down a fraction to 165 bhp for better durability. Along with Neubauer were his pre-war team-drivers Hermann Lang and Karl Kling. Another pre-war Mercedes hero, Rudolf Caracciola might have driven, but had been side-lined by a serious accident that was to end his illustrious career. Jaguar returned with a strong 3-car team. Having been beaten for speed by the new Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz in the Mille Miglia, the C-types were hurriedly redesigned with a more aerodynamic shell, which unfortunately meant a smaller radiator and a relocated header tank. They also presented a strong driver line-up with the previous year's winners Peter Walker with Stirling Moss, and Peter Whitehead with new driver Ian Stewart, as well as Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton who had previously driven for Healey. Aston Martin, after their great success in the 1951 race, arrived with three new DB-3 cars, as well as two privately entered DB-2s, all fitted with the reliable 2.6L S6 engine. Sydney Allard decided to change engines this year, swapping the Cadillac for a Chrysler V8 and the new J2X had new bodywork to comply with the new ACO regulations. This year Donald Healey entered a pair of Nash-engined prototypes, one with a new body for the British drivers, the other with a new engine for his French drivers. Talbot was the last of the old French manufacturers remaining in the large-engine classes with four privately entered T-26 cars (with strong support from the factory), now with the required new enclosed bodywork. André Chambas had modified his 4.5L engine by adding twin-superchargers which (by using the x1.4 supercharge-equivalence factor) meant his car (#6) had the biggest effective engine capacity and started at the head of the grid. Gordini, having gone their separate ways from Simca, were now powered with their own engines: a smaller team with the standard 1100cc car, and a special 2.3L version for its regular GP drivers, Jean Behra and Robert Manzon, which was very nimble. With the swarm of small-engined Panhards, Renaults and Simcas (as well as a supercharged Peugeot special), the French were the biggest nationality represented with 20 cars, followed by the 18 British cars. Ferrari was back again in force, with eight entrants including two in a works team, and a trio from Luigi Chinetti’s American team. Alongside the previous year's '340 America' 4.1L model was the new '250 Sport' with a 3.0L V12 engine capable