The 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 32nd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 20 and 21 June 1964. It was also the ninth round of the 1964 World Sportscar Championship season.
This year marked the arrival of American teams in force, with Ford V8 engines in ten cars. It also marked the last appearance of Aston Martin and Jaguar for twenty years.Clausager 1982, p.129 Over half the entrants were mid- or rear-engined, and almost half the field had a 3-litre engine or bigger. But the number of retirements due to gearbox and clutch issues from the increased power in the cars was noticeable.Clarke 2009, p.130: Autocar Jun26 1964
Ferrari was the winner for a record fifth year in a row – the 275 P of Nino Vaccarella and former Ferrari-privateer Jean Guichet covered a record distance. The second was the Ferrari of Graham Hill and Jo Bonnier for the British Maranello Concessionaires team, ahead of the works 330 P of John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini. Ferrari dominance of the GT category was broken for the first time however by the new Shelby Cobra of Dan Gurney and Bob Bondurant finishing in fourth ahead of two of the Ferrari 250 GTOs.
Regulations Aside from a few adjustments to the sliding scale of minimum weight to engine capacity, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) made very few changes to its regulations this year. With the greatly disparate speeds, the minimum engine size was increased from 700cc to 1000cc.Clausager 1982, p.129 Otherwise, the final lap now had to be completed in fifteen minutes, down from twenty minutes.Spurring 2010, p.140Moity 1974, p.97
Entries The ACO received 71 entries and 55 cars arrived to practice, with 10 reserves. There was a strong turn-out from the current Formula 1 drivers, with the notable exception of Jim Clark and Jack Brabham.Clarke 2009, p.129-30: Autosport Jun19 1964 The proposed entry list comprised:
Category Classes PrototypeEntries GTEntries TotalEntries Large-engines 5.0+, 5.0, 4.0, 3.0L12 (+1 reserve)14 (+2 reserves)26 Medium-engines 2.5, 2.0, 1.6L311 (+2 reserves)14 Small-engines 1.3, 1.15, 1.0L13 (+5 reserves)215 Total Cars 28 (+6 reserves)27 (+4 reserves) 55
Defending champions Ferrari again arrived in force, with twelve entrants. To meet the Ford challenge, the factory team brought two new models. The 275 P was the next development of the previous year's race-winning 250 P and the new 3.3-litre V12 developed 320 bhp. Ludovico Scarfiotti, winner of that 1963 race was paired with Mike Parkes, Umberto Maglioli with Giancarlo Baghetti. Stalwart Ferrari privateer Jean Guichet was rewarded with a works drive this year alongside Nino Vaccarella. The team's F1 drivers, John Surtees and Lorenzo Bandini, drove the 330 P, a new model for this race. The 4.0-litre V12 developed 370 bhp capable of 305 kp/h (190 mph). Ferrari also supplied two 330 P's to their American and British customer teams, the North American Racing Team (NART) for Pedro Rodriguez and Skip Hudson, and Maranello Concessionaires for Graham Hill and Jo Bonnier.Spurring 2010, p.142-3 There was also a pair of 250 LM models run by the Equipe Nationale Belge and NART.
After a messy and unsuccessful attempt to purchase the Ferrari company (for US$16 millionLaban 2001, p.146Fox 1973, p.188), Ford pledged to build their own sports car to beat the Ferraris. In 1963, Ford had almost won the Indianapolis 500 at its first attempt, with Lotus. Eric Broadley’s Lola had performed well in the 1963 race and was taken on board to work on the new GT design.Fox 1973, p.190 The resulting GT40 (named for only being 40” high) bore a strong resemblance to the Lola Mk6. The Indianapolis powerplant, a 4.2L aluminium block Fairlane V8 engine developed 350 bhp capable of 340 kp/h (210 mph).Spurring 2010, p.145-7 The issue had been finding a gearbox robust enough to handle the raw engine power, and the Colotti 5-speed box was chosen. John Wyer, from Aston Martin, was brought on as project manager and three cars were entered for the race. Americans Richie Ginther and Masten Gregory had one car, while Phil Hill was paired up with Kiwi Bruce McLaren and Jo Schlesser drove with Richard Attwood (who had driven the Lola in the 1963 race).
