Guillermo Fierro’s 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage #2466.
Story and Photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Firmly anchored in the historic racing calendar since its creation in 2002, the Le Mans Classic, traditionally held every two years, was already in its twelfth edition this year. Given the success of this event, it will enter a new dimension next year by becoming an annual event, albeit with different grids from one year to the next.
Indeed, the July 2026 edition, called Le Mans Classic Legend, will feature grids from 1976 to 2015, while 2027 will feature grids from 1923 to 1975 under the title Le Mans Classic Heritage. 2026 will also see the creation of the Le Mans Classic Series, bringing together events such as the Spa Classic and the Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or in Dijon, whose participants will have priority registration for Le Mans Classic. These transformations herald a promising future for the historic endurance series.
But while we wait for that, let’s see what the 2025 edition had to offer us. Part 1 below covers Grids 1-3 and Part 2 Grids 4-6.
Grid 1 – 1923 – 1939
This period was marked in particular by the domination of the Alfa Romeo brand, a domination which still continues in 2025 since, after adding up the two races of the weekend, it was the 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 MM Spider Zagato of Martin Halusa and Alexander Ames which won.
Another Alfa Romeo follows in the ranking, the 1931 8C 2300 LM from the Swiss Fritz Burkard.
The Alfa 8C 2300 from 1932, piloted by Klaus Dold (Germany).
This Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza Brianza, it ranks ninth overall.
On the last step of the podium, we find this Delahaye 135 S from 1935 driven by Alex and Shirley Van der Lof.
Volker Hichert’s 1939 Delage D6S-3L, a regular participant in Le Mans Classic, finished 4th.
Among the special cars in this class, this Bentley listed as a 1949 4 1/4 Litre Pourtout Embiricos. No further information was available.
As for the 1932 Citroën C4 Spider, it will not be classified.
Grid 2 – 1949-1956
Grid 2 featured an exceptional list of Ferrari Sports including this 121 LM chassis 0484 LM, 15th in the combined classification of the three races, out of a total of 63 classified competitors.
Exceptional to see two 121 LMs together since this one is chassis 0546 LM, driven here by its New Orleans owner John Houghtaling and Jérôme Bocuse, chef and son of the famous French chef Paul Bocuse. The car was ranked 36th overall.
A regular participant in Le Mans Classic, Patrick Ottis’ Ferrari 750 Monza #0510 M, driven by his son Tazio, unfortunately only appeared in practice.
Another 750 Monza, #0530 M, also owned by John Houghtaling, it finished 17th.
This Maserati A6GCS #2066, in the hands of Argentinian Adrian Sucari, has not missed any of the recent editions of Le Mans Classic.
This Osca MT4 1100 is also a regular participant in Le Mans Classic or the Mille Miglia.
Two examples of the Czech-built 1949 Aero Minor Sport entered and finished the 1949 24 Hours, just as two examples completed the 2025 Le Mans Classic. The Aero is powered by a 744cc, two-cylinder, two-stroke engine developing 28 hp, giving it a top speed of 130 km/h.
Constantin was a French compressor manufacturer who transformed a Peugeot 203 to enter it in the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the number 43. Here is the replica equipped with an original Constantin compressor.
From 1949 to 1954, numerous Renault 4CVs took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Two of them continued the tradition this year, finishing 49th and 50th.
Grid 3 – 1957-1961
In grid 3, victory goes to Diego Meier, partnered by Remo Lips, in his 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB in the colors of Ecurie Francorchamps.
Nice jump for this 1955 Maserati 200S during the night race.
Andy Wallace, winner of Le Mans in 1988 in a Jaguar, drove this Jaguar D-Type, with which he finished 5th in the cumulative classification.
7522: The Halusa family’s Ferrari 250 GT SWB Breadvan was once again at the start but not classified as it only took part in the first of the three races of the weekend.
This little 1961 DB HBR5 also has a touch of Breadvan, don’t you think? Ranked 41st out of 58.
Still with DB, here is a 1959 HBR Spyder Le Mans.
The 1963 Alpine M63 begins the pit straight after dark. The small-displacement French cars of the era were characterized by aerodynamic research that was still in its infancy.
The 200 S in the air is a sight to behold.