2010 Le Mans Classic

In the Pre war paddock at Le Mans 2010

Regular readers will already know that I went to the Le Mans 24 Hrs last year and how interested I was in the historic stuff and the interesting cars in the car park. A trip to the biennial Le Mans Classic sounded like a good idea and having returned from it I can honestly say that I enjoyed it even more.

I travelled with my mates Andrew and Mick in Andrew’s BMW 535 V8 in company with Alan and Anthony in Al’s Morgan and we all said how much we enjoyed it. It was perfect, really, as we were camped at Mason Blanche and had the Ford Curves to one side of our camp site and the tribunes and start line within an easy 15 minute walk.

There were some entry changes from the programme. This looks a Matra Djet to me but may be that earlier incarnation, the Rene Bonnet. I really like the alloy wheels on this car.

For someone like me it was amazing. 460 cars eligible cars competed and the camp site was full of stuff to gladden the heart of any Engine Punk like me and put any scrap buddy in a state of panic – until they got all excited about the spectacle, too (which they do, which they do).

And then on the Saturday, the club stands filled out with even more special cars all around the race circuit village. I filled up the memory card on one camera and progressively wore out the batteries on the other, until I bought an in-car battery charger and started to work my way them a second and third time.

For 30 Euros you could get a two day pit pass and this was enough to send me into a state of hyper activity in a heat wave that saw 40 degrees metaphorically disappearing in our rear view mirrors. I was so fascinated, I forgot to drink or rest. That heat was unhealthy. But I survived. I gradually became aware of a debilitating grogginess that restricted me from seeing everything I wanted. I followed the example of my relatively sensible mates and began to carry around a bottle of water with me, topping it up regularly from the bogs. Cans of pop were going for about 8 Euros.

So you can probably imagine how absorbed I was by all the rolling sculpture. Already we’re eager to do it all over again but this time get a bigger gang together with more classic cars.

We arrived at the circuit on Wednesday following our usual Le Mans schedule that began with the overnight ferry from Plymouth. But, unlike previous years, when we arrived the campsite was conspicuously shut. We eventually found an aptly named Formula 1 hotel not far away and learnt an important lesson. One was to read the website more closely (it still looks vague about the camping to me) and another was what brilliant value a Formula 1 room is. It cost us 15 Euros each including breakfast.

Catch fencing is problem for smudgers and snappers at the Sarthe. This is a Lola T280.

Last year for the 24 Hours we camped in Houx but this was where all the teams were billeted. On Wednesday night, having arranged our accommodation and stuffing ourselves full of mussels, we got mistaken for competitors. Some fellow diners asked us what we were running. We said a Morgan and a BMW and they nodded sagely. What were they running we asked? A Gulf Mirage, they said. We frowned a little and the penny dropped. This Anglo-American pair thought we were competitors because only competitors arrived in Le Mans on the Wednesday night. Naturally we didn’t say we weren’t racing so may have carried off this mild deceit.

They came out of the sun - Delahaye and Invicta

Le Mans is not a very good circuit from a happy snapper point of view. There always seems to be some catch fencing in the way and if you’ve seen the recent documentary about the 1955 you can understand why. The only time I managed to find a reasonably unimpeded vantage point was when the sun was shining directly at me and the images are a bit surreal. This was with the new camera so I was still learning how to use it.

But there was so much other stuff to look at away from the circuit. Paddock transport for the drivers was by Jeep or more esoteric French military transport. Even the civilian buses were classics.

This is a splendid Swiss Saurer, a manufacturer that lead the way in diesel engineering for many years. I think it’s pronounced sowrer as in owtobahn. Armstrongs got in on the cat with an Anglicised version called the Armstrong-Saurer but you hardly ever hear of Saurers these days and never about Armstrong-Saurers.

Al and Ant, who’d been before told us that smart attire was the done thing on the Saturday and certainly the website stressed how much the French appreciated the English entering into the spirit of the event by dressing up in period costume. But it was just too hot. The highest we recorded in the air conditioned luxury of the BM was 42.5 degrees C. I heard some of Al's Morgan owning friends saw 44 deg recorded by the street sign at Arnage. It was the sort of weather that in previous years has killed off many elderly French people. Some very glamorous (typically female) people made an effort to embrace yesteryear's look but I only saw a handful among a crowd of many thousands.

