24 hrs of Le Mans

[flyboyx]

i think that just might be the ugliest car i have ever seen.

on a positive side, it looks like the panels come off easily with either screws or dzus fasteners.

[LateFan]

^^^ oh dear gawd....

Quick! Some eye rinse! Stat!



1960 winner F 250TR driven by Gendebien and Frere (who wrote for Road & Track later, no?)

[ELVA164]

Yep! Its design is, uh, inspired:

[LateFan]

the previous year, Briggs Cunningham brought a Corvette and a special-bodied car named "Le Monstre."

Was that the crazy slab-sided thing with a Cadillac V8?

[ELVA164]

Since you brought up Corvettes, I think we should look at some Cunninghams!

The first outing for purpose-built Cunninghams; the previous year, Briggs Cunningham brought a Corvette and a special-bodied car named "Le Monstre." These are C2-Rs.

The C4-R was the second track-oriented Cunningham; its chassis was...not that great, but one managed a fifth overall finish at Le Mans:


The C5-R was mostly an update of the C4-R; its revised nose earned it the nickname "the Shark" and you can see its bodywork wasn't properly designed to vent engine bay pressure...



The last Cunningham was the C6-R, powered by an Offenhauser engine. The car lost second and third gear early in the 1955 race, and the engine hadn't been properly modified to run on the mandatory French pump gas (it usually ran on methanol), so an exhaust valve burned and the car retired.

[LateFan]

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Doreen Evans - All woman team from the UK in 1935...who knew?
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A Porsche 356 in 1951. Look at that little sedan behind it!
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Corvettes!
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[ELVA164]

So that's what the girl in the two-seater Indy car with Mario Andretti is doing!

Hah, that's probably all she'd be doing these days...

[LateFan]

If it helps, riding mechanics in those days had to manually prime the fuel system with a lever near the tank. Very safe.

So that's what the girl in the two-seater Indy car with Mario Andretti is doing!

[ELVA164]

Dig those pit facilities! Where's those overhead fuel hoses? Where's the jack man with the helmet cam? Where's fox sports ONE?!

If it helps, riding mechanics in those days had to manually prime the fuel system with a lever near the tank. Very safe.

[ELVA164]

Is he still alive...because several of us would like to come visit and kiss his ring! Did he live over there?

Yes, we're in a photo together on the shop website in my sig! :D

[LateFan]

The very first winner, a "blower" Bentley, in 1923. Not as old as Indianapolis, but that's back there! My memory is that the founders organized this endurance event to showcase engineering improvements in reliability, speed, stability, and lighting. The great Cibie and Marchal lights were developed in France and are part of Le Mans history.

Dig those pit facilities! Where's those overhead fuel hoses? Where's the jack man with the helmet cam? Where's fox sports ONE?!

[LateFan]

Whew, you've been busy! Great photos.

I had to study up! Fun to re-learn and learn new things about it.


There's the White Elephant beached where I believe it remained.

I wondered if that was it!


Dad used to load cars onto this very rig! Iori and Luigi trusted him the most and didn't want to do it themselves, so there he was.

Is he still alive...because several of us would like to come visit and kiss his ring! Did he live over there?

[LateFan]

1969

This is the year Porsche decides they're going to win the overall. They've brought a truckload of 908s, open and closed. They're brought the new powerful 917, but with teething problems and high speed stability concerns.

The GT40 would soon be swallowed up by newer, more efficient cars, but it still did well on a fast, long-distance course like Le Mans with its high top end.

Five Mk I's were entered, two by John Wyer in Gulf blue. Jackie Ickxx staged his walking protest at the start and was nearly hit. He buckled in carefully and drove off in last place.

After 24 hours, there was a neck and neck race between Ickxx's GT40 and the great Hans Hermann in a closed 908 Porsche, and they traded the lead several times. Hermann chose to stay out and fight the Ford and not change brakes when he was due, so he had to be more gentle on them as the laps wore down. The Ford could pull him on the straights, while he did well in the twisties, but his brakes were going.

At the end, the Jacky Ickxx / Jackie Oliver GT40 won by about 400 feet. The winning car's chassis # was 1075, the same car from 1968.

By 1970, the GT40 was obsolete, and Hans Hermann would be back to win in the new 917K

[ELVA164]

Whew, you've been busy! Great photos.


There's the White Elephant beached where I believe it remained.


Dad used to load cars onto this very rig! Iori and Luigi trusted him the most and didn't want to do it themselves, so there he was.

[LateFan]

1968

Rules change to reduce speeds. No more 7-liter Fords. New rule is 3 liters, but they didn't give manufacturers enough time to comply, so they decided you can use your old 5 liter if you've built 50 of them. Bingo, 289 GT40s! But they're getting old.

Ford has withdrawn factory support. Shelby and Holman-Moody don't enter teams. Only 5 cars are entered. One of them is lucky #8 which crashes on the first lap.

John Wyer with Gulf Oil sponsorship enters three of the cars. The only one that finishes, with Pedro Rodriguez and Lucien Bianchi, wins the race by 5 laps over the closest Porsche. The car is chassis #1075.