Porsche at Le Mans: 70 Years | Book Review

Sponsored Content Presented by Motorbooks.

Porsche’s history has long been intertwined with Le Mans. It’s hard to discuss the last 70 years of the race without mentioning the famed automaker. Through good times and bad, gas shortages and a pandemic, Porsche has been there–often collecting some hardware. 

“Porsche at Le Mans” chronicles that entire history, starting with the brand’s 1951 debut. A strong finish that year, the book notes, would help promote the recently released 356. The team prepared three lightweight, streamlined 356 SL coupes for that first run; while one car was destroyed during pre-race testing and another suffered an accident in practice, the third one finished 20th overall and first in class. A legacy had begun. 

The book then walks through the next 69 years–all the photos, all the details, all the box scores. Sidebars detail people and machines that helped forge that legacy. Despite the vast ground covered, however, the book presents everything in easily digestible bites. 

Surprises can be found in these pages, too, like the 928 entered by an all-French team in 1984 and Kees Nierop’s first-hand account of driving the one-off 961, the road race version of the 959.

“Porsche at Le Mans: 70 Years” by Glen Smale
Published by Motorbooks
320 pages
$75

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