On the 7th of October 1956 in Monthléry France, the "Coupe de Salon" automobile race was being held.  Approximately thirty cars were on the starting line at 16:30 h. On the first row of the grid were the cars of: Benoît Musy (Maserati), Da Silva Ramos (Gordini), Louis Rossier (Ferrari) and Hamilton (Jaguar).

Ramos first led the race, but soon Musy's Maserati (blue with white longitudinal stripe) soon gained ground.  Benoît Musy was running very fast and, with each lap, his car emerged higher on the bank of the speed curvature. The car was a mere two meters (6.5 feet) from the top edge of the track. After the sixth lap he had caught up with the Ramos. Suddenly, he was seen alone high on the steep embankment turn and the car abruptly hooked to the left before continuing on a straight line. The car literally became airborne at a speed greater than 240 km/h (149 m/h) crashing 100 meters (110 yards) further and plunging 18 meters (59 ft) below on the back side of the bank. On its way down, the car nicked the wall of a small building and then was thrown on a parked transport truck. The car bounced a second time, and its driver was at moment ejected from his seat and was crushed on the ground.

Emergency service quickly came to help, but Benoît Musy had ceased to live. His wife, Consuelo Musy Heusch was following the race, and she was a witness to the accident the instant the crowd screamed in horror!

A few days later an inquest on the cause of accident determined that the steering mechanism of the car had broken during the speed bank turn.  At that moment, the driver was clinging to the steering wheel, whereby he could not control the car to prevent the accident.

The race car driver Paul Frère once said of his dynamic adversary Musy:

 "This astonishing little guy has conquered the sympathy of the public through his kindness, his honor and his fighting spirit."

The great Argentinean world racing champion, Juan-Manuel Fangio, sent a wreath of flowers to honor his friend Benoît at his funeral.