The 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 35th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 10 and 11 June 1967. It was also the seventh round of the 1967 World Sportscar Championship.
Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt, driving a Ford Mk IV, won the race after leading from the second hour. As of this victory remains both the only all-American victory in Le Mans history — American drivers (Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt), team (Shelby-American Inc.), chassis constructor (Ford), engine manufacturer (Ford), and tires (Goodyear) — as well as the only victory of a car designed and built entirely (both chassis and engine) in the United States.
Ferrari were second and third, and these top-three cars all broke the 5000 km mark in total distance covered for the first time. All overall records were broken – fastest, furthest, a new lap record, and biggest engine to win, along with a number of class records.Clausager 1982, p.153
Regulations After the previous year's complete change in the CSI (Commission Sportive Internationale - the FIA’s regulatory body) – the FIA Appendix J – there were no significant changes or updates to the regulations.
In an effort to reduce the speed disparity between the classes, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) lifted its minimum average speed for qualification, from to . They also now required all cars to qualify to be within 85% of the pole-position car’s average speed.Spurring 2010, p.242 There was also about a 2.5% increase to the minimum distances on the Index of Performance.Moity 1974, p.109-111
Entries Once again there was a marked imbalance between the categories with only six Sports Cars and seven GTs versus the 41 Prototypes in the starting line-up.Clausager 1982, p.148 It brought together the best of the world’s racing drivers with 37 who had, or would, race in Formula 1. There were five World Champions and in the previous month, eleven drivers had raced in the Monaco Grand Prix and seven in the Indy 500.Spurring 2010, p.241 Defending champions Ford, along with Porsche, had the biggest representation with ten cars. The new Ford GT40 Mark IV was an updated version of the Ford J-Car, which was shelved following the fatal accident of Ken Miles in August 1966Fox 1973, p.204 (The Mk III being a small-production road-carSpurring 2010, p.244-6). The Mark IV had an all new chassis designed and built in the United States. The big-block 427 cu in (7-litre) Ford Galaxie-derived engine from the Mk.II was now pushing out 530 bhp. Four cars were ready for Le Mans: two for Shelby American who had the American pair of Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt in one car and defending champion Bruce McLaren with Mark Donohue in the other. The team had to fabricate a roof "bubble" to accommodate the helmet of Dan Gurney, who stood more than 190 cm (6 feet, 3 inches) tall. The other two went to Holman & Moody with its teams of Mario Andretti/Lucien Bianchi and Denny Hulme/Lloyd Ruby.
After a humiliating loss to the Ferrari works team at the opening round at Daytona (who finished 1-2-3, crossing the finish line there the same way Ford had at Le Mans the year before), Ford had won the next round at Sebring with Mario Andretti and Bruce McLaren driving the new Mk IV. For safety in numbers, Ford also entered three Mk IIB's (lightened versions of the previous year's car) run by Shelby American (Ronnie Bucknum/Paul Hawkins), Holman & Moody (Frank Gardner/Roger McCluskey) and Ford France (Jo Schlesser/Guy Ligier). Added to this were 3 GT40 Mk I entries for the S5.0 class: Ford France, John Wyer Automotive and Scuderia Filipinetti of Switzerland each entered 1. Although the Ford France, John Wyer and Scuderia Filipinetti entries were not official works entries like the Shelby-American and Holman & Moody teams were, they still received substantial factory support.
This year Ferrari chose to concentrate its efforts on the large-Prototype category. The latest evolution of the 250P, the 330 P4 had new bodywork, a better gearbox and the engine reworked, now putting out 450 bhp. Although lighter and with far better handling, it could not match the big Fords on sheer straight-line pace. Four were built and all were at Le Mans. The works team, now under Franco Lini, brought three of the cars. F1 team drivers Chris Amon and Lorenzo Bandini had won at the banked tracks at Daytona and Monza, but after Bandini was killed at Monaco, Amon drove with Nino Vaccarella in the open-top, spyder, version at Le Mans. Team regulars Ludovico Scarfiotti/Mike Parkes had the second and Klass/Sutcliffe the third. The other P4 was run by the Equipe Nationale Belge for Willy Mairesse/”Beurlys”.
