Date: 17-18 June 1939

Number of competitors: 42

Number classified as finishers: 16

Winners: Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron (#1 Bugatti 57C)

Distance covered by the winners and average speed: 3,346 km (249 laps) at an average 139 kph

Highlights:

• The winners established a new distance record at the wheel of the only Bugatti fielded in that year’s 24 Hours.
• The 1939 victory was the second for Jean-Pierre Wimille, after his win on his Le Mans début in 1937. After the Second World War, he built a road-going car with an unusual design: three front seats and a central driving position . An idea revisited much later by McLaren with the F1 GTR that triumphed at Le Mans in 1995.
• The late 1930s also saw the start of research into aerodynamics. With its curves to the front and tapered shape to the rear, the winning Bugatti was dubbed the “tank”.
• BMW made a real impact with its 328, with a class win and the fifth, seventh and ninth places overall.
• In 2005, Bugatti paid homage to Pierre Veyron by naming a powerful 8-litre, W16 sportscar after him.

Motorsport in 1939:

- Maserati became the first (and to date the only) Italian manufacturer to win the Indy 500. After their 1939 win, American driver Wilbur Shaw and the Italian marque repeated the feat in 1940.

What else happened in 1939?

- Some of the best-known films in American cinema came out that year: Gone with the Wind, Mr Smith goes to Washington, The Wizard of Oz, Wuthering Heights, Stagecoach and Of Mice and Men.

- In Paris, Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo wrote Concierto d’Aranjuez, the first of his five guitar concertos. Its second movement (Adagio) became one of the best-known melodies of the 20th century.

Photo (Copyright: ACO archives) -  LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SATURDAY 17 JUNE 1939, START. In the foreground, the winning Bugatti (#1) and the Lagonda driven by Charles Brackenbury and Arthur Dobson (#5), which finished third.