Col. John Simone's Maserati France continued to fly the flag for the manufacturer. In turn, Maserati revised their Tipo 151 giving it fuel-injection and over 400 bhp now making it able to reach 310 kp/h (190 mph).Spurring 2010, p.157 Regular team driver André Simon, still recovering after a testing accident at Monza, was joined by fellow French veteran Maurice Trintignant.
New entrant Iso brought its new Grifo A3C, designed by Ferrari engineer Giotto Bizzarrini (who had previously designed the 250 GTO). Mounting a small-block, 327 cu in (5.35L), Chevrolet V8, it put out almost 400 bhp.Spurring 2010, p.154
Porsche moved on from derivatives of the 356 and introduced a new racer, the 904, to counter the new threats from Abarth and Alfa Romeo. However the proposed 200 bhp Flat-6 engine was not ready yet, so the GT cars were fitted with the Flat-4 from the 356 Carrera. Two prototypes were entered using the Flat-8 engine from the concluded Formula 1 program. Putting out 225 bhp made them the fastest ever 2-litre cars at Le Mans, capable of 280 kp/h (175 mph).Spurring 2010, p.152 Regular team drivers Edgar Barth / Herbert Linge were joined by Gerhard Mitter / Colin Davis – who had earlier had a sensational win in the 1964 Targa Florio. The Porsche 2-litres were now being considered “dark horses” for an outright podium place.
If the medium-sized engines were sparse, the small-engine prototype field bulged with variety. Five works teams were contesting the P-1150 class. Charles Deutsch returned with Panhard, after a year away, with the remarkable LM64 CD-3. Made of fibreglass, it had one of the most aerodynamic profiles of any car ever at Le Mans. Deutsch had to supercharge the 864cc Panhard engine (putting out 70 bhp) to meet the new 1000cc minimum engine size, using the x1.4 equivalence formula but that could push the car up to 220 kp/h (137 mph).Spurring 2010, p.159Moity 1974, p.97
René Bonnet, the previous year's class winner, returned with five cars including a pair of the victorious Aérodjet LM6s, now with an 1149cc Renault engine.Spurring 2010, p.160 Alpine returned after a tragic debut the previous year. They ran five cars – a mix of the updated M64 and the older M63 variants and running either 1149cc or 1001cc Renault engines.Spurring 2010, p.148
The Ferrari 250 GTO had delivered Ferrari the GT victory for two years running. Four customer teams (NART, Maranello Concessionaires, Equipe Nationale Belge and privateer Fernand Tavano) entered the reliable 3-litre thoroughbred, now with new body-styling.Spurring 2010, p.163
As well as the Ford GT, Ford engines were also supplied to AC and Sunbeam with varying success. The Shelby Cobras had been very successful in American racing, and for the new year, it was given new aerodynamic bodywork and the bigger 289 cu in (4.7L) Windsor engine. Putting out nearly 400 bhp it was capable of 295 kp/h (180 mph) making it 10 kp/h faster than its Ferrari GTO competition.Spurring 2010, p.145-7 Four cars were entered: two for Shelby American, and one each for Briggs Cunningham and Ed Hugus. In the end though only two arrived alongside a works-entry Cobra Coupé from AC Cars.
