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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Celebration Of Le Mans Legacy
With historic race cars ranging from the 1920s through the 1980s, the Le Mans Classic brings it all together on the famed French endurance circuit.
Ford GT40s run ahead of the pack during the racing grid of 1960s Le Mans competitors. (Photo: Ultimate Car Page)
The Le Mans Classic is the only event held on the full Circuit de la Sarthe apart from the actual running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Le Mans Classic was held for the sixth time this year. As in the past editions, the 2012 Le Mans Classic featured six grids, or plateaux, with cars ranging from the 1920s up to the early 1980s, each group competing in three 43-minute races over a 24-hour period.
What did change was the weather. For the first time, rain was a major factor in the event with heavy, and at times local, showers spread over all three days. These were often followed by clear spells, or as the French would say: apres la pluie, le beaux temps. This meant that track conditions were rarely the same around the lap, making it particularly tricky for the drivers but entertaining for the crowd.
In addition to the action on the track, the event also attracts a large number of clubs that bring along thousands of interesting machines. A special treat this year was a visit from the normally very private Ferrari 250 GTO tour; nearly two dozen examples lined up in the paddock and later took to the track for some demo laps.
Braving the weather and coping with not one but two reluctant cameras, we spent most of the weekend trackside, resulting in this action-packed 300-shot gallery.
Artcurial Motorcars Le Mans Classic Sale
Like most major historic events, the Le Mans Classic featured its own auction. Organized by Artcurial Motorcars, the sale boasted a colorful mix of road and racing cars, and also the complete collection of French specialist manufacturer/coach-builder Heuliez. The lineup of unique and often unusual machines sold for close to three-quarters of a million euro ($920 million), with the striking Citroen SM Espace topping the Heuliez cars at EUR 109,600 ($135,000).
Going for nearly twice the entire Heuliez collection was a rare competition-bread Ferrari 275 GTC, which found a new owner for just over EUR 1.5 million ($1.84 million). Winner of the 1966 Nurburgring 1000 km race, this is the only 275 to officially receive the GTC type name.
Further stars of the sale included a Peugeot 905, sold for EUR 654,700 ($805,000) and a race-bred ASA RB Type 613, which changed hands for EUR 297,800 ($366,000). Fairing not so well were two fabulous Ligiers offered by Guy Ligier directly, which both went unsold.
At the end of the eight-hour sale, about 80 percent of the lots in the packed catalog sold for a total of nearly EUR 9 million ($11 million). This is an improvement of close to EUR 2 million ($2.46 million) compared with the inaugural Artcurial Motorcars Le Mans Classic Sale in 2010.
Plateau 1: 1923 – 1939
Plateau 1 featured the earliest cars of the event, spawning the complete pre-War period. As always, a complete armada of Talbot 105 team cars were found at the head of the field with some drivers competing in more than one example.
After two of the three rounds, the No. 6 Talbot with Gareth Burnett, Richard Evans, Alex Ames and Julian Bronson sharing driving duties, looked set for victory. Unfortunately, they lost a lap in the final round, handing the victory to Christian Traber and Bruce Trenery in the far more modern Talbot Lago Monoplace Decalee, which is effectively a Grand Prix car with fenders and lights.
Bentleys were also well presented with one of several “Blowers” piloted by none other than Derek Bell. Probably running very rich, the car produced big flames on the overrun. Another entry of note was the Lorraine-Dietrich B3/6 Sport of Rudolf Ernst and Michael Hibbard, which is a sister car to the winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1925.
Plateau 2: 1949 – 1956
Racing returned at Le Mans in 1949 when a diminutive Ferrari successfully took on the mighty French manufacturers. Although it was a sign of things to come, Jaguar would first come to the fore in this period.
Among the participants in this group were a host of Jaguar C- and D-Types, though oddly, the 1955 winner was actually competing in Plateau 3. The D-Type nevertheless featured strongly in this year's race with outright victory eventually going to Gavin Pickering ahead of Carlos Monteverde, Gary Pearson and Andrew Smith in another D-Type.
An impressive third was for the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL very skillfully driven by Peter Mulder, Patrick Simon and Hans Kleissl.