They looked great.

But the fat, middle-aged (often elderly) semi-naked owners of the cars did not, especially if they were British. It has been said that if you are bronzed and fat then you can get away with it but no, no, no. No. A mille fois non.

They looked a singularly unhealthy lot. I'm thinking of putting myself up for adoption to this target population so that when they pop their clogs (it won't be long, maybe even imminent) I'll inherit their wheels.

It's obvious Ettoire's brother was a sculptor. I wonder if they ever conferred on the lines of the Type 40?

My first Bizzarini and by no means the last

At one stage I spotted a Bizzarini and went into raptures because I'd never seen one before. After taking lots of photos of it I found another and was equally amazed. Then around the corner I found a third. I began to think to myself, "Hang on a minute, I need to pace myself a bit here." It was the heat you see. And the machinery. I had to adjust my expectations to a much higher level.

How many Bizzarinis did they make anyway?

One car that I have always admired - okay make that another great car that I've always admired - is the wooden monocoque Costin-Nathan, some of which had a mid mounted Hillman Imp engine. The story I heard was that although it originally had a Lotus Twin-cam motor (now I bet that went well), an Imp unit had to fitted for eligibility. Huge grin - an Imp engine at Le Mans!

I wish I'd had a talk with its crew for I've always admired the Costin-Nathan. However, as I stood there in my speechless rapture, a lady came up to the bloke next to me and said "Oh darling, is that your old car?"

Instantly he had my attention.

"Oh no," he said, "it doesn't have the vents below the windscreen."

It turned out he'd raced them in their heyday. At Mugello the temperature was so hot the driver couldn't bear the heat, so they got on the blower to Frank Costin back in Blighty. Costin twigged what the problem was immediately. Over the phone and without referring to any notes, he told them to make three slots at the base of the screen. Off the top of his head he told them how big to make them.

"He also said we would need to ensure the cockpit was properly vented at the back otherwise the back window would blow out at speed, And - do you know? - we never had any further problems."

I watched this E-type having its head gasket replaced. It was soon running again and sounded fantastic.

I also spectated as this Cheetah was taken apart and  put back together again. The driver's on the phone to Halfords and the stores guy has just gone to have a look. (I've heard surprisingly good reports recently about the old big H y' know)

CG stands for Chappe et Gessalin who used Simca 1000s as the basis for their pretty little cars

These little cars are CGs. I had heard of them before because a French registered one turned up at the Crash Box Club's Vintage Thing Gathering at Powderham last year and perplexed me. I thought they were rare. Maybe they are. It means nothing at an event like this. If there could be 3 Bizzarinis at Le Mans there were certainly many more CGs.

As it was so hot we tried to cool off in the museum but soon realised that it was not air-conditioned. In fact, it was more uncomfortable than being outside, but was still worth a look.

I can't help wondering how many commissions Ets Le Bastard of Rouen received.

I was intrigued by the nameplate of this French coachbuilder. I expressed doubts that they would ever sell much in Britain with a name like that but Al - who knows about these things, reckons he's a typical Norman in build and has a surname that matches a village just down the road - told me the French always know a Bastard when they see one because of Guillame le Batard, known to you and me as William the Conqueror.

If there's an underdog, I'll champion it. The much maligned Corvair can be made to handle. I have the manual about it.

Also in the museum was this very rare Chevrolet Corvair, the styling inspiration for the Hillman Imp no less. Dubbed "Unsafe at any speed" by Ralph Nader, its reputation seems like a challenge to some of us. Like the guys who could tame those wild "widow-maker" Kawasaki motorcycles from the seventies, Corvair drivers probably laughed death in the face at every turn. I think Nader was a bit over the top, though. In an alternative universe, Corvairs are a big success story and Hillman Imps received a facelift along the lines of the Corvair Monza, a very nice looking motor car.

There's already a plan for a return visit in 2012. They don't do it every year because it's so vast and this approach makes it all the more special. Mick has a Triumph Herald convertible tucked away and kept on saying how he hadn't seen any others at Le Mans. Then on the last night we saw this one. As we were admiring it, the owner's wife came over and insisted he sat in it. So that's his project. We'll see what the rest of us bring along

Suits you sir. But may we suggest one in red would be even better?