat in 1954. Ricardo, two years Pedro’s junior, also claimed the Mexican Motorcycle championship by the time he turned 13.
Pedro Rodriguez was the first to transition to four wheels, racing and winning throughout Mexico in a Jaguar XK 120 and a Porsche 1660 owned by his father. Just as Pedro was getting his career in gear, though, a bout of malaria afflicted him, and his father sent him to Illinois to recover and rehabilitate.
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