In 1939 a couple young gents bought a Lagonda and headed straight to the LeMans race, and placed 4th!

Young Lord Selsdon, his best friend Lord Waren, bought a V12 Lagonda and jaunted across Europe in the summer of 1939 on the eve of all out war across the continent.

They drove across Europe to take part in the Le Mans due to take place on the 17th and 18th June, they weren’t prepared at all. The two men used the drive from Britain to France to test out the brand new car, they took turns driving and made it to Circuit de la Sarthe in time to enter the notorious endurance race, competing against some of the greatest racers of the era driving Bugattis, Aston Martins, BMWs, Delahayes, Delages, Mercedes and Morgans.

They placed 4th, and it was their first ever pro race

found on http://silodrome.com/selsdon-v12-lagonda-waren/

wow... the 1968 Le Mans effort of a Gulf Oil Ford GT 40 of John Wyer was filmed by the brake company Ferodo, and titled, "Don't start something you can't stop" Sir Stirling Moss narrates

Amazing! Just the lap that Moss narrates is very cool, and that is only a entry to the film! Found on http://silodrome.com/never-start-something-you-cant-stop/

oh man, this is incredible, I just found the 1956 one lap narrated by someone else, but he is going along while ordinary pedestrians and traffic are on the course!

High Voltage posted a great gallery of a GT40 from the Le Mans Classic

for the rest of the gallery: http://hghvltge.blogspot.fr/2012/07/le-mans-classic-2012-8.html

Paul has a new piece to sell, and can be met at Goodwood or online at Automobiliart.blogspot.com

Paul's newest laser-cut illustration, showing the Shelby/Salvadori Aston Martin DBR1 which won the 1959 24 heures du Mans. 

Laser-cut from stainless steel, powder-coated green; then hand-paint the additional colours using pin-strippers paint. The hood opens to reveal laser-cut brushed stainless steel illustration of the famous inline 6-cylinder DBR1 engine. The side brackets are also laser-cut illustrations, and the back-plate is powder-coated in black crinkle finish.

The piece is very limited (10 to 25 max.) and comes in a custom-built box.Here are the specs:

22” x 13” x 3” (55.8cm x 33cm x 7.6cm)11 lbs 9 oz (5.25 kg)

$4550 CDN/£2800 GBP/€3300 EUR/$4400 USD plus shipping/fees

you might see him at Goodwood, or, you can order it at 

Paul Chenard
http://automobiliart.blogspot.com/
paul.chenard@hotmail.com
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
1 902 817-9273

www.facebook.com/automobiliart

Nardi-Giannini 750 Bisiluro By Carlo Mollino

Found on http://megadeluxe.com/vintage-deluxe/bisiluro-by-carlo-mollino-domus#more-5457

Made for the 1955 Le Mans.

Regarding the design of "things that move", history gives us quite a catalogue of proposals to improve the breed by echoing a form across some sort of bridging element. With names like "twinpod", "twin-boom", "twin-fuselage", "doublehull", or "catamaran", the designer's fascination with mirroring a good idea has been around ever since the Garden of Eden, when God decided two breasts looked seriously cooler than one.

looking at the images of the Bisiluro racing at Le Mans in 1955 one finds a closer visual connection to modern motorcycle sidecar racers than to aeroplanes. (It was not the last four-wheeled race car to work this asymmetry scheme either. A notable composition was the Smokey Yunick sidecar racer attempt at Indy in 1964) http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/greatest-innovation-in-bumpers-ever.html

That the lightweight racer was literally sucked off the course by a passing Jaguar must have been doubly frustrating for the team. Car Design-wise, the Bisiluro fits into a category I would call "Non-Car Cars", those purposeful objects that stir the imaginations of Car Designers by allowing them to incorporate a new proportion, perspective, form, structure or detail into their concept of a "Car" without having to carry all the functional and cultural baggage of being "automobiles". 

description is just part of the write up at http://www.domusweb.it/en/design/2011/09/12/the-asymmetric-racer.html This article was originally published in Domus 950/September 2011

Pontiac Tempest Le Mans, great looking, and has a really cool hood scoop

looks like a valve cover was cut into pieces when I focus on the ribs on top.

BMW V12 Le Mans Racer - Jenny Holzer art car

the sayings on it are the "Art" exhibit I think, but what got me? The BMW grill

Learned about it on http://zona-rapida.blogspot.com.es/
the source and a couple more photos of it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/zerex59/7221196214/in/photostream/

the only Aston Martin to win Le Mans, and Carroll Shelby co drove with Roy Salvadori to further enhance it's selling points, a '57 DBR1

if this car fetches the requested price of 31.7 million, it will be in the 3rd position of highest priced cars in the world, the 1 and 2 positions are held by a 63 and a 62 Ferrari GTO

Stirling Moss drove it to the 1959 World Sports Car Championship

Found on http://www.bornrich.com/le-mans-winning-race-car-aston-martin-dbr-12-estimated-sell-3176-million-talacrest-sale.html

http://www.talacrest.com/stockdetails.asp?StockId=5978#

1965 Le Mans film

Found on http://silodrome.com/1965-le-mans-24-hours/

Le Mans by Steve McQueen

 It's fantastic, to me, to see the car haulers/race car transporters

the cinematography and composure of the scenes was pretty damn good, above is an example

 Above and below, are more of the great photography I was impressed by.

one of 3 Corvettes of Briggs Cunningham's LeMans team of 1960, they won first in class with this trio

 how about this gauge cluster... why not make them this way from the factory? it's what the racers wanted, and isn't it what a sports car owner wants too?

 Anyone know about this unusual speedometer? With a clock on the inside... I don't recall ever seeing a 70mph speedometer before in a sports car, ditto ever seeing a speedometer with a clock in it. I've seen tachs and clock combos... anyway, odd gauge, if you know what the info on it is, please share. jbohjkl@yahoo.com

 cool little light to illuminate the car number

 Patina on the lettering.

Below is what another of the trio looked like. Thought you'd like to compare them.

just this last photo from http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z9082/Chevrolet-Corvette-LeMans-Racer.aspx