BRITS ABROAD

A huge British contingent of classics visit Le Mans every year. We tagged along with the Triumph Sports Six Club to find out more

For thousands of British car fans the Le Mans Classic is about so much more than the racing – it’s about taking your classic across the Channel with you and turning it into a continental adventure.

The campsites lining the outside of the historic circuit – and plenty of the club displays on the infield within it – were packed with UK-registered classics, including a site commandeered by the Triumph Sports Six Club near the Dunlop Bridge, which had more than 200 cars. CCW joined in the fun too, taking our £1k Challenge Rover 216 Coupé on the Portsmouth-Caen ferry to join UK classics on the journey to the circuit – don’t miss next week’s issue to find out how we got on.

Chris Downs, who headed down from Felixstowe in his Triumph TR5, said: ‘It’s the ambience and the atmosphere that make so many Brits want to take part. It’s not just about the historic vehicle racing, which is superb, but also the sense of camaraderie, and the challenge of getting the cars down here in the first place.’

Morgan owner Mike Hughes summed up the appeals of camping at Le Mans: ‘No other place in the world can you watch classic cars racing at 2am. The atmosphere is unique.’

And Simon McHattie, who brought his Triumph Spitfire along from Gloucestershire, said: ‘The Le Mans Classic is great, it’s a really massive event. The highlight for me has been taking the Spitfire for three laps of the Le Mans circuit – I made sure I had the GoPro camera attached!’

1965 Jaguar Mk2 3.4, 1967 Lotus Elan +2 and 1974 BMW 2002 were among the thousands of British-owned classics joining in the Le Mans fun last weekend.

Mike Hughes and his son Harvey, with their 2008 Morgan Plus 4 and 1968 MGB GT Sebring. This is their fifth Classic – Harvey went to his first aged just ten; this is the second time he’s driven to Le Mans.

Simon McHattie, from Stroud, has owned this 1963 Triumph Spitfire 4 for the last ten years. This year’s Le Mans Classic is the car’s first foreign adventure.

Two generations of David Jones headed down from Enfield with the TSSC’s North London branch. Their transport was this 1964 TR4.

Members of the TSSC’s Suffolk and North Essex branch enjoy the Le Mans sunshine next to Chris Downs’ 1968 Triumph TR5.

2000 Gardener Douglas Cobra MkIII replica is Chris McKeone’s toy. When he bought it three years ago it was effectively brand new, having done just 1700 miles. Since joining Chris, this is its second Le Mans Classic visit.