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Le Mans roadcar gallery

We look at some of the most memorable cars to come out of Le Mans.

June 2008

With the infamous 24 hour endurance race taking place this weekend, we thought we'd mark the occasion by looking back at some of the most spectacular road cars inspired by original Le Mans concepts.
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Aston Martin DB9   AC Cobra   Mercedes CLK-GTR   Jaguar C-Type
1. Aston Martin DB9

Aston Martin announced in 2004 that it aimed to win Le Mans, and it planned to do it with a racing version of the DB9. The resulting DBR9 was the product of an intensive partnership between Aston and specialist engineering firm Prodrive, and the knowledge gained from that collaboration resulted in an improved DB9 road car.



 
2. AC Cobra

The ultimate combination of British engineering and brutish American power had a patchy history at Le Mans, but it was a budget alternative that could take on the might of the factory Ferrari squads of the Sixties. Years of development saw the roadster turn into a coupe, but it was never a car for the faint-hearted.



  
3. Mercedes CLK-GTR

When it was released in 1998, the CLK-GTR was the most expensive production car ever built, with a tag of .5million. It marked Mercedes' return to Le Mans following a seven year absence, although the race car didn't win the 24 Hours. The 6.8-litre engine delivered 720bhp, resulting in a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 200 mph. Only 25 were ever built for the road.



  
4. Jaguar C-Type

Jaguar's elegantly styled C-Type was based on the XK120. It first took part in Le Mans in 1951 and won on its maiden trip. The 1953 Le Mans model is now estimated to be worth £400,000. The C-Type pioneered the use of disc brakes, and they subsequently appeared on the XK150 in 1957.
 
Porsche 959   Corvette C6   McLaren F1   Ford GT40
5. Porsche 959

The 959 was originally designed to comply with FIA Group B regulations and to take part in rally's. But Porshce cleverly used it in these races to develop the racing aspects of other cars like the 911 and 961. The 959 finished strongly in Le Mans in 1986.



 
6. Corvette C6

The current C6-generation road car drew inspiration from its racing predescessor, the C5-R. That car won the GT1 class at Le Mans in 2001, 2002, and 2004. And there's now a C6-R competing head-to-head with Aston Martin in this year's race.



  
7. McLaren F1

It was designed to be the ultimate road car, but the GTR version of the McLaren was created for the purpose of racing at Le Mans. It dominated the event in 1995 with four of the five cars finishing in the top five.



  
8. Ford GT40

In the late Sixties the GT40 was the car to beat at Le Mans. The distinctive looking sportscar was created by Ford to beat Ferrari, after Enzo Ferrari rejected the US firm's attempts to buy his team.
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