At Le Mans in 1997, it finally looked as if the monkey was climbing down from Bob Wollek's back. In 27 starts, some for the all-conquering Porsche squad of the 1980s and in the defining car of Group C, one of history's finest sports-car exponents had inexplicably still not won overall. Then it all unravelled among the breakfast barbecue smoke drifting across the Porsche Curves: his signature bad luck had struck again. Out of the race, out of the lead.
When the sister car to Wollek's 911 GT1 also retired hours later, to the front went a young charger named Tom Kristensen, who had encountered his own many doses of bad luck chasing a Formula One seat. Just six weeks before Le Mans he had accepted a drive in a Tom Walkinshaw Racing-created, Porsche-andJaguar mongrel WSC-95, and so began the legend of the greatest sports-car racer yet.
Nought for 27 went Wollek; one for one went the youthful Dane. By 2001, the year Wollek was killed in a traffic accident aged just 57, it was nought for 31 against three for five.
Whichever way you look at it, Kristensen's record is remarkable - with parallels to Jim Clark's in F1. If the old adage that 'You don't win Le Mans, Le Mans chooses its winner' is true, for the best part of two decades the greatest motor race on Earth had a soft spot for the man known as TK. Yet he is keen to pass the credit around. "I'm sitting back, having done 18 races at Le Mans," he reflects, "and being on the podium every time we finished is something which I owe to my team and my teammates as well."
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RAY HILLIER
Double-chevron oddity proves a break from the norm for this Crewe specialist
SHORT BACK & GLIDES
Eccentric enthusiast Captain RG McLeod's series of Manx-tailed Bentley Specials reached its zenith with this unique S2 Continental.
People's choice
The diminutive but multi-million-selling Fiat 850 packed a remarkable diversity of form and function into its compact footprint
PLASTIC BREAKS FROM THE NORM
Glassfibre revolutionised niche car-body production, but just occasionally strayed into the mainstream.
A SENSIBLE SUPERCAR
The cleverly conceived four-seater Elite secured Lotus a place at the big players' table, but has it been unfairly maligned since then?
"I had a habit of grabbing second place from the jaws of victory"
From dreams of yachting glory to the Le Mans podium, via a stint at the top of the motorsport tree, Howden Ganley had quite the career
Still going strong
Herbert Engineering staked its reputation on the five-year warranty that came with its cars. A century on, this Two Litre hasn't made a claim
One for the kids
General Motors was aiming squarely at the youth market with the launch of the Pontiac GTO 60 years ago, and its runaway success popularised the muscle-car movement
A NEW BREED OF HERO
Launched at the turn of the millennium, the GT3 badge has already earned a place alongside RS, CS and turbo in Porsche lore.
Brits with SIX appeal
The straight-six engine is synonymous with a decades-long legacy of great British sports cars. Six variations on the sextet theme convene for comparison
