From 1960 when Belgians Paul Frere and Olivier Gendebien won in a Ferrari 250TR through to 1979 when Klaus Ludwig and the Whittington brothers won in a Porsche 935 K3, the two decades of the 1960s and 1970s marked a time of huge change and development in sportscar racing and at Le Mans.
With Jaguar stepping away from the race late in the 1950s it was Ferrari that dominated the early 1960s with six wins in a row, as the 250TR evolved through to the 250LM. But it was all change in 1966 when the Americans arrived with the Ford GT40 and an emotionally fuelled desire to beat Ferrari in Europe.
New Zealanders Chris Amon and Bruce McLaren took the GT40’s first win of four on the trot and it was the turn of the decade before Ford was toppled from its position when Porsche arrived with the outrageous 917.
In 1970 Richard Attwood and Hans Herrmann scored a remarkable victory, Porsche’s first at Le Mans, but after two wins for the 917 it was Matra that brought the glory of France back to the fore with three wins on the trot for its striking open-cockpit sports-racing cars. Mirage and