The Sunbeam Tiger was to be the Rootes Group answer to the AC Cobra. It used the 260cu in (4.3L) Windsor engine from Shelby American. The body was developed from the Alpine with Lister Cars, but being made of steel it was far too heavy. The 275 bhp could only get the car up to 230 kp/h (145 mph).Spurring 2010, p.155
Aston Martin shut down their racing department when John Wyer left to manage the Ford program, selling off the three DP prototypes. Mike Salmon bought one of the DP214s and entered it as a privateer.Spurring 2010, p.166 Similarly, the Jaguar E-Type Lightweights were becoming obsolete and only two privateer entries arrived, from Peter Sargent and German Peter Lindner.Spurring 2010, p.165
The new Porsche 904 had quickly been homologated to the GT-category with the requisite production of 100 cars, most pre-sold for customer orders. Even with only the old Flat-4 engine, it could still reach 260 kp/h (160 mph).Spurring 2010, p.152 Seven cars were entered for the race: aside from the works car there were entries from the new Racing Team Holland of Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema and the Scuderia Filipinetti. Jean Kerguen and Jacques Dewes also gave up their Aston Martin (badly damaged at the previous year's race) for Dewes’ new 904.
Their only competition in-class was a works MGB entry, driven by British rally ace Paddy Hopkirk and Andrew Hedges. In the GT-1600 class the new Autodelta motorsport division of Alfa Romeo set its first development project to be the Giulia TZ. Now homologated to the GT-category, the uprated 1570cc engine developed 135 bhp with a top speed of 245 kp/h (150 mph). Three cars were entered by the Milanese Scuderia Sant Ambroeus team who had already taken class victories at the Sebring, Targa Florio and Nürburgring races.Spurring 2010, p.155
Practice There was strong support at the Test Weekend on 18–19 April with 34 cars present, although the rain limited performance.Spurring 2010, p.140 Ludovico Scarfiotti put up the fastest time, of 3m43.8 in the new Ferrari 275 P, with John Surtees not far behind with 3m45.9 in his 330 P stablemate.Spurring 2010, p.171 A pair of Ford GTs made their first appearance but the results were disappointing. The car was unstable on the straight, with the nose lifting at speed. On the first day, Jo Schlesser had a major accident at the Mulsanne kink after hitting standing water.Laban 2001, p.147Moity 1974, p.97Fox 1973, p.195 The door flew off Roy Salvadori’s car, and the next day he also had an accident approaching the Mulsanne corner. Although uninjured, it was enough to convince Salvadori to leave the program.Spurring 2010, p.145-7
The Rover-BRM turbine car was at the April test weekend. But the car suffered damage on the trip back to the factory. This, as well as problems with the new heat-exchanger, meant it was not ready for the race itself.Spurring 2010, p.113Moity 1974, p.97Clausager 1982, p.129
By race week, the Fords had got aerodynamic improvements making them much more competitive, including a tail ‘lip’ to reduce rear-end lift. At scrutineering though their fuel-tanks were found to be bigger than the 140-litre limit and displacement blocks had to be added.Clarke 2009, p.132: Autocar Jun26 1964
It was John Surtees who took pole position with a new record lap of 3m42.0 in his 330 P at dusk on the last practice. He also slightly damaged the car when he hit a fox coming up to Maison Blanche.Spurring 2010, p.142-3 Richie Ginther got his Ford into second with a 3m45.3, ahead of Pedro Rodriguez's NART Ferrari (3m.45.5) and Phil Hill's Ford (3m45.9). In fact the two manufacturers took the top nine grid positions. Dan Gurney was 10th in his Shelby Cobra (3m56.1) as the fastest GT car. The lead Shelby Cobra, along with the works AC and Aston Martin, were the only GTs to get under 4-minute laps.
The Davis/Mitter Porsche was the fastest 2-litre, qualifying 18th (4m02.1) and the Delageneste/Morrogh Alpine was the fastest of the smaller cars with a 4m34.3 (35th).Spurring 2010, p.169 But rally-specialist Pierre Orsini rolled his Alpine at Dunlop curve and broke his ankle.Spurring 2010, p.148
Race Start The weather was cold but dry for the 4pm start. Just before the start ten spectators were seriously injured when an advertising hoarding they were on collapsed.