PORSCHE’S 70th HEADLINES MASSIVE CLUB SHOW
Stuttgart’s sports cars dominate at Le Mans, with over 1000 cars on show
As famous as the racing at the Le Mans Classic is, the volume of stunning machinery on show is its equal. Some 200 car clubs from 60 different manufacturers appeared at this year’s event to delight visitors from across Europe.
All of the major marques were represented, but by far the most numerous was Porsche. Of the 8500 club cars on display, Thierry Demortheux of Porsche Clubs France explained that the club had over 1000 examples filling the infield of Le Mans’ Bugatti circuit.
He said: ‘Porsches have come from France, Belgium, Germany, the UK, Holland and Switzerland. This is the first time we’ve had to separate the old cars from the modern ones; the classic display has 690 cars – we had to relocate the newer ones to hard standing as they don’t have the ground clearance here.’
In addition to the endless lines of Stuttgart sports cars on show, Porsche Clubs France also had a special display of 30 cars serving as a timeline for its air-cooled and early water-cooled era.
Other marques with sizeable contingents included BMW, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo, in addition to Ferrari – this year marks the French Ferrari Club’s 50th anniversary.
However, some of the smaller clubs set up on the edges of the Bugatti circuit were just as interesting. Here we spotted plenty of Morgans and MGs from the UK.
Graham Willis and John Cumming are both members of MG Car Club and its East Anglia Centre. They drove Graham’s 1968 MGC roadster to Le Mans from Bury St Edmonds. The pair have been attending the Le Mans Classic since 2004, having only missed the inaugural event.
When asked to sum up what it is that keeps them returning, Graham said: ‘It’s the atmosphere, the interesting racing, the social side – we’re here with MG Club de France – the drive down, plus the fact that it’s so different from everything else.’
‘Cars have come from France, Germany, the UK, Holland and Switzerland’ THIERRY DESMORTHEUX