OF ICONS, LEGENDS, AND LE MANS

The epic endurance race circuit has given us some of the toughest, fastest and the most awe-inspiring machines on four wheels. Here are our heroes

- Dhiram Shah

PORSCHE 917

ENDURANCE race cars don't come more special than the in the orange and blue Gulf livery. The legendary Porsche prototype race car debuted in 1969 when the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race was dominated by the Ford GT40.

Not only did the 917 give Porsche their very first overall win at Le Man, but it also went on to become one of the most successful race cars for the German automaker, elevating Porsche to the pinnacle of motor racing.

The race car was powered by a flat-12 engine of 4.5, 4.9, or 5-litre capacities and the 917/30 Can-Am variant was capable of 0-100 km/h time of 2.3 seconds and a top speed of 386km/h.

The Porsche 917 was immortalised on the silver screen when it featured in Steve McQueen's 1971 film Le Mans. The car driven by McQueen in the film was sold in 2017 at auction for $14 million, which set a new sale record for Porsche.

MCLAREN F1 GTR

THE MCLAREN F1 is undoubtedly one of the greatest road cars ever made and its popularity was so high that the manufacturer was forced to create the F1 GTR in 1995 for racing.

While it never managed to get on the top step of the podium at Le Mans, the F1 FTR is remembered as one of the most iconic endurance race cars ever made.

FORD GT40