British motor manufacturers and wealthy private entrants have always been entranced with the Le Mans 24-Hour Race. Bentley started it all with their wins in 1924 and the four consecutive victories between 1927 and 1930. Lagonda inherited the crown in 1935, and then, of course, Jaguar was triumphant in 1951, 1953 and 1955–1957. Aston Martin had a famous win in 1959 and then there was a long break until the Gulf Mirage, an Anglo-American effort, won in 1975. Porsche virtually owned Le Mans in the 1980s until Jaguar made its great winning return in 1988 with the Silk Cut XJR9, then repeated that in 1990 with the XJR12. Finally, even Bentley came back—though that was a very different Bentley from the purely British machines of the 1920s.
The author gets the Alpine up to speed at England’s Mallory Park, where the Alpine showed itself to be very nimble. Photo: Mike Jiggle
Even during the lean years, when the Brits didn’t win at the Sarthe, there were always cars from the UK present for the long-distance battle which was Le Mans: A.C. Bristol, A.C. Cobra, ADA, Allard, Alta, Alvis, Argo, Arnott, Arrol-Aster, Atalanta, Austin, Austin Healey, Bardon, Bristol, Chevron, Connaught, Cooper, Costin Nathan, De Cadenet, Deep Sanderson, Derby, Duckhams, Elva, Emka, Frazer Nash, Grid, Healey, HRG, Ibec, Invicta, Jowett, Kieft, Lea Francis, Lenham, Lister, Lola, Lotus, March, Marcos, MG, Morgan, Nash Healey, Nimrod, Nomad, Peerless, Riley, Rover-BRM, Royale, Singer, Spice, Sunbeam, Talbot, Tiga, Tojeiro, Triumph, TVR, to name most, if not all, of the Brits that ran at Le Mans in addition to the winners.
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