Andrew Faulkner blog 22/07/10
Le Mans – the name oozes romance and excitement for every classic car enthusiast. It's the place where legends are created and who of us hasn't owned a Le Mon at sometime or another?
Steve McQueen added to the mystique in the 1971 film of the same name. But for all this, I had never been there so I decided to incorporate the Le Mans Classic as the centrepiece of this year’s holiday (the event alternates between the 24 hour endurance race for today's manufacturers and the 'Le Mans Classic')
Despite the Scimitar doing its best to soak up the time leading up to the ferry embarkation date (tracking issues and a leaking rear wheel cylinder), with the help of the RSSOC contact Viv White and fellow Scimitar owner John Mees, we managed to sort the accommodation and logistics and made it to the camp-site on the Friday night.
£50 gets you a weekend ticket (Friday practice and two days racing) plus an extra £26 for a paddock pass. Grandstands are extra. Tickets available on the gate or online at a discount. There are parade laps starting at 8am on the Saturday and the racing proper starts at 4pm when the next 24 hours sees 18 separate grids made up of cars from 6 eras from 1923 to 1979 so you need to ensure you are around if you want to see particular cars in action.
The famous start configuration where drivers have to run across the track to their cars still takes place but is only for the spectators. After one lap, the cars re-group on the grid for the start of the race proper. The full course is used including the closed off public roads. Apart from the spectacle of the races, there are vast areas of clubs displays. Morgan, Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley and Jaguar were dominant but with 6500 cars, I never got the time to see all the areas.
The weather was really hot and a good hat, sunglasses, a bottle of water, as little clothing as can be considered decent, sun-block for uncovered areas, good footwear, and something to sit on were good things to take but we had torrential rain later in the week so who knows for next time?
Although access was possible to most parts of the track, there was nowhere I found that you were not looking through wire netting which made photography difficult without a telephoto lens. Fortunately I had bought a new camera for the event so I hope you enjoy the photos I did manage to take.
It was a great experience and I'm glad I went but the cost of the event and the cost of food and drink inside the circuit was higher than it needed to be although everyone told me it was much cheaper than a formula 1 event. This may be so but Formula 1 is an expensive industry. Classic car events rely on the resources of the clubs and enthusiasts to supply the exhibits both on and off the track and I felt a few more facilities from the organisers would have gone a long way to make me feel welcome at little extra cost.
Things such as a clear view of the track without looking through wire netting, not paying extra for a grandstand pass, some more shelter from the sun/rain, somewhere to sit (hay bales?) without having to buy expensive food and drink, and a proper programme would have helped.
As for the Scimmie:
Total mileage: 1177
Average MPG: 30.2
Problems: Faulty bonnet catch, failure of map-reading light.
Overall impression: With the rear seats down, it swallowed the luggage for a two week holiday and the torquey 3 litre with overdrive and well designed seats made long distances no problem at all (which was exactly what Ray Wiggins's specified in 1966).
My modified cooling system coped very well but an electric fuel pump is required to prevent fuel vapourisation (I couldn't touch the engine mounted pump after a run it was so hot). Would I go again? Yes – but I would buy tickets in advance and come earlier to try and see more and avoid the traffic!
Posted: 10:52am, 22 July 2010
Words: Andy Faulkner
Images: Andrew Faulkner
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