In recent years Porsche has run several retro liveries on its 911 RSR GTE racers. Martini, the main backer of what was essentially a second works Porsche team, wasn’t happy and wouldn’t allow its logos on the car, thereby disassociating itself from one of the most memorable motorsport paint schemes ever.ĭriven by Reinhold Joest and Willy Kauhsen, the car qualified seventh (only two spots behind the eventual winner) but retired when a brake issue caused an accident. The car, developed in collaboration with SERA, was an attempt to match the straightline speed of the long-tailed 917 and the handling of the 917K – and the result was a wide and dump-looking machine.īy the time of the race in June, Porsche’s stylists had painted it pink, with butcher’s cuts decorations. When the unique 917/20 arrived at the 1971 Le Mans test day in April it could not be argued it was the best-looking of the array of Porsche models. #92 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR: Michael Christensen, Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor at the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours There’s just something cool about those Matras, even if this livery appeared on the same grid as two that are much further up this list… 8. Though not a criteria for this list, we’d also argue that the scream of the three-litre Matra V12 is one of the finest ever heard at the Circuit de la Sarthe. Matra qualified 1-2-5-6 and finished 1-3, Henri Pescarolo and Gerard Larrousse leading the way home to complete the team’s Le Mans hat-trick. There wasn’t a lot of opposition for the world sportscar dominator in the 24 Hours. Gitanes was a primary sponsor of Ligier in sportscars and F1 (getting it on to another of our lists) but was also on the four Matra sports-racers at the 1974 Le Mans. Henri Pescarolo/Gerard Larrousse, Matra-Simca MS670B, 1974 Le Mans 24 Hoursįor this list we’ve stayed away from the national liveries that predominated in European motorsport before the commercialisation of the 1960s, but the blue of Matra sneaks onto this list thanks to French cigarette brand Gitanes. The BMW 320i with Roy Lichtenstein’s design was the first Art Car to go the distance at Le Mans, taking ninth overall in 1977 driven by Poulain and Marcel Mignot.Īny Warhol’s effort on a BMW M1 in 1979 – and which finished sixth overall – is perhaps the most famous, but for pure aesthetic appeal we reckon it’s a call between the original 1975 design and the Jeff Koons-penned design on the M3 GT2 that was driven by Andy Priaulx, Dirk Muller and Dirk Werner at Le Mans in 2010. They failed to finish, as did the Frank Stella-designed Art Car in 1976. The result of BMW’s first collaboration with a leading artist arrived at Le Mans in 1975, when Alexander Calder designed a multi-coloured livery for the 3.0 CSL of entrant Herve Poulain, Sam Posey and Jean Guichet. OK, so we’re cheating a bit here by putting all the BMW Art Cars together, but they have a special place in history and you could have a good debate about which one should be put forward. The car of Andy Priaulx / Dirk Muller / Dirk Werner, BMW Motorsport, #79 BMW M3 at the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours Top 10: Best-looking Le Mans 24 Hours cars rankedįor this list we picked out the liveries we thought looked best and factored in their impact and success, particularly in the world’s most-famous endurance race.
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