[LM24] The Worst Car at Le Mans

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by f2001
Audi R8s look ace !

In comparison to what, though? Jag XJR8/14? Porsche 956/962? Toyota TS010/GT-One? Bentley?

No, the car looks too long and the colour-scheme (whether silver and red/yellow/black) is dull.

Now, if you're looking for a pretty current open prototype, look no further than the Courage C60

[Blue2]

I don't know, they look alright, I certainly wouldn't say they look bad. I thought they looked a bit daft at Le Mans 2001, only bearing two of the German flag's colours though. It made sense on the three car team, but with only two cars they looked a bit daft.

From a design point of view, Audi R8s look a little bit too space age for my liking, but then again, that could be said of most prototypes. Maybe I'm one of those God-awful traditionalists, but I kind of like cars to look like cars!

[Aysedasi]

I may be out on my own on this one, Blue. I've never much care for the looks of the open Audi. I was one of the few who liked the coupe R8C. (Mother of Bentley?). But then, I liked the XJR-14 and the Toyota GT-One an awful lot too. I guess I just happen to prefer closed cars.

[Osella]

now I am curious, do you have a pic of a "crappy little" '92 Renault?

[powermite]

Surely the ugliest was the (cunningham ?) Cadillac,that hideous brick shaped thing of a number of years ago.Case closed I think
cheers pm

[paulzinho]

Originally posted by Aysedasi
I guess I just happen to prefer closed cars.

Me too, As many will probably know IMO the best looking cars were the Group C cars.

More recently I have hated just about every open roofed car but Bentley and now Lotus have brought salvation!!!

The double rollover hoops just look ridiculous though!!!!

[Es Nes]

Originally posted by Aysedasi


In comparison to what, though? Jag XJR8/14? Porsche 956/962? Toyota TS010/GT-One? Bentley?

actually, yes. i personally prefer open top cars so naturally itll look better than closed top cars. the bentleys bland in the first place. ether that or im just holding the gt-one too high for other closed tops to touch.

[cybersdorf]

I never thought the GT-One was a particularly attractive car. The dull colour scheme (red and white, how innovative ) didn't help either.

[clk-lm]

i think the gt-one is one of the best looking cars ive ever seen, no joke. at first i hated it, but the way the body is metled over the engine cover is so natural. i find that the upper portion of the car looks exactly like a tear drop in every demension, the object that creates the least drag, the desinger probably had that in mind when creating it. the clr, was also a favourite because it was so low.

[Es Nes]

lol, the entire car looks like a tear drop with rear spoiler

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by Es Nes
lol, the entire car looks like a tear drop with rear spoiler

Tears can still be beautiful..... (sorry!).

It just goes to show what a wonderfully diverse bunch we sportscar afficionados are, doesn't it - variety is the spice of life!

[Aysedasi]

Originally posted by Osella
now I am curious, do you have a pic of a "crappy little" '92 Renault?

Erm, probably! I'm talking about the 58 Welter Peugeot of Gonin, Artzet and Petit. It finally died and gave us all blessed relief after a very long 42 laps - suspension failure........

Actually, I've just checked out my albums and I don't have a shot of that car. I do have a shot of the 66 Bellefroid Orion which I believe was also actually a Peugeot Spyder. (I'll check that out on the ACO's CDRom). That car, driven by Alexandre, de Vita and Breuer was still "running" at the finish. A rather grandiose description, as it only managed 78 laps (compared to the winner's 352!). Needless to say, it wasn't classified.

I see I also have several shots of the "bloody awful Debora", in at least two of them it is spinning at the Ford Chicane. A regular occurrence. It even managed to spin on the warm-up lap!!

Someone also mentioned the Debora with an Alfa engine. I'm sure that's right, although I don't know any details of the power plant itself.

[Aysedasi]

Sorry about this, but I'm on a roll with the Debora.....

I've found a wonderful quote. Attributed to an unnamed works Peugeot driver in 1992 and about the Debora.

"When I saw that black one, I thought it was some debris on the track. I actually slowed down......"

Lovely.

[AllonFS]

Originally posted by Aysedasi
I see I also have several shots of the "bloody awful Debora", in at least two of them it is spinning at the Ford Chicane. A regular occurrence. It even managed to spin on the warm-up lap!!

Hmm, this got me thinking about the ongoing grumbles about track changes at Le Mans.

Is the Ford Chicane one of the success stories in this area? There are the occasional incidents of cars putting on to much power as they get on to the start/finish straight and the crowd gets to see the cars accelerating flat out towards Dunlop (and whatever comes after it...) It also means we can stand there with much less chance of a 1955 type incident.

[rdjones]

Here is another sone for the melting pot how about Lucchini SP91 - Alfa Romeo of Fabio Magnani,Luigi Taverna, and Roberto Ragazzi, which raced in 1993, an awful car or what.

[H16]

About the red and white for the GT1, that is Toyota's coperate colors as well as being the colors for their nationality. It didn't hurt that Marlboro backed them in 1999 as well...