Impressions from the first Le Mans Classic Legend

The great French historic version of the great French classic race has added a “Legend”-version and is now to be held annually: 2026 var the first.

After going to the Spa Classic for the first time last year, my friend and I decided we’d try the Le Mans Classic next, originally thinking we’d have to wait two years, but then they decided to make it an annual event, with grids consisting of cars from 1975 to 2020 this year for what they have called the Legend Edition.

As with our trip to Spa, we booked through Fast Track Tours, and the terrace of our hotel located opposite Mulsanne Corner gave a great view of the cars approaching and exiting the corner as they headed down the Indianapolis Straight – and what a sound they made!

The circuit was bathed in 30-degree sunshine all weekend (unlike our Spa weekend!), and while the organisers encouraged spectators to adopt period dress, the heat ensured that the majority were in shorts, t-shirts, caps or hats and plenty of SP50 sunscreen, including your correspondent.

Where to start with my highlights? Actually, there is only one place to start – the display of not one, not two, but SEVEN Porsche 917’s, the greatest racing car ever built in my completely inexpert opinion. Absolutely awesome, and they also performed a few demonstration laps – a sight and sound that will live long in my memory.

Parade laps were also performed by a number of Gordon Murray-designed race and road cars, as well as the fabulous Mazda 787B that Claus wrote about a few weeks ago.

I think my favourite race grids were the 1972 – 1984 era cars such as the Porsche 935, 936, and 911 RSR, and the Group C era that followed, with the likes of the Mazda 787B mentioned earlier and Jaguar XJR winning the 24 Hours after a period of Porsche domination with the 956 and 962. The sound these cars made was spine-tingling, and they were quick!

Also making a lot of noise were the NASCAR racers, who also provided the most entertainment in their attempts to get around Mulsanne Corner, with a number of them taking trips into the gravel. I find the recent generations of these cars hard to like, and I think it’s because many of the bodies of the cars carry pictures or transfers of the regular models they supposedly represent, rather than feature actual radiator grills or headlights – all presumably in the interests of streamlining for oval racing.

Away from the track, the Arcturial auction demonstrated just how flat the classic car market is with only 20 lots sold out of 50, while in the main car club area there were thousands of classic road cars to enjoy, especially on the Saturday. There was a strong American presence, particularly from the French Corvette and Mustang clubs and while there were many modern examples of both, there was also plenty of classic Detroit heavy metal on show.

Unsurprisingly, given where we were, there were also fine turnouts of French marques, with Alpine and Peugeot in particular well represented all around the club areas – I remain of the opinion that the reincarnated A110 is the best new version of a classic in recent years and I’m surprised they are no longer made after a short production run of just over 25,000.

Porsche and Ferrari club members seem to turn up in great numbers at most big classic events I go to, and this was no exception, with a good proportion of them being of the air-cooled variety in the case of the Stuttgart marque.

Other personal favourites scattered around the club area included the bright yellow Simca 1000 Rallye with the cheeky Calvin and Hobbes graphic on the back, the elegant gold Pininfarina-designed Lancia Flavia 2000 Coupé and the gold TVR Taimar, and of course the spectacular lime green Lamborghini Miura. There were also good numbers of Renault, BMW, Mercedes and others, as the end gallery will show.

Not having been to the original Le Mans Classic, I don’t know how this first Legend edition compares to it. It did seem to me that some tweaking to the daytime schedule would be useful; I would have preferred the parade laps to be more evenly spread through the day. However, I really enjoyed watching and hearing the racing in the fading evening light from our hotel terrace.

This was a fabulous weekend. The only comparison I can make is with the Goodwood Revival, although the Revival has a much greater nostalgia atmosphere around it, not least because so many more visitors dress in period clothes. But the Le Mans Classic has this night-time extra that creates a unique atmosphere all it’s own. I think I might be back next year…