le mans 43

Saturday, October 19, 2019

April Preliminary Test Days Part 4

Les essais préliminaires d'Avril des 24 Heures du Mans

On this post you'll find some cars seen at the 1970 - 71 - 72 - 73 test days

The models:

1970

Ferrari 512 S - April test days Le Mans 1970 (SOLIDO)

The same

Porsche 917 LH - April test days Le Mans 1970 (SUPER CHAMPION)

1971

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1048 - April test days Le Mans 1971
(Kit ORIGINAL MINIATURES)

The same

Ligier JS3 - April test days Le Mans 1971 (SOLIDO modified)

1972

Mirage M6 - April test days Le Mans 1972 (SOLIDO modified)

The same

1973

Mirage V12 - April test days Le Mans 1973 (Kit ESDO)

Friday, October 18, 2019

April Preliminary Test Days Part 3

Les essais préliminaires d'Avril des 24 Heures du Mans

On this post you'll find some cars seen at the 1967 - 68 - 69 test days

The models:

1967

Ferrari P3/4 - April test days Le Mans 1967 (Kit REMEMBER)

The same

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1020 - April test days Le Mans 1967
(BOX Models modified)

Ford MkIV - Chassis J3 - April test days Le Mans 1967
(SOLIDO modified)

The same

Mirage M1 - Chassis M0002 - April test days Le Mans 1967
(Kit RECORD modified)

Mirage M1 - Chassis M0001 - April test days Le Mans 1967
(Kit RECORD modified)

1968

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1074 -April test days Le Mans 1967
(Kit RECORD modified)

The same

1969

Piper GTR 1300 -April test days Le Mans 1969 - (Kit MEA KITS)

The same

Matra 640 - April test days Le Mans 1969 (BIZARRE)

Monday, September 30, 2019

April Preliminary Test Days Part 2

Les essais préliminaires d'Avril des 24 Heures du Mans

On this post you'll see some cars tested in 1966. They all Ford GT40 (and one J car)

The models:

1966

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1038 - Le Mans trials
(B0X MODELS modified )

Ford "J" - Chassis J1 - SAI - Le Mans trials 1966

(Kit CEVEN KIT CARS)

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis AMRGT/2 - Test Le Mans 1966

(Kit TENARIV modified)

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis AMRGT/1 - Test Le Mans 1966

(Kit TENARIV modified)

Ford GT40 Mk1 - Chassis 1039 - Le Mans trials
(BANG Models modified - decals TENARIV - wheels BBR)

Ford GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1011 - SAI - Le Mans trials 1966
(Kit STARTER modified)

Ford GT40 Mk2 - Chassis 1012 - SAI - Le Mans trials 1966 (IXO)

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

April Preliminary Test Days Part 1

Les essais préliminaires d'Avril des 24 Heures du Mans

The April preliminary test days were born in 1959 and lasted until 1973. It was set up in April two months before the 24 hours race.
The idea was to allow manufacturers to adapt their race cars and drivers (especially rookies) to learn the specifics of the track. It also helped the organizers to prepare properly for the race.
The Le Mans race track with a unique 13 Km (8 Miles) length and a unique straight part of 5 Km (over 3 Miles) on public road non accessible the rest of the year for practice, made these test days very useful for the drivers, the teams, and for the organizers.
Some cars seen during these test days never saw the race, others tried different set ups not used for the 24 hours, others had different liveries. All this made it interesting for car collectors and Le Mans fans like me. Here are a few of these race cars seen in April at Le Mans in 1962 to 65:

The Models:

1962