10 cars that starred at the 2025 Le Mans Classic

A 1923 Delage and a 1982 Ferrari bookended the grids at the 12th running of the Le Mans Classic, which took place last weekend.

With over 800 competition cars entered and north of 9200 club display cars, there was much for the 238,000 spectators to enjoy. Battling with baking sun and heavy rain over the three competitive days the drivers put on a spectacle worthy of the ‘classic’ billing.

Three support races further upped the ante, showcasing modern era endurance racers in the Endurance Racing Legends, Group C cars from 1983 to 1991, and a whole grid of Porsches in the Porsche Classic Race.

Here are 10 highlights from across the event.

Bentley 4 1⁄4 litre

Hidden in the history books is the little publicised achievement of one Edward Ramsden Hall. A very well-heeled amateur racer, who seemingly excelled at everything he turned his hand to, Hall is the only driver to have completed a true solo drive of the Le Mans 24 hours; a record he made in the 1950 running, finishing a very creditable eighth in his unique Bentley 4 1⁄4.

This year Sir Paul Carter achieved his aim of racing his recreation of the Eddie Hall Bentley in the Le Mans Classic. Chassis B106GA wears a recreation of the Ridlington ’36 TT bodywork, along with an aluminium hardtop, aerodynamic radiator and enclosed headlights. Beautifully presented, the car caused a stir in both the paddock and on track.

“The car ran beautifully, totally reliable,” said Carter. “I loved driving it here. It handles beautifully, turns in well, has good power and fantastic brakes. An absolute delight to drive.”

Porsche 356 (Pre-A) 1100 Coupe 1951

The 1951 event marked the debut of what has become the most successful of all the manufacturers in the Le Mans 24 Hours, and one that has participated continuously. That year Porsche brought two model 356 ‘SL’ 1100 Coupes, designed by Ferry Porsche with Erwin Komenda.

One was badly damaged in practice and did not take the start, while the sister car driven by Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche finished 19th and won its class.

Out on the track this year, the diminutive silver coupe looked other-worldly compared to its peers, largely due to those wheel-covering spats on all four corners. Viewed through the heat haze it could almost be levitating above the track. Driven by Jean-Francois Penillard, the car placed well down its grid with a 7m47s lap time but ran reliably to complete all of its races.

Jaguar D-type 1955

Wallace was a frontrunner in D-type at Le Mans Classic

Photo by: Chris Tarling

While the Jaguar D-type made its debut at the 1954 running of Le Mans, it was not until the ill-fated 1955 race that the machine hit its winning streak, before triumphing again in 1956 and 1957. Heavily outgunned by Ferrari in the horsepower race in 1954 it nevertheless had the advantage of superb Malcolm Sayer-penned aerodynamics and superior handling.

In 1956, Jaguar escaped the 2.5-litre limit on the engines of ‘prototypes’ and was able to continue to run its 3.4-litre motors as it could prove to the ACO that it had built sufficient customer cars for the D-type to qualify as a production model.

Two 1955 D-types took part in this year’s Le Mans Classic in Grid 3, with car number 29 piloted by 1988 24 Hours winner Andy Wallace. He finished second in race one, a scant eight seconds behind the winning 1959 Lister Jaguar Costin.

Ford GT40

There was a great scrap among the GT40s

Photo by: Chris Tarling

It would be difficult to go to the Le Mans Classic and not come away mightily impressed with the Ford GT40’s on-track presence. Grid 4 covered quite a narrow period from 1962 to 1965, in essence the start of the Ford-Ferrari years, but included no less than eight 1965 Ford GT40s (in Mk1 guise) against just four Ferraris (two 275GTBs and two 250LMs).

Race one, starting in the heat of the late Saturday afternoon, served up an epic battle between the #28 GT40 of Emile Breittmayer and the #83 ‘Scuderia Filipinetti’ car of Max Lynn. Barely four tenths of a second separated the two Fords at the chequered flag. To watch the two cars battling, running at a vastly higher pace than anything else on the grid, was simply thrilling.

Shaun Lynn, Max’s father, completed the all-GT40 podium. Race two was also won by a GT40, this time #70 driven by Richard Meins, before the Hezemans Bizzarrini grabbed the glory in the finale.

Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Competizione 1971

There were no shortage of Ferraris to admire around the La Sarthe circuit

Photo by: Chris Tarling

While both the achingly beautiful Ferrari 312 P and more brutal 512 M race cars were present in Grid 5, it is the race car derivative of the ‘Daytona’ that is worthy of inclusion here. Two examples of the 365 GTB/4 were competing in Grid 5, both wearing similar dark red liveries.

