[LM24] Greatest Decade at Le Mans?

[rdjones]

Which decade do people think was the greatest at Le Mans?

For me it has to be the 80's Porche v Jag V Merc V everyone else.

[Aysedasi]

I'm sure there are lots of people out there who would plump for earlier decades, but as my experience started in the '80s, I have confined my thoughts to the last two decades. And I agree with you rd that the mid to late 80's were the best.

[Heeltoe6]

i agree on 80s as well, it just seems everyone was their bringing their best stuff every year, and the cars were awesome

[Adam43]

It's so difficult. Perhaps some sort of dodgey "eras" categories might help! You see the late 60s early 70s was good. And it was sort of the late 80s that were good.

The 50s with all the variety was nice. Jags, Astons, Maseratis, Ferraris, Mercs, Porsches, Lotus, etc... etc... Of course most broke down to let the those lovely D-Types win, but hey!
Similar variety happened again in the late 80s (and with a lesser number of years the late 90s - i.e 1999!). oh and most of the 60s were good too.
Prewar. Well those were the years people went racing for the right reasons!

Oh dear, I'm going to have to go away and think about this one. Oh excellent it's Friday. I'll think about it over a few beers! I'm sure my answer will eventually involve some Jags or some Porsches!

[paulzinho]

I voted 1980's. I've seen videos from then and they seem better than todays races.

[pink69]

Gotta be the 90's. The cars in the 90's look far better and the racing was superb too.

[SL]

I voted 1980's. I've seen videos from then and they seem better than todays races

Paul you would

A chain of Porsche 956 / 965's does not always make for good racing, although there was some great races in that era. I think it is better to see several factory entries with various options on the rules, which is how Mazda sneaked in their first win. F1 has such tight regulations it stiffles creativity, sports cars open those doors.

SL

[Dr. Austin]

Like all of racing, LeMans' greatness is a cyclical thing. In the 66-71 era, we had a period of unbridleded car development that has never been matched. We had the GT40's and Chaparrals, the P-4's and 312PB's. The 512S,M and the uncomparable 917.

After a period of low car counts and uninteresting cars, the group C era was born in 1982. With one set of rules to cover everyone, there was a plethora of different designs to solve the same problems.

Group C gave way to the 3.5 litre prototypes, and they staged some stirring battles. And we have never seen such wicked looking cars. Sadly, the formula couldn't sustain itself, and in 1993, the World championship of Sports Prototypes was tragically ended.

It couldn't have gotten much worse. But manufacturers found enough loopholes in the regulations to bring us pure bred racing cars disguised as GT cars and the FIA GT championship. We saw plenty of interesting cars such as the McLaren F-1 GTR and Mercedes CLK. And, oh, that GT-1 Lister Storm! Once again, we aren't allowed anything good for too long, and the GT-1's were legislated into uncompetitiveness.

Now we have the Audi era. I am not a fan of the open cars and the sooner we have a nice balance with the coupes, the sooner I believe the sport will prosper again. Who didn't love the Audi R8C or the Toyota GT-1? Who doesn't love the Bentley?

So, the fortunes of sportscar racing don't neatly fit into a 60's, 70's, 80's filing system. The greatest era in my estimation is the 66-71 era, but this may just be my romantisism coming out as I invision Delaney and Stahler dicing as they crest the hill under Dunlop and cruise down the hill to the esses.......in the rain.

In terms of decades, I was a total sap for the group C machines, so the 80's would have to get the nod. We have seen some great stuff, though, haven't we?

[Speedworx]

It has to be the 90s.

1999 best sums it up:

Toyota v Mercedes v Panoz v Audi v Nissan v BMW

Dr. Austin: I loved the GT1 Lister Storm and I was proud it won the 1999 British GT title. Sadly Mercedes and Porsche killed the GT1 era and Audi will kill the LMP900 era.

One set of rules is what sportscar racing needs, because at the moment its like touring cars - different countries, different rules.