Commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours
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Commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours

 
Photo : Christelle MASSE - ACO/Nikin

 

Numerous commemorative actions will take place up to the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the world-famous endurance race.

Le Mans 24 Hours – 90 years old! Vote for the legend

The first of these actions began on 3rd December when the Automobile Club de l’Ouest launched a major consultation on internet on the social networks to elect the ten most prestigious cars in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

By 15th January 2013 the closing date for the first phase, over 20 000 people had voted on the dedicated Internet page ‘24 Heures du Mans 2013 – 90 ans! – Votez pour la légende!’ Among the 30 emblematic cars ten were selected, one per decade.

In the second phase a jury of prestigious international specialists presided over by Pierre Fillon, the President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest met on 1st February in Rolex France to finalize this selection with the vote of the public counting for one vote during this meeting.

 

Prestigious exhibition

Throughout the whole Le Mans week a prestigious, totally new exhibition will be held in the Village displaying the ten cars selected by the Le Mans 24 Hours 2013 – 90 Years vote. On Saturday just before the start they will go out on the track for the traditional ceremony of the return of the Le Mans 24-Hours Trophy.

Rudge-Whitworth Cup

The Le Mans 24-Hours Trophy will pay homage to the birth of the event whose first name was the ‘Grand Prix d’Endurance de 24 Heures – Coupe Rudge-Whitworth.’ The idea for the race came up at the 1922 Motor Show in the Grand Palais in Paris during a meeting between Charles Faroux, a journalist at the Vie Automobile, Georges Durand, the ACO general secretary, a few eminent members of the club, and Emile Coquille, the French representative of the Rudge-Whitworth detachable wheels company in France. The first Le Mans 24 Hours took place on 26-27 May 1923.

A replica of the Rudge-Whitworth Cup will be integrated into the 2013 Le Mans 24-Hours Trophy Centre. 

A bespoke case made by Louis Vuitton for an exceptional anniversary!

For the 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours the race organizers decided to provide a prestigious case for the trophy awarded to the winners of the event.

The legendary Trophy will return from its voyages throughout the world in a bespoke Louis Vuitton protective case. This has been designed by Patrick-Louis Vuitton, in charge of special orders in the company and the case is currently being made in the Louis Vuitton workshops in Asnières.

This special order is part of the Louis Vuitton tradition, as the company has always created elegant and ingenious cases to transport the most precious goods of its clients.  Thus, Louis Vuitton has designed cases for the transport and protection of trophies as legendary as the silver ewer of the Americas Cup and the FIFA Football World Cup.

This special order adds another prestigious chapter to the long and rich history between Louis Vuitton and the motor car for over a century.

Return in a hot air balloon

The Le Mans 24-Hours Trophy protected by its case will return to the Sarthe from the Audi headquarters in Ingolstadt in Germany by balloon. To renew with tradition this balloon in the colours of the 90th anniversary of the event will remain on the spot and over-fly the race and the circuit.

Don’t miss the party

Numerous commemorative actions dealing with the 90 years of the legendary endurance race will be organized up to the start on Saturday 22nd June at 15h00, as well as many festive and convivial events throughout the 2013 Le Mans 24-Hours week.

These surprises will be revealed one by one! All the more reason not to miss this anniversary event!     

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