Recommend me a good 'History of Le Mans' DVD

[mollytherocker]

Being a long life car fan, it is quite shameful that my knowledge of this great race is fairly limited!

I am finally going to the race this year in my 911 (Yes, fully stickered up!) and want to understand a little more of the history and highlights over the years.

Anyone recommend a good DVD?

MTR

[rsv gone!]

I couldn't point you at one but the DUKE videos are good

http://www.dukevideo.com/Cars/DVD/Sportscar-and-Le...

[blueST]

You should have said earlier, I've got some good DVDs you could have borrowed. Not history as such but "Chasing the Dream" and "Lap of the Gods" are good docs, plus I've got "Le Mans" to cover the fiction.

If you want to borrow any of them, we could maybe meet up on Monday or Tuesday? Let me know.

[mollytherocker]

blueST said:

You should have said earlier, I've got some good DVDs you could have borrowed. Not history as such but "Chasing the Dream" and "Lap of the Gods" are good docs, plus I've got "Le Mans" to cover the fiction.

If you want to borrow any of them, we could maybe meet up on Monday or Tuesday? Let me know.

Great, I will borrow them! Im changing the gazebo today so will let you know when I can meet up. Mondays no good as I am working late.

Mol

[Nick M]

It's actually quite tricky ! There aren't very many DVDs which attempt to capture the whole history of the race in any meaningful way, but there was a programme on Sky last year which did a pretty good job - I think it was celebrating 100 years of the ACO so maybe worth keeping an eye out for.

Other than that, a lot of films seem to focus on particular years (and not just the reviews of the race), but the ones which are worth, IMO, a look are:

- La Ronde Infernale
- This Time Tomorrow / Target 200
- The Speed Merchants (though this is about more than just Le Mans)

And don't discount 'Le Mans' as a snapshot of what the race was like back in the early 70's.

Finally, there's a DVD called 'The legend of the 24 Hours of Le Mans' which is celebrating 80 years of the event, but I can't remember where I got it now. But it's not bad, if a little brief on each period.

Oh, and finally, finally , try to download 'Truth in 24' from iTunes (may just be on the US site) and check that out - it's an in-depth film about the Audi team in 2008 and is very, very good.


Also, you may find this helpful / interesting:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hours_of_Le_Mans

[Maruchino]

Nick M said:

Oh, and finally, finally , try to download 'Truth in 24' from iTunes (may just be on the US site) and check that out - it's an in-depth film about the Audi team in 2008 and is very, very good.

I second this recommendation, great stuff really getting me in the mood for this years race.