Le Mans Classic – The 3 most unexpected cars of the 2022 edition

Le Mans Classic: The Howmet TX

The Howmet TX makes an inimitable noise in the pit lane at Le Mans. © Joris Clerc / DPPI

Entered in Plateau 5 of Le Mans Classic, the Howmet TX has nothing going for it: its turbine takes around ten seconds to launch, its consumption is high and the engine response time complicates the drivers' task. Ah, the absence of engine brakes means you have to focus on slowing down the beast entirely via the brake pads!

However, the car fielded by Xavier Micheron (founder of Ascott Collection) has an unrivaled charm. Behind the pilot's back, the Continental TS325-1 turbine is designed to power a helicopter and runs on kerosene for a power of 330 hp at 6 rpm.

Engaged in Sarthe in 1968, direct transmission (there is no gearbox) proved to be an insurmountable handicap on the atypical Le Mans route, because no gear allows you to be comfortable at the same time in top speed and acceleration. The Howmets were relegated to 20th and 24th positions on the starting grid, and after starting peacefully, they were quickly delayed: the No. 22 (chassis 02) of Thompson-Heppenstall by a turbine not delivering all its power then an accident, the n°23 (chassis 01) of Dibley-Tullius by a defective wheel bearing. An element of the chassis also being broken, the latter will spend almost 3 hours at her stand and will be disqualified at the 9th hour, for not having covered a sufficient distance.

Cadillac “The Monster”

The Cadillac “The Monster” lives up to its nickname. © ACO

Americans cultivate a taste for difference. When it arrived in the technical inspection area for the 24 1950 Hours of Le Mans, the Sarthe public was so surprised by the look of this Cadillac that they quickly renamed it “The Monster”. And we understand why !

Inspectors from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest are so destabilized by the car entered by Briggs Cunningham that they are about to declare it non-compliant... until they realize that, under the tested bodywork in a wind tunnel, an original Cadillac chassis is hidden. She can therefore start.

The test will be a succession of incredible adventures. Boss-driver Briggs Cunningham and his teammate Phil Waters have to deal with typically American suspensions (and therefore ultra-soft), a crash in the sandbox at the Mulsanne bend, or an impromptu stop to... let a dog pass on the road. track ! The Monster will finish 11th however.

Today, at the Le Mans Classic, a copy is entered by the Englishman Derek Drinkwater in Plateau 2. The original is stored in the imposing Collier Collection at the Revs Institute from Naples, Florida.

CD Peugeot SP66

The CD Peugeot SP66 at Le Mans Classic 2022. © Joris Clerc / DPPI

This vehicle is making its first public outing at Le Mans Classic following an intense restoration carried out by Aventure Peugeot of Sochaux as well as the preparers Classic and Racing and Motor Moderne in recent months.

The French coupe bearing the number 52 is visible in Plateau 4 at the wheel of journalists Étienne Bruet and Thomas de Chessé. Its distinctive sign? The two vertical wings placed at the rear, fruits of the imagination of aerodynamic engineer Lucien Romani.

Weighing some 600 kilos empty, the CD Peugeot SP66 is powered by a 4-cylinder 1 cm135 optimized at around 3 horsepower, knowing that this unit comes from the Peugeot 105. This innocuous power is compensated by a weight feather of 204 kg, which allowed this work, largely imagined by Charles Deutsch (hence the initials CD) to reach 760 km/h in the Hunaudières.

At the 24 1966 Hours of Le Mans, the example bearing number 52 was driven by Pierre Lelong and Alain Bertaut. Both men had to give up due to a mechanical problem.

ALSO READ > Le Mans Classic 2022 – Program and entrants, key information