It was fifty years ago "today",
Aston Martin taught the band to play.
In June of 1959 Carol Shelby and Roy Salvadori took the outright win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. More recently, Aston has supplied V-12 engines to one of the Lola chassis teams in prototype racing for this year's event.
Aston Martin Racing, now under Dave Richards (Prodrive) management, decided to take delivery of some of those same basic Lola chassis for a new works Aston Martin team effort for the fifty-year anniversary. They are adding their own design modifications to the car and will run with Gulf Oil sponsorship in June of 2009.
Here's Salvadori on one of his stints while winning the 1959 race. He's exiting Mulsanne on the way to the Indianapolis and Arnage corners. Note the road sign indicating the tiny village of Arnage is 5 kilometers ahead.
Here's the restored car today sans the "aerodynamic" rear fender skirts.
The Lola as currently run by Charouz Racing Systems with an Aston Martin V-12
More of Aston Martin's planned cosmetic/aerodynamic modifications. Planned chassis modifications have not been revealed.
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Aston Martin taught the band to play.
In June of 1959 Carol Shelby and Roy Salvadori took the outright win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. More recently, Aston has supplied V-12 engines to one of the Lola chassis teams in prototype racing for this year's event.
Aston Martin Racing, now under Dave Richards (Prodrive) management, decided to take delivery of some of those same basic Lola chassis for a new works Aston Martin team effort for the fifty-year anniversary. They are adding their own design modifications to the car and will run with Gulf Oil sponsorship in June of 2009.
Here's Salvadori on one of his stints while winning the 1959 race. He's exiting Mulsanne on the way to the Indianapolis and Arnage corners. Note the road sign indicating the tiny village of Arnage is 5 kilometers ahead.
Here's the restored car today sans the "aerodynamic" rear fender skirts.
The Lola as currently run by Charouz Racing Systems with an Aston Martin V-12
More of Aston Martin's planned cosmetic/aerodynamic modifications. Planned chassis modifications have not been revealed.
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