One of the main characters is Esko Keinänen, a man some said, who was born with a steering wheel in has hands. This is his story, it touches the Chrysler years just briefly but is essential in understanding who he was. A good background for the Valiant years.

"Call me Esko, just Esko".

Esko Keinänen was one of the greatest talents in Finnish motorsport history. The great hero of the Helsinki Zoo races (Eläintarhan Ajot) and the son of automotive world multitalent and inventor S.P.J. Keinänen took part in his first race in the spring of 1951, at just 15 years of age. The result was immediately a second place but the success lead to the fact that the young guns' age became painfully obvious and his license was revoked. Esko had to wait for three years against his will but when he returned to the tracks in the summer of 1954 it was the start of a career that took him to the top of international motorsports in places like Nurburgring, Jyväskylä and Monte Carlo.

The talented young man could not have chosen himself a better father than S.P.J. Keinänen. Known for his speedy tactics the car salesman-inventor father could even in the tightly regulated world of early 50:s Finland create possibilities for his son's beginning career. Esko's first car was - typical for the times - a Ford Special. For the public these Specials, very popular in the Nordic countries, became a household name especially via the Helsinki Zoo races. In the mid-50s their time was over in the bigger international races. However, they were run hard in local dirt track and ice races. Between 1954 and 1957 Esko made a name for himself specifically on the horse tracks and iced lakes. Wherever he ran there was a trophy or two to bring home.

Riding with the big boys

Esko started his international career in just about the most magnificent way in August of 1958. Carl-Otto Bremer had acquired a real big racer in the spring of 1957, a Ferrari 750M and managed to get him self a start in the World Championship race at Kristianstad, Sweden due to his good result in the qualifying race in Kiruna, Sweden. Carl-Otto had taken notes of Esko's fearless and wild driving at the Finnish ice tracks and asked him now share driving duties in the 1000km race in Kristianstad. In the midst of the Maserati and Ferrari factory team battle Esko and Carl-Otto finished sensationally 6th in the large sportscar class. Although sensational, the success was not a coincidence. Only a bit over 20 both of them were among the most talented Finnish drivers, two of the very few that got noted internationally.

In the summer of 1958 there was also the first professional Finnish racing team, the in Finland legendary proportions gained Scuderia Askolin. Askolin participated in their biggest international race, the 1000km Nurburgring World Championship race with two cars and four drivers. Lars Finnilä and Fred Geitel ran in the Touring Car class with a Ferrari 250GT, Curt Lincoln and Esko Keinänen would participate with the number one car, a Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa in the big Sports Car class. Something telling about the trust our junior aged hero got is that the Nurburgring race was just about the biggest race in Europe after the 24hr LeMans. There was 22 year old Esko running on Nordschleife with names like Moss, Hawthorn, Musso and Behra. If that didn't teach you about racing, nothing would. In the end Lincoln and Keinänen finished 9th in the big Sports Car class, Finnilä and Geitel third in the Touring Car class. The result was quite good considering the resources. Even if Scuderia Askolin was called the largest private team in the world by some Finns, the fact was that the resources were quite limited. At the fall of 1958 it became painfully obvious that brave effort to create blue and white Finnish professional racing team proved to be impossible. The last race for Scuderia Askolin was the Copenhagen Cup driven in Roskilde in August 1958. The Finns didn't see much success but at least Esko got a funny memory;

"As I was preparing for the race I asked the service guy - at least that's what I thought he was - who was standing close to me, to help me out. I made him run quite a bit and accused him for being too slow. When the price ceremony started I noticed the same guy walking towards the podium with trophies in hand. Turns out the "serviceman" was the protector of the event, Danish Prince Jaques Bourbon Parme...we have been good friends ever since".