There were also three updated P3's (now called the 412 P) for the other customer teams: Maranello Concessionaires (Richard Attwood/Piers Courage), Scuderia Filipinetti (Jean Guichet/Herbert Müller) and the North American Racing Team (NART) for Pedro Rodriguez/Giancarlo Baghetti. NART also ran their older modified-P2 again.Spurring 2010, p.253
After the success in 1966, John Wyer and Ford had split amicably. J.W. Automotive had purchased the Ford Advanced Vehicles facility and set about adapting the GT40. With a new narrow-cockpit body design by Len Bailey, the Mirage M1 had new suspension and carried the 351 cu in (5.75L) Ford engine.Laban 2001, p.152-3 After Jacky Ickx and Dick Thompson sensationally won the Spa 1000km race, two cars were entered for Le Mans. Ickx co-drove with Alan Rees and Thompson had David Piper.Spurring 2010, p.250
Also rewarded for their work with the Ford GT project, Lola Cars returned to Le Mans with the new T70. John Surtees had won the inaugural Can Am series in North America with a Chevrolet V8 engine. The Mk3 GT version was taken to Le Mans, now powered by an Aston Martin engine developing 450 bhp. Surtees had David Hobbs as co-driver, with a second car for Chris Irwin/Peter de Klerk
The most striking cars this year were the two Chaparrals. The new model 2F had a high-mounted adjustable wing pushing down on the rear wheels. It was now fitted with a Chevrolet big-block 427 cu in (7-litre) that produced over 550 bhp through a three-speed automatic transmission.Spurring 2010, p.258 Previous race-winner Phil Hill raced with Mike Spence with Bruce Jennings/Bob Johnson in the second car.
Once again, Porsche arrived with a new prototype evolved from the Porsche 906 Carrera 6 that was homologated in 1966 and used mainly by customers teams, winning the S 2.0 class in the 1966 and 1967 World Sportscar Championship. To leave the sportscar homologation restrictions of the 906 behind, Porsche already in 1966 introduced the 910 to use different engine options, upgraded suspension and long tail bodies. In 1967, the new workhorse scored dominant wins at the twisty tracks, a 1-2-3 podium sweep at the Targa Florio, followed by a 1-2-3-4 at the Nürburgring 1000km. While the complicated former Formula One F8 engine with 2.2L performed consistently in the hillclimbs and the few endurance races it was used, culminating in an overall victory at the Targa, it finished only 4th in the home race behind its siblings, while it put its car into the P+2.0 or P5.0 class with overwhelming competition on fast circuits where the 2.0L F6 engines (fuel-injected for 220 bhp) had scored podium finishes, 3rd at Sebring and Monza, even 2nd at Spa. For Le Mans, the team was cautious and only entered the 2.0L classes. All Porsches had F6 engines, not only the homologated pair of 906 sportscars and the various 911, but also the two regular 910 of Rolf Stommelen/Jochen Neerpasch and Targa Florio winners Udo Schütz/Joe Buzzetta. However, the team also introduced a new car: the 907 was switched over to RHD steering and had a new narrow cabin body, similar to future 908 and 917. Two of these 907 cars were present, fitted with very long tails specifically for the Ligne droite des Hunaudières (Mulsanne Straight), driven by 1965 race-winner Jochen Rindt with current Hillclimb champion Gerhard Mitter, and Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann.Spurring 2010, p.254-5
As neither Alfa Romeo nor any of Ferrari's Dino 206 S showed, Porsche's main opposition would be from Matra. Their new MS630 still used the 2-litre BRM V8 F1-derived engine, but it was built to also be capable of carrying the Ford 4.7-litre V8 (which was tried at the April test weekend) as well as a new Matra V12 3-litre F1 engine still being developed. Although capable of 290 km/h (180 mph) in a straight line, its cornering handling meant it was still slower than the Porsche. The same driver-combinations returned: Jean-Pierre Beltoise/Johnny Servoz-Gavin alongside Jean-Pierre Jaussaud/Henri Pescarolo.Spurring 2010, p.260
Last present in 1964, Team Elite returned to Le Mans with the new Lotus 47, the race version of the Lotus Europa. Colin Chapman’s new design was fitted with a 165 bhp Ford 1.6-litre twin-cam engine.Spurring 2010, p.261
Alpine arrived with seven entries of its A210 including two for its customer team, Ecurie Savin-Calberson. A range of the Renault-Gordini engine were offered in 1000, 1300 and 1500cc; that latter engine was raced by veterans Mauro Bianchi/Jean Vinatier. There was also an older M64 entered by NART. The two drivers, Therier and Chevallier, had been chosen from 200 applicants in a speed-trial by team-owner Luigi Chinetti.Spurring 2010, p.251
After bringing the Mini-Marcos to Le Mans in 1966, this year Frank Costin came up with an unusual aerodynamic design for privateer racer Roger Nathan. With a plywood frame, fibreglass bodywork, it had a 1-litre Hillman Imp engine mounted at a 45° angle, putting out 97 bhp.Spurring 2010, p.263 And making up the class were the returning entries from CD-Peugeot, Marcos and Austin-Healey.
There were only six cars in the Group 4 Sports Cars category, as many of the prototypes could not be produced in sufficient numbers, as Ferrari had found out with the Dino 206 S, ending production at 18. Other types were outdated or mismatched, like the 1965 winning Ferrari 250 LM with only a 3.3 litre engine, too small for S5.0. Three Ford GT40s were entered in that class, by Ford France, Scuderia Filipinetti and John Wyer’s J.W