The Look of a Winner

True Sports Car Devotees – who share with yachtsmen and skiers an exuberant enthusiasm for peripatetic participation in competitive events the world over – have discovered a new mecca: the 4.5-mile asphalt course laid out on Oakes Field in the Bahamas, home of the Governor's Cup and the Nassau Trophy. Within five short years, these races – originally for the exclusive pleasure of estate-owning local gentry – have taken on an international flavor and have become a magnet for the international sports car buffs, as well as dedicated racers, and something of a showplace and proving ground not only for cars but for that elegant and relaxed and yet functional attire which has come to be called sports car fashion. In fact, it's a safe bet that what was seen at Oakes Field last winter – in cars and in fashions – will be dominating the scene up North this summer. Some of the niftiest of the garb is shown here. And some of the atmosphere in which playboy took its exclusive pictures of the posh event deserves your attention before we discuss the sports car fashions themselves.

As you debark from plane or ship on the island of New Providence in the British West Indies, and enter the city of Nassau, your ear is caressed by the gentle calypso rhythms of the natives' English. Street names are a throwback to earlier days when the surrounding seas were inhabited by buccaneers: Old Bailey Mews, Goal Alley and Infant View Road. Everyone, from the dark-skinned smiling Nassauvians, a gentle people, to the proud English aristocracy and the eager American tourists, meanders along cobbled streets and in and out of narrow Nassau lanes. The pace of life is slow and tranquil, the worries no more than whether you and your date should sip a gin and tonic at the Junkanoo Club or a gimlet at the British Colonial Hotel, with its spacious gardens and tall palms, olympic-sized swimming pool and patio dining. There are no traffic lights, no neon signs.

A few miles from this gentle life is a contrast that is startling, at least during the first week in December, when Nassau Speed Week is revving into high gear. You leave the center of town and its luxury hotels and follow the signs that say "To Oakes Airport." Taut wire fencing marks the change and another sign that says simply "Pit Entrance" is the gateway to a different world.

A host of cruise ship visitors to the islands swarm out to the races and add a lot of antic color and behavior to the events. They are confined to the Spectator Stands, which at the present time are simple bleachers. Across the track is the very exclusive Promenade Club, with its palm-thatched roof and bright patio umbrellas. Protocol is strictly observed, with the box flanking the Start-Finish line occupied by Sir Raynor Arthur, Governor of the Bahamas (a job once held by the Duke of Windsor), and members of his official family. The rest of Bahamian society turns out in full force to take its place in the flag-be-decked boxes to the left and right of the governor. Directly below the Promenade Club are the pits, where each car has its roped-off space.

For tooling your own Jag or Mercedes over the highways this spring and summer, you can concentrate on the kind of clothes that fit your own personality. One man's studied casualness is another man's sloppiness. For the warm weather coming up, manufacturers have designed a whole range of jackets for sports car drivers. Strongly recommended is the jacket with roomy pockets, to hold your map or other paraphernalia, and a tight waistband or side vents to prevent the coat from crawling up in back. Seek simple lines to avoid that heavy, bulky look that makes so many so-called "car coats" cumbersome and uncomfortable.

Sports car drivers have come to expect from their clothes the same things they (concluded on page 89) Look of a Winner (continued from page 30) expect from their cars – top performance and good styling. As the weather goes from warm to hot, the combination of an easily washed synthetic-fiber shirt and a lightweight, comfortable, low-cut cardigan is a bright answer to how to take the chill out of the breeze you create as you speed along. Sports car clothing should be easy to wash. Rainproofing is preferred in outer jackets. The fabric should be lightweight, but tightly enough woven to be windproof for top-down driving and so that a light sweater underneath will keep you snug if it gets chilly. Cuffs should be narrowed at the wrist or tight fitting with double closures to avoid entangling alliances with knobs, buttons and stick shift.

Colorful and individualistic as much of the attire we saw at Speed Week was, we spied some extra-fine haberdashery (in addition to what's shown in the photos) that we can happily recommend:

In jackets, you'll want Lakeland's mirasheen "Clicker," a wash-and-wear job in iridescent cotton with knit trim, $18.95, Lord Jeff's Icelon model woven from a new polyester fiber, $10.95 and Aqua-scutum's fingertip-length "Harold" jacket, with a knit shawl collar, side vents and raglan sleeves, $29.95. In sweaters, be on the lookout for Jantzen's "Trophy" cardigan, $8.95, and Activair's worsted and mohair cardigan, $32.50.

It is a divided camp between those who wear no hats and those who feel it is essential to cover the head. There is no traditional headgear, but the most popular is the cap, because it fits snugly and is the least likely to be scooped off on a tight corner or by a gust of wind. The fabrics range from cottons and poplins to wools and cashmeres. Plaids, madrases, bold stripes and checks are acceptable but the odds-on favorite is the solid color, often chosen to match the color of the car. White is far in the lead for all your sports car toggery.

Equipped like the gents in these pictures – and with some time of your own and a bit of pelf to spare – Nassau Speed Week is a scene you'll want to make, whether you drive or just watch the cars go by during the day, and roar around the cocktail circuit come evening, hitting Black beard's, Dirty Dick's, Sweet Richard's, and other clubs and hotels. The whole thing is topped off by the International Motor Ball at the Fort Montagu Beach Hotel – and it is a ball.

As Lance Reventlow, who copped both the 112.5-mile Governor's Cup event and the 252-mile Nassau Trophy race in his metallic-blue Scarabs, turned around the track for the last time, the blackboard sign from his pit said succinctly, "Crazy, Man!" That's Speed Week.

Left, next to one of Lance Reventlow's zippy, blue Scarabs, our man in Nassau enjoys a tête-à-tête in a Zero King Cross Country surcoat with zipper front, raglan sleeves and a red foulard lining, $19.95.

Above, the owner of the Jag wears a Ban-Lon pullover shirt by Alfred of New York, $13.95; his buddy chooses a bold-patterned patchwork madras pullover by Gant of New Haven, $10.

Above, at the British Colonial Hotel, the sweater-clad lad likes his Swiss Blouse pullover in a cable design, $15.95. Fellow atop the bonnet prefers simplicity in his parbuster of iridescent gold tarpon cloth, $14.95. Both by Golden Fleece.

Above, strolling the pits between events are three enthusiasts intent on getting a closer look at the sports car scence, 1903 to 1959. Simple white pleases the independent gentleman on the left: the rainproof driver's blouson features two breast pockets, by McGregor, $10.95. The other guy sports a waterproof Visa Versa windbreaker, iridescent on one side, foulard on the other, by McGregor, $17.95. His olive green pullover shirt is of hopsacking, by Gant of New Haven, $6.50.

Above, as continental as the Mercedes-Benz pace car, the Fabrini car coat is of rainproof iridescent poplin, with side vents, wing collar, hacking pockets and tattersall lining, $29.95.

Below, the guy's olive suede driver's jacket boasts side straps and a tab-fastened collar, by Breier of Amsterdam, $37.50.

Above, leaning against the rail of the Promenade Club, this sports car buff is completely comfortable in Lord Jeff's low-button lisle string-knit cardigan, $8.95, which was designed to be worn over a polo shirt like the Ban-Lon by Alfred of New York, $12.95.