The change in French racing regulations had promised a strong field for the cancelled race the year before. A year later, this finally came to fruition with a competitive entry list for this race. After a year of further testing, French manufacturers were in force for outright victory – with Delahaye, Bugatti, Talbot-Lago and Delage all present, thus vindicating the
ACF's decision. In a unique confluence, both Le Mans and the blue riband French Grand Prix would be run to the same regulations this year and mindful of the pre-eminent race of the season following only a fortnight later, both Delahaye and Bugatti kept their latest racing models under wraps. Their competition had wilted – the British Lagonda, winner in 1935 now looked decidedly outmatched just two years later. Alfa Romeo had dominated the race for four years before that with their supercharged 8C. However, after the
Scuderia Ferrari withdrew a 3-car entry, there was only a single entry left, from two-time winner
Raymond Sommer. In the smaller classes, there was the debut for two German teams,
Adler and
BMW. Often recently the preserve of small British sports cars, the list was notable for the number of small French cars, led by a squadron of Simca-Fiats, resembling an entry-list more akin to the first years of the race in the 1920s. The further penalising on supercharged engines meant there were only two such cars in the field this year, well down on the dozen or more typically seen in the earlier years of this decade. Given the cancellation of the race in 1936, the Coupe Bienniale was instead drawn from the finishers of the previous 1935 race which still provided twelve entries returning for honours. •
Note: The first number is the total entries, the second the number who started. Using the equivalent engine-size, with supercharged engines having the new x1.6 conversion factor
Over 2-litre entries Automobiles
Bugatti had struggled in Grand Prix racing, with their
Type 59 proving unsuccessful. Under the new ACF regulations work had started on the new car soon after the 1936 race was cancelled. The
Type 57 Grand Prix (later shortened to 57G) was developed from the Type 57S luxury tourer. The 3266cc racing engine put out 170 bhp with the main chassis members drilled out with holes to reduce weight. On the long back straight, it could reach almost 220 kp/h (135 mph). With a 130-litre fuel tank, over it all was a full-width streamlined magnesium-alloy body encompassing the wheels and giving it the nickname "tank". It was also fitted with hydraulic brakes and a 4-speed
synchromesh gearbox. It also had an extra headlight mounted on the right-hand side, ahead of the driver's door, to help spot the apex of the right-hand turns – particularly those of Tertre Rouge, Mulsanne and Arnage. In the hands of Grand Prix driver
Jean-Pierre Wimille and Raymond Sommer, it had proven successful in 1936, including winning the French Grand Prix. There were two other privateer models entered – a new Type 57 Sports for Frenchman Raymond d'Estrez Saugé, which he had fitted with a larger rear fuel-tank for the 3.3-litre car. René Kippeurt also returned with his 3-litre
Type 44. Sometimes racing under the pseudonym "Rekip", this year he had modified the bodywork of his tourer.
Delahaye had been convinced to come back to racing with the help of the wealthy American couple of Laury and
Lucy Schell, resident in France. The ACF rules had produced the Type 135, and their money saw the development of the updated 135 CS, with a 170 bhp 3.6-litre Straight-6, and fitted with a semi-automatic gearbox. The Schells purchased four cars and encouraged a number of their French racing friends to buy cars as well – many of whom then fitted personalised aluminium bodyshells. Like Bugatti, a new model was being prepared. The Type 145 had a 4.5-litre V12, but not being fully ready it was the 135 CS cars that were entered. Although not as fast as the Bugatti or Talbot, they did have a proven reliability. A brand new car, painted black, was built at
Portello for Sommer and driven straight to Le Mans by his prospective co-driver Giovanni Battista Guidotti, the Alfa engineer who had supervised the cars preparation. Meanwhile
Louis Delâge, still kept on as a director, developed the
D6 coupé. The elegant D6-70 was a new version with a special 3-litre engine. Producing 130 bhp, it was capable of getting the car up to 160 kp/h (100 mph). A 1936 entry was filed by the works team, but this year a car was entered by the Société R.V. – a company co-owned by Parisian Delage agent Jacques de Valence de Minardière, who was also its lead driver. This car had recently been bought by slot-machine magnate
Louis Gérard, who had never raced before, but would be the co-driver. In 1937 Dreyfus left for Delahaye. In return, Lago was able to entice
Albert Divo and young star
René le Bègue to join from Delahaye, along with Raymond Sommer. Over the break, the cars were lightened and given an extra 25 bhp. Four were entered for Le Mans. However, with the French Grand Prix only a fortnight later, Lago withdrew the two works cars to have them prepared for that race and Sommer had a release clause in his contract to drive his Alfa Romeo at Le Mans. Two privately owned cars would race – one with Chinetti, joined by off-contract Grand Prix driver
Louis Chiron, and the other with young Greek ERA-driver Nicky Embiricos and Raphaël de Montbressieux (racing under the pseudonym
"Raph").
