Report and photos by Dirk de Jager
During the first weekend of July 2012 the 6th edition of the biennial Le Mans Classic was held. Started in 2002 this event has become one of the must-attend classic shows in the world.
The 2012 Le Mans Classic featured over 400 racing cars storming the La Sarthe racing track divided into six grids. Of course all cars are sorted by ages, after all it wouldn’t be fair to pitch a 1926 Bugatti T35 against the 1978 Le Mans winning Renault-Alpine A442B. Not to mention the dangers in speed that the disparity would create.
The first grid naturally brings out the oldest cars from before the second World War to the grid (1923-1939) and we can find the usual suspects such as Bugattis and Bentleys here. Also a few rare gems such as a Lorraine Dietrich B3/6 Sport, Morgan 4-4 and the only Citroën that ever participated in this legendary ’round-the-clock race.
Grid two (1949-1956) showed a lot of grand touring cars and the arrival of the legendary brands such as Ferrari and Porsche flanked by Jaguar and Aston Martin. Yet it is interesting to see here even a Fiat 8V Zagato, as you don’t see those often on a race track. Some the attention grabbers here were a Kieft Climax, Renault 4CV that shows determination to hit the track with 750cc engined car. As usual the French specialities such as DB Panhards received a lot of appreciation from the audience.
The 1957-1961 period is received for the third grid with leading the pack the 1959 Le Mans winning Aston Martin DBR1. Starting from plateau 4 (1962-1965) is where the real speed is starting to build up, with nearly 80 cars on the grid and the big American muscle from the Ford GT40s and Shelby Cobras, including one of the gorgeous Cobra Daytona Coupes. They somehow don’t seem to be a fair match against the other “touring” cars such as TVR Grantura, MG B, Lotus Elan and Porsche 911.
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Le Mans Classic 2012 Report and Photos – Page Two
The second to last grid is reserved for cars from 1966-1971 and some of the top attention grabbers would be no less than three Porsche 917K, three Ferrari 512 and two Alfa Romeo Tipo 33. Yet the crowd favourite tends to be the jet-powered Howmet TX, with its distinguishable sound.
The last grid covers 1972 until 1979 and gives a field dominated with BMW and Porsche, luckily you can find some odd-balls here as well such as a Moynet LM or a Ligier JS2 Maserati. Of course the American continent is well represented here with Corvette, which have become a permanent fixture at Le Mans in the last decade. Yet also some rare American cars, at least for in Europe such as a Chevrolet Monza and a Ford Gran Torino that does look way too big and heavy compared to the rest of the field.
The Le Mans Classic is in the first place all about 24 hours of racing, and the die-hard fans do stay up all night to watch from different spots around the track. But there is so much more then “just” the racing. In the paddock you find the shopping village and also a Heritage Concours with 24 cars from which the owners don’t feel like racing their precious gems or a few cars that are too recent to fit in any of the classes. Best of Show this year went to the 1950 Cadillac Le Monstre that was driven by Briggs Cunningham.
On Friday the crowd got treated to a visit from the Ferrari 250 GTO Tour, with 23 pieces of the most expensive car in the world doing three parade laps. If that isn’t enough you still had the manufacturer displays from Mazda, Porsche, BMW and Renault to show some of their heritage. After that you could take a stroll over the Bugatti circuit, that is the permanent inner racetrack at Le Mans, that was filled with over 8000 classic and sports cars from spectators, not counting the huge amount that remained in the camping grounds.
Despite the cold weather and regular rain showers this year that didn’t prevent 109,000 visitors (10,000 more than the 2010 edition) to enjoy the massive show in and around the holy ground of Le Mans. All we can say is bring on 2014!!
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Le Mans Classic 2012 – Photo Gallery
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Great coverage Dirk & SCD; we at the Classic Car Club of America laud your coverage of Classic events. The Holman Engineering Racing Team (CCCA & VSCCA members) is en route from Paris/LeMans where they raced their ’28 Blackhawk in the Classic; in the past year, the Stutz also was raced at the Indy Centennial in a re-enactment of the historic first race between Stutz & Hispano Suiza. Though they were beat in the original race, the Stutz pulled off the win this time (hats off to Sam Mann however in the Hispano, it was a tight race)! So in the course of a year or so, the same car has raced at both Indy and the Lemans Classic. We appreciate your coverage of significant Classic events. You have the best digest of any we have seen! Keep up the great coverage!
Hello Mr Holman
Thank you for your kind words, and of course i saw the Stutz on track, it looked great
i love plateau 1, altough they do get “lost” on the LM track, it is just too big and too long of straights for those cars.
I didn’t knew that that was raced like that at Indy, too bad Sam Mann didn’t bring that Hispano here then, altough i can’t remember if an Hispano has ever raced at LM
Nice oh so nice. See you in Monterey for Holy Week. Dennis
Dear Dirk,
This is a nice report on Le Mans Classic with very nice pics.
I need to be in contact with you.
Could you please contact me at alfa.bugatti[@]free.fr.
Many thanks in advance,
Julien