THREE LIONS

THESE CARS AREN’T often seen in the same postcode, never mind gathered at an empty Tertre Rouge. Of most intrigue is the Panhard CD (left). Motive force came from the in-line four of a contemporary Peugeot 204, tuned to 108bhp and allied to a jaw-dropping 0.13 Cd drag coefficient (hence its name). Beautiful as it was, the CD wasn’t a success, two examples failing to make the 12-hour mark in the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours. You can pore over this example at the museum at Circuit du la Sarthe’s main entrance.

The shape and livery of the Peugeot 905 are unmistakable. This is the car that won Le Mans 1992 with Mark Blundell, Yannick Dalmas and Derek Warwick at the wheel. It’s as wondrous up close as you’d hope, even if its nat-asp V10 couldn’t be fired into life. Its 670bhp is a match for the 9X8’s mandated peak but the older car has around 300 kilos less to carry. So much for progress, and all that.

With its skin-tight carbon body, the nose of a formula car and wickedly dished 18-inch rear wheels, the Peugeot 908 HDI looks more purposeful than its relatives and definitely the product of a motorsport programme not working in tandem with a design department. It led a Peugeot 1-2 at Le Mans in 2009 thanks to David Brabham, Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz, a rare win in Audi’s truly dominant period. Peugeot developed hybrid versions of the 908 but they never raced, the 2012 WEC car canned at the 11th hour as its drivers arrived in Sebring for a test. A clumsily dropped baton for the 9X8 to pick up, perhaps…