1.1- to 2-litre entries Just as much as the larger-engine classes, the 2-litre class promised an exciting competition with a good field of new entries. British roadsters had dominated the mid-sized classes in the past few years.
Aston Martin had achieved an excellent third outright in the 1935 race, although of late, Riley had taken over their pre-eminence. Aston Martin was the expensive, elite brand and now looked to move into the under-represented 2-litre market. Orchestrator of that success, Technical Director
"Bert" Bertelli, had left the company in February. The new Speed Model had either a 1949cc engine or a dry-sump 1971cc version. When the works team was folded after the cancelled 1936 race, the two cars were on-sold several times to end up with Robert Hichens and Dutchman Eddie Hertzberger and both arrived at Le Mans. The 1.5-litre car that had finished third two years previously also returned to the track, now owned and entered by John Skiffington,
Viscount Massereene. Like Aston Martin, Riley had also closed down its works team, as economic realities were forced on the company. Bought out by
Morris Motors, no British entries arrived. However, there were two French entries from the new Écurie Eudel of Guy Lapchin and Jean Eudel (owner of the Riley dealership in Paris). Taking two ex-works cars, they commissioned Georges Paulin to design a new metal bodyshell with streamlined wheel-fairings (being the same designer and coachbuilder as Peugeot and Darl'mat were using). Lapchin rode with Jean Trévoux, who had an entry for the Biannual Cup. Raoul Forestier, another Écurie Eudel investor, drove the other car. In August 1934, "Aldy" Aldington, director of
Frazer Nash, signed an agreement with BMW to license-manufacture the German cars in Britain. Soon after, the new
BMW 328 model was introduced. Designed by former
Horch engineer Fritz Fiedler, the car featured swing-axle front suspension, a live rear axle and hydraulic dampers. The 2-litre 6-cylinder engine produced 80 bhp and could get the roadster up to 150 kp/h (95 mph). Full production started in February 1937 along with racing successes. For Le Mans, three cars were entered: one full works entry, driven by Uli Richter and Fritz Roth (replacing
Ernst Henne injured at the recent Eifelrennen race). The other two were badged as Frazer Nashes, with Aldington joined by his fellow AFN-director A.F.P Fane, while up-and-coming
ERA works driver
Pat Fairfield was brought in to join AFN-investor
David Murray. They were all improved versions of the standard car, with a spare wheel mounted on the rear, 118-litre, fuel tank and were now capable of reaching 185 kp/h (115 mph). The British cars ran on Dunlops while the German car ran on tyres from local Munich company
Metzeler.
Adler had been a
Frankfurt mechanical company since starting in 1880, building bicycles. By the start of the war, they had 20% of the German car market. The Depression hit the company hard, having to lay off 70% of their workforce. The
Trumpf model, introduced in 1932, was the start of their revival of fortunes. The 'Super' version had a bigger 1.7-litre version of the side-valve engine, that put out 38 bhp. The "Rennlimousine" variant caused a sensation when it was unveiled in 1936. Based on a Swiss concept car from the 1920s, it featured a fully enclosed, longtail aluminium bodyshell. It was designed by Adler engineer Reinhard von König-Fachsenfeld, one of the innovators in vehicle aerodynamics. The curved windscreen and sloping cockpit blended into the pointed tail. The wheels were included under the shell and the hubs had hubcaps over the spokes. Endurance records were set at the
AVUS track and the race-engines were tuned up to 55 bhp. The other new-entrant manufacturer was
HRG. Only formed in 1936 by
Ronald Godfrey and his partners, they had built a half-dozen cars with a staff of 10. An aluminium body was fitted over an ash-wood frame. It was fitted with a 1.5-litre
Meadows overhead-valve engine and 4-speed gearbox. One of the first people to purchase a model was Archie Scott. He brought the car to Le Mans, with HRG principal Ted Halford (the "H" of HRG) as his co-driver.
