Page Created 15/07/2020

24 Hours of Le Mans: 1927

Last Edit: 12/06/2024

 

The 1927 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 5th Grand Prix of Endurance, was a motor race which took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 18 and 19 June 1927. The race was one of the most remarkable and dramatic pre-war Le Mans races. It is commonly remembered due to the infamous White House crash, a major accident that involved eight cars including all three of the widely tipped Bentley team's entries, and caused the retirement of two of them. The race was eventually won by the third which, although badly damaged, was able to be repaired by drivers Dudley Benjafield and Sammy Davis. It was Bentley's second victory in the endurance classic.

This year the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) lifted the minimum production required from 10 to 30 cars. A new dispensation for 1100 to 1500cc was to let them have only three seats. Crucially this removed 60kg of compulsory ballast from them.

Grand Garage Saint-Didier, the large Parisian car-dealership sponsoring the Index competition, boosted its prize-money to a substantial FF50000.

Concerned about the advent of specialised racing fuels with expensive high-octane ratings, the ACO now dictated that all cars had to use the same commercial-grade gasoline. This raised many complaints from the teams concerned about the effects on their highly tuned racing engines. The ACO provided the teams with 20-litre churns of Standard Oil's “Eco-Essence” gasoline. A chemist analysed the residual fuel of each car at the end of the event and confirmed that no fuel-modification had occurred.

Where we have not had a model of the car as raced through the business I've added another example of the car as an illustration (where I have one)

Pos

Car

No.

Team

Drivers

Chassis

Engine

Laps

1

 Bentley 3 Litre

3

 Bentley Motors Limited

 Dudley Benjafield
 Sammy Davis

Bentley 3 Litre Speed

Bentley 3.0 S4

137

2

 Still Looking

25

 Société des Moteurs Salmson

 André de Victor
 Jean Hasley

Salmson Grand Sport

Salmson 1094cc S4

117

3

 Still Looking

23

 Société des Moteurs Salmson

 Georges Casse
 André Rousseau

Salmson Grand Sport

Salmson 1094cc S4

115

4

 Still Looking

15

 Société des Construction
Automobile Parisienne

 Lucien Desvaux
 Fernand Vallon

S.C.A.P. Type O

SCAP 1492cc S8

111

5

 Still Looking

26

 Établissements Henri Précloux

 Guy Bouriat
 Pierre Bussienne

E.H.P. Type DS

CIME 1094cc S4

109

6

 Still Looking

21

 Société des Applications à
Refroidissements par Air

 André Marandet
 Gonzaque Lécureul

SARA BDE

SARA 1099cc S4

107

7

 Still Looking

20

 SA des Automobiles Tracta

 Jean-Albert Grégoire
 Lucien Lemesle

Tracta Gephi

S.C.A.P. 1099cc S4

98

N/C
**

 Still Looking

16

 Société des Construction
Automobile Parisienne

Albert Clément
 Henri Guilbert

S.C.A.P. Type O

SCAP 1492cc S8

99

DNF

 Still Looking

4

 Société des Automobile
Ariès

 Robert Laly
 Jean Chassagne

Ariès Type S GP2 Surbaisée

Ariès 3.0L S4

122

DNF

 Still Looking

8

 Fabrique Automobile
de St Ouen

 Raymond Leroy
 Pierre Mesnel

Fasto A3 Sport

Fasto 1996cc S4

96

DNF

 Still Looking

10

 Fabrique Automobile
de St Ouen

 Michel Doré
 Roger Hellot

Fasto A3 Sport

Fasto 1996cc S4

75

DNF

 Still Looking

9

 Fabrique Automobile
de St Ouen

 Frédéric Thelusson
 . Brosseau

Fasto A3 Sport

Fasto 1996cc S4

72

DSQ

 Still Looking

14

 Société des Applications à
Refroidissements par Air

 Gaston Mottet
 Emile Maret

SARA SP7

SARA 1498cc S6

50

DNF

 Still Looking

22

 Société des Applications à
Refroidissements par Air

 Henri Armand
 Gaston Duval

SARA BDE

SARA 1099cc S4

42

DNF

 Bentley 4.5 Litre (example)

1

 Bentley Motors Limited

 Frank Clement
 Leslie Callingham

Bentley 4½ Litre

Bentley 4.4L S4

35

DNF

 Bentley 3 Litre (example)

2

 Bentley Motors Limited

 Baron André d'Erlanger
 George Duller

Bentley 3 Litre Speed

Bentley 3.0 S4

34

DNF

 Still Looking

12

 Automobiles Th. Schneider SA

 Jacques Chanterelle
 René Schiltz

Th. Schneider 25 SP 'Le Mans'

Th. Schneider 1954cc S4

34

DNF

 Still Looking

11

 Automobiles Th. Schneider SA

 Robert Poirier
 Pierre Tabourin

Th. Schneider 25 SP 'Le Mans'

Th. Schneider 1954cc S4

26

DSQ

 Still Looking

29

 Société des Automobile
Ariès

 Fernand Gabriel
 Louis Paris

Ariès CC2 Super

Ariès 1088cc S4

23

DSQ

 Still Looking

24

 Société des Moteurs Salmson

 Lionel de Marmier
 Pierre Goutte

Salmson Grand Sport

Salmson 1094cc S4

21

DSQ

 Still Looking

28

 Société des Automobile
Ariès

 Arthur Duray
 Roger Delano

Ariès CC4

Ariès 1088cc S4

16

DNF

 Still Looking

27

 Établissements Henri Précloux

 Henri de Costier
 Hilaire Gaignard

E.H.P. Type DS

CIME 1094cc S4

8

 

 

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