Movies - Le Mans

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	Movies - Le Mans

Le Mans (1971; director: Lee Katzin) is a film about the 24 hours of Le Mans auto race starring Steve McQueen.

The film is today still popular among race fans as it is a relatively accurate depiction of the era, with a lot of racing but very little dialogue. Due to this, and partly to the American market's general low awareness of the Le Mans 24 Hour race, it was only a moderate success at the box office there.

It was filmed on the circuit during the 1970 race. The Porsche 908 which McQueen had driven to a second place in the 12 Hours of Sebring equipped with heavy movie cameras competed in the race, providing actual racing footage from the track. The #29 car travelled 282 laps and finished the race, but it was not classified as it had to stop too often to change film and covered not enough distance.

McQueen had intended to race a Porsche 917 with Jackie Stewart, but the #26 entry was not accepted.

Additional footage was shot using genuine racing cars of the day, mainly Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512. These staged the main rivalry in the 1970 season and the film, too. According to the rules, 25 of each model had to be built, so enough were available. For crash scenes, cheaper Lola T70s chassis were used, disguised with bodywork of the Porsche and Ferrari.

Trivia

A mechanic took one of the 600hp Ferrari 512 cars out on a trip on public roads to make an impression on his girlfriend

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Movies - Le Mans

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