Back in 1923, almost a century ago, Le Mans had been conceived first and foremost as a 24-hour challenge for automobile manufacturers to showcase their products and put them to the ultimate test. Now, 84 editions later, this still is very much the case, and in that respect Nissan’s much-publicised 2015 campaign, though ultimately flawed, was spot-on: front-engined, front-wheel-drive cars were what they sold most, while hybrid power was the future.
Though never in combination with each other, all three of the features which made the Nissan unique had already been tried and tested many times before at Le Mans. Indeed, all pre-war competitors and many post-war vehicles, were front-engined. The first front-wheel-drive car to enter Le Mans, however, was Jean-Albert Gregoire’s Tracta in 1927. With its 1100cc, 4-cylinder engine made…
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Racecar Engineering (Digital) - 1 Issue, July 2017