• Engine used at the 1924 24 Hours of Le Mans • Driven by André Pisart in the 1924 Boulogne GP • Fully restored between 2015 and 2018 • Has competed in the Goodwood Revival and Le Mans Classic • Up-to-date international HTP The story of the 24 Hours of Le Mans began in 1906, when the Sarthe département won the bid to organise the ACF Grand Prix, and so on 26 and 27 June, the first large-scale automobile race was held in Sarthe, over more than 12 hours! The idea of an annual automobile race was the brainchild of Georges Durand, president of the Automobile Club de la Sarthe, future Automobile Club de l'Ouest.

After various races organised in Sarthe, before and then after the First World War, in the end it was at a 1922 meeting between Georges Durand, Marcel Canit and Charles Faroux that the idea of an endurance race to demonstrate automobile reliability and performance really came into being.

At first intended to last 8 hours, the race would, however, last 24 hours, based on an idea fr...