The 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans) is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France.

Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, it runs on a course containing closed public roads that test a car and driver's ability to be quick, but also to last over a 24 hour period.

This drove engineering innovation in not only mechanical reliability but also in fuel-efficiency, since the nature of endurance racing requires as little time to be spent in the pits as possible.

The race traditionally began with the Le Mans start, in which cars were lined up alongside the pit wall in the order in which they qualified. The starting drivers would stand on the opposite side of the race track. When the French flag dropped to signify the start of the race, the drivers would run to their cars, which they would have to enter and start without assistance, before driving away.

This became a safety issue in the late 1960s when drivers would ignore their safety harnesses (seatbelts), a then recent invention, and be hurt or killed in early laps while struggling to put them on while driving.

However, in 1971 this method would be done away with as a rolling start (sometimes known as an Indianapolis start) was introduced, which has been used ever since.

With the high speeds associated with Le Mans, the track has seen a number of accidents, some of which have been fatal to drivers and spectators. The worst moment in Le Mans history was during the 1955 race when a racing car involved in an accident flew into the crowd, killing the driver (Pierre Levegh) and 84 spectators.

Last Sunday, my Dad and I went to the Simeone Foundation Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to look at nearly 100 preserved historical race cars. The museum's catch phrase is "The first race was conceived when the second car was built."

In one exhibit, there are more than a dozen, very rare, Le Man's race cars.

1927 Stutz Black Hawk
1929 Stutz Supercharged Le Mans
1929 Dupont Le Mans Speedster
1933 Alfa Romeo 8C2300 Lemans
1934 Mg K3 Magnette
1936 Aston Martin Le Mans
1936 Delahaye 135S
1938 Peugeot Darlmat Lemans
1954 Ferrari 375MM
1956 Maserati 300s
1958 Ferrari Testa Rossa
1966 Ford GT40 MK II
1967 Ford MK IV
1970 Porsche 917LH


Looking at these Le Mans contestants, it is striking how much technology has changed over four decades. The dramatic transformation between the 1933 Alfa (pictured above)and the 1970 Porsche is all due to competition. Also striking is the glossy shine!


As the competition for speed increased (the Porsche 917 was capable of 240mph), so did the use of aerodynamic design to help make the cars more stable, thus the 917LH’s long rear tail, fins and wing.

There are more pictures in Flickr if you are interested in looking.

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On Tuesday afternoon, my Dad suffered a heart attack. He has been in the hospital since then, but this morning he was sitting up, reading the brochure I picked up at the car museum and talking about "all the neat cars we saw". He is eating well and the doctor says he can go home tomorrow. I can't begin to express how relieved and delighted I am to hear this news.

I want to go to many more museums and many more places we both have interests in - and there are so many we have in common - so call me selfish if you want - I'm thrilled he should be back on his feet and going places again soon.

Get all better soonest, Dad!