The great Le Mans garagistes that challenged factory might

By:

Gary Watkins

Jun 9, 2022, 11:40 AM

Glickenhaus is the latest in a line of small-time constructors to take on the big names. Here are some of the finest in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours

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Alain de Cadenet was a throwback to a bygone age, a plucky privateer who stood out from the crowd even in the more carefree days of the 1970s when he started out on his quest to win Le Mans. The Brit with a French father once towed one of the specials he created with that aim all the way to France behind his 1928 Bentley Speed Six. The starting point was the tiny mews garage in central London that the team called home. De Cadenet took the term garagiste to a new extreme.

Yet de Cadenet and his small team were genuine contenders in multiple seasons in the 1970s and into the 1980s. He made it onto the podium in 1976 with a Lola, but more to the point went to the 1980 event as one of the pre-race favourites after a pair of wins with his own open-top Group 6 prototype ahead of the 24 Hours.

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Gary Watkins

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Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.