24h Le Mans
In recent years, the "Transporter" movies have brought to the big screen a thrilling series of films whose star, Jason Statham, attended the start of the 2016 24 Hours. Today, we'll take a look at the evolution of the carrier trucks that transport the racing cars destined for Le Mans. Some of these heavyweights have become legendary. Once restored, they embellish the paddocks of renowned vintage automobile events such as the Le Mans Classic.
Cars at the 24 Hours become more and more sophisticated, making it difficult to run on the road. Many are registered under constructors or W garages, such as the Ferrari "provas." A transitional period in the meantime with the tractor-trailers, ushering in the heyday of Brit Don Parker whose clients include Colin Chapman for his Lotus, and Marcos.
For factory racing cars, the same carrier trucks were used at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the preceding decade, the Jaguars of Ecurie Ecosse would soon be replaced by the Tojeiros and Lister Jaguars. Ferrari (to be seen again many years later, bought out by JC Bamford) and Maserati still employed the famous Fiats and OMs, and soon closed carrier trucks. René Bonnet only brought his six cars once, in 1964 (only five took the start), same thing for Charles Deutsch (four cars took the start). In 1964, the Shelby Cobras used the famous Ford truck of the American team Scarab, bought by Alan Mann.
Carrier trucks became mobile workshops and were outfitted with a side awning, sometimes two, to work in the shade. "Slick" tires were prohibited on the road. Autonomy was out the window, now "we" transport our cars. The flanks of the new mobile workshops eagerly lent themselves to marketing campaigns in the late 1960s and "sponsors" took full advantage.
Guy Ligier favored modified carrier trucks in the colors of BP, among them a Leyland resurrected after years of neglect in a factory in Vichy. The Matra marque's Berliet Stradair, with its remarkable air suspension, transported only engines and would also soon see the light of day once again.
Click below for the first installment in this series:
