With another 24 hours of Le Mans in the books, it is certainly
appropriate to look at the winners of this classic endurance race as they
have been represented in small-scale diecast cars. While almost every Le
Mans winner is available in 1:43 scale, including correct racing colors,
the selection in 1:64 scale is much more hit and miss. The following list
is of the winning cars from 1949 to 2003. Very few of the models shown are
actual representations of the winning car. A few like the Porsche 917 of
1970 and the Mazda 787B of 1991 are quite accurate. Most are models of the
correct car in the wrong colors. I have attempted to select the closest
example of the winning car from my collection. Where the correct racing
colors are not available, I have selected the best model and graphics available.
Hot Wheels is due to release a version of the winning Ford GT from 1966
but I do not have it yet. The Porsche 936 winner of 1981 was actually an
open car but the long-tail Tomica coupe is as close as I can get. In some
cases street versions of the winning car are all I have such as the 1995
McLaren F1 by Minichamps or the 1965 Ferrari 250LM by Speedy.There are some cars that simply do not exist in small-scale. No pre-war Le Mans winners exist so I have simply started the list with post-wars winners. It is a shame that classics like the Jaguar 'C' type, Ferrari 250P and 375, Aston Martin DBR1 and the Gulf-Mirage Ford are not available (or very obscure). The gap between 1959 and 1964 is especially frustrating. It is even more curious that many modern winners are missing. How is it that the BMW V12 LMR or Audi R8 of recent years are still missing and should have been done by Siku at least? The Bentley Speed 8 of 2003 is in it's 3rd year and is too beautiful to be neglected. How did Majorette miss the Peugeot 905 models of 1992-93? Most of the Porsche winners can be represented, with a bit of a stretch here and there.
Perhaps your collection has a better example. If so, let me know and send an image if you can (mailto:doug@breithaupts.com). It is always fun to fill in another gap in my collection or to find out about a model new to me.
Le Mans 24 Hours past winners 1949-2003
Year - Car - Drivers - Distance (miles) - Speed (mph)
Hot Wheels
Minichamps
Majorette
Tomica
Corgi
Minichamps
Guisval
Guisval
Maisto
Novacar
Tomica
Tomica
Matchbox
Tomica
Zylmex
Tomica
Luso
Majorette
Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels
Matchbox
Hot Wheels
Speedy
Speedy
Hot Wheels
Hot Wheels
Tootsietoy
Matchbox
Schuco