Up to 1.1-litre entries Singer returned to defend their class-victory from 1935. In the interim, the works team had been closed down but the team manager, Stan Barnes, set up his own team with his brother Donald. Team Autosports brought three cars to the race, with works backing. Stan Barnes and
Roy Eccles had entries in the Biannual Cup after driving for Aston Martin in the 1935 race. Donald would drive one car, joined by Norman Black (a former Singer works driver), while Eccles had his wife Marjorie as co-driver. A fourth car was put in by French privateer, Jacques Savoye, who put his own bodyshell on the chassis. Earlier in the decade,
MG cars had fared very well at Le Mans. This year, there was only a single entry. At the previous race, in 1935, speed-record champion
George Eyston had three all-female crews to run the
Midget PA. This year he provided support to
Dorothy Stanley-Turner, the 20-year-old owner of a
Midget PB. The newer model was now 937cc and developed 43 bhp. She had been taught to drive by Joan Chetwynd and then started racing at Easter. It was only after the race that she revealed that she was driving with a broken rib after a recent fall. Her co-driver, Enid Riddell, was an interesting choice – she would be imprisoned in London during the war as a Nazi sympathiser. With ample technical support from
Fiat, the new
SIMCA daughter-company had achieved rapid success on the circuits in 1936, with
Amédée Gordini running, effectively, a works team. Gordini convinced
Henri Pigozzi, SIMCA general manager, to support the design of a special racing version of the Simca-Fiat 6CV. It was built with a one-piece aluminium body on a wooden frame, with improved suspension and gearbox, and hydraulic brakes. The 996 cc engine was tuned and modified to now generate 55 bhp. Alongside this project, SIMCA had started licence-production of the
Fiat 500 "Topolino", known as the
Simca Cinq or 5CV. Gordini also prepared racing versions of that model, with another specially fashioned bodyshell. Its little high-compression 569cc side-valve engine put out just 20 bhp. They would be the smallest-engined cars ever to compete at Le Mans. Gordini brought five cars to Le Mans, with three Sixes and a pair of Cinqs. He drove a Six himself, with team regular Philippe Maillard-Brune, while his other driver, Jean Viale, ran a Cinq. The Alin brothers, who had driven a
BNC twice before, were brought in as co-pilots. Just-Émile Vernet entered his privateer SIMCA Six, with Suzanne Largeot as his co-driver. A surprising entry came from
Yves Giraud-Cabantous with the pair of venerable
Chenard-Walcker Z1s. He had run his own Caban cars here in 1931 and 1932 with the aid of Roger Labric. The Chenard-Walckers had last raced here in
1925, helping secure the Biennial Cup and the first (and only) Trienniale Cup for the manufacturer. At the time these small, streamlined cars had been innovative, inspired by the
Bugatti Type 32. After Chenard-Walcker stopped motor-racing in 1926, the cars had been parked up in a warehouse until Giraud-Cabantous offered to buy them. The Austin EK75 "Speedy" was the sports-version of the
Austin 7. Fitted with a new racing engine, the latest "Grasshopper" variant could now reach 125 kp/h (80 mph). A one-piece bodyshell, removing the doors on the roadster, saved further weight. Again, taking advantage of prior results, all three cars were able to be entered for the Biannual Cup. An unusual entry was a Ford Model CX entered by Australian
Joan Richmond and her fiancé Maurice "Bill" Bilney. The CX was a deluxe tourer version of the
Ford Model C Ten production car, with a 30 bhp engine. Assisted by former Aston Martin engineer and driver Jack Besant, they upgraded the car to racing standard for the 1936 race. A year later they entered it again. ==Practice and pre-race==