Other interesting machines included in this grid were the Fiat 8V Zagato piloted by Plateau 1 winners Erich Traber and Bruce Trenery, this time joined by Jurg Konig, and an assortment of Maseratis, some of which were in contention for the victory but ultimately proved not quite as consistent as the Jaguars.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the Le Mans Classic was held for the sixth time this year. As in the past editions, the 2012 Le Mans Classic featured six grids, or plateaux, with cars ranging from the 1920s up to the early 1980s, each group competing in three 43-minute races over a 24-hour period.
What did change was the weather. For the first time, rain was a major factor in the event with heavy, and at times local, showers spread over all three days. These were often followed by clear spells, or as the French would say: apres la pluie, le beaux temps. This meant that track conditions were rarely the same around the lap, making it particularly tricky for the drivers but entertaining for the crowd.
In addition to the action on the track, the event also attracts a large number of clubs that bring along thousands of interesting machines. A special treat this year was a visit from the normally very private Ferrari 250 GTO tour; nearly two dozen examples lined up in the paddock and later took to the track for some demo laps.
Braving the weather and coping with not one but two reluctant cameras, we spent most of the weekend trackside, resulting in this action-packed 300-shot gallery.
Artcurial Motorcars Le Mans Classic Sale
Like most major historic events, the Le Mans Classic featured its own auction. Organized by Artcurial Motorcars, the sale boasted a colorful mix of road and racing cars, and also the complete collection of French specialist manufacturer/coach-builder Heuliez. The lineup of unique and often unusual machines sold for close to three-quarters of a million euro ($920 million), with the striking Citroen SM Espace topping the Heuliez cars at EUR 109,600 ($135,000).
Going for nearly twice the entire Heuliez collection was a rare competition-bread Ferrari 275 GTC, which found a new owner for just over EUR 1.5 million ($1.84 million). Winner of the 1966 Nurburgring 1000 km race, this is the only 275 to officially receive the GTC type name.
Further stars of the sale included a Peugeot 905, sold for EUR 654,700 ($805,000) and a race-bred ASA RB Type 613, which changed hands for EUR 297,800 ($366,000). Fairing not so well were two fabulous Ligiers offered by Guy Ligier directly, which both went unsold.
At the end of the eight-hour sale, about 80 percent of the lots in the packed catalog sold for a total of nearly EUR 9 million ($11 million). This is an improvement of close to EUR 2 million ($2.46 million) compared with the inaugural Artcurial Motorcars Le Mans Classic Sale in 2010.
Plateau 1: 1923 – 1939
Plateau 1 featured the earliest cars of the event, spawning the complete pre-War period. As always, a complete armada of Talbot 105 team cars were found at the head of the field with some drivers competing in more than one example.
After two of the three rounds, the No. 6 Talbot with Gareth Burnett, Richard Evans, Alex Ames and Julian Bronson sharing driving duties, looked set for victory. Unfortunately, they lost a lap in the final round, handing the victory to Christian Traber and Bruce Trenery in the far more modern Talbot Lago Monoplace Decalee, which is effectively a Grand Prix car with fenders and lights.
Bentleys were also well presented with one of several “Blowers” piloted by none other than Derek Bell. Probably running very rich, the car produced big flames on the overrun. Another entry of note was the Lorraine-Dietrich B3/6 Sport of Rudolf Ernst and Michael Hibbard, which is a sister car to the winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1925.
Plateau 2: 1949 – 1956
Racing returned at Le Mans in 1949 when a diminutive Ferrari successfully took on the mighty French manufacturers. Although it was a sign of things to come, Jaguar would first come to the fore in this period.
Among the participants in this group were a host of Jaguar C- and D-Types, though oddly, the 1955 winner was actually competing in Plateau 3. The D-Type nevertheless featured strongly in this year's race with outright victory eventually going to Gavin Pickering ahead of Carlos Monteverde, Gary Pearson and Andrew Smith in another D-Type.
An impressive third was for the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL very skillfully driven by Peter Mulder, Patrick Simon and Hans Kleissl.
Other interesting machines included in this grid were the Fiat 8V Zagato piloted by Plateau 1 winners Erich Traber and Bruce Trenery, this time joined by Jurg Konig, and an assortment of Maseratis, some of which were in contention for the victory but ultimately proved not quite as consistent as the Jaguars.
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