Of the two, the one that stood out was the #51 by virtue of its exquisite preparation. A bulky, heavy car with a high polar moment of inertia hurt the model’s competitiveness for tight circuits, but the flip side was a well-balanced car with excellent stability in fast curves. Just don’t ask it to change direction quickly.

The #51 is not an original factory Competizione but has been converted from an American specification model by renowned Ferrari specialist Carlo Bonini. Its condition is breath-taking, more akin to a show car than racing machine. The car didn’t trouble any of the high places but ran reliably, and looked every bit the tough long-distance racer while doing so.

WM P70 1970

One of the more unusual cars in action was the WM recreation

Photo by: Chris Tarling

Grid 5 also contained a beautiful and unusual looking prototype racer in the form of the Welter-Meunier P70. Designed by two Peugeot engineers, it used a tubular chassis with a bonded composite monocoque to create a very light (circa 505kg) race car, and is powered by a Peugeot 1.3-litre 304S powertrain.

This is not the original car, which was destroyed, but an exacting recreation. The original appeared at the Le Mans test day in 1971, but didn’t race. It wasn’t until 1976 that a modified version, the WM-P76, took a Le Mans race start. In the hands of drivers Frederic Greiling and Julien Menard this recreation ran well across all three of its races, finishing midfield in the finale.

BMW M1 Procar

The M1 Procars are always spectacular to watch

Photo by: Chris Tarling

Grid 6 spanned nine years and brought together a very eclectic mix of cars, dominated in numerical terms by Porsche 911 variants and the crowd-pleasing, flame-throwing BMW M1 Procars.

The M1 competed in various forms at Le Mans over the 1979-86 period but, despite the numbers entered, it was only classified as a finisher on seven occasions, and accumulated only two class wins in that time. Engine and gearbox reliability were significant contributors here, but the cars also lacked outright performance, being heavy and underpowered compared to their competition. All versions used the same 3.5-litre straight-six engine.

Given its lack of success, why highlight the car here? Because it’s a rare car in road car terms (and therefore more interesting than the ubiquitous 911), and it’s a spectacular race car to watch. It really does like to throw flames.

Moynet LM75 1975

The Moynet enjoyed a remarkable Le Mans story 50 years ago

Photo by: Chris Tarling

An unlikely Le Mans class winner with a story that sounds like the plot of a low-budget Hollywood film. Something of a larger-than-life character, Andre Moynet debuted his eponymous prototype and an all-female three-driver line-up at the 1975 Le Mans race.

The team of drivers included a certain Michele Mouton at the early stage of her motorsport career. The self-designed and built car had prominent Esso sponsorship and a two-litre four-cylinder engine of Simca origin.

Though it experienced problems fairly early on in the race, fortunately none were terminal. Thanks largely to an inspired drive by Mouton during the rainy night on slick tyres, the car won its Group 5 under two litre class.

Today the car looks exactly as it did in 1975, and qualified in 51st position in the hands of drivers Alain and Pierre Boite, well ahead of much more powerful machines in the 84-strong grid.

Maserati Tipo 151/4 1965

Both the recreation and the real Maserati endured tough times at Le Mans

Photo by: Chris Tarling

First appearing in 1962 with a front-mounted four-litre V8, the Tipo 151 was the successor to the Birdcage, intended to compete in the Grand Touring class up against the Ferrari 250GTO. In reality, only three were built and ran as prototypes in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours; two in the hands of Briggs Cunningham, and one with Maserati France. Unfortunately, the cars were frail and none completed the race.

An in-house design by Giulio Alfieri for the 1964 race meant the car was modified significantly with a longer wheelbase, heavily revised bodywork, and a new five-litre engine. The car proved its frailty once again, retiring with gearbox issues. Its works story does not have a happy ending with the car being destroyed in practice for the 1965 race.

The car here this year at Le Mans is a faithful recreation of that 1965 machine. But, just like in period, it had a torrid time of it this year, ultimately catching fire and spinning out. While the car was damaged, the driver was unhurt.

Bentley Speed 8 2003

The Speed 8 was triumphant again this year

Photo by: Chris Tarling

One from the support grids, in this case the Endurance Racing Legends, is the Bentley Speed 8. This is car #7 that won Le Mans in 2003.

Sharing some technology with the Audi R8C, notably the basis for the engine, it was a development of the EXP Speed 8, designed, developed and built by Racing Technology Norfolk. After debuting at Le Mans in 2001, Bentley focused its energies on success in 2003.

With help from Joest Racing, it set pole and was victorious, though the race was notable for the absence of Audi. Max Lynn drove very strongly at this year’s Classic but couldn’t pass the #99 Zytek of Jamie Constable. However, the Zytek was given a 100s penalty for a pit window infringement, which promoted Lynn to the top step of the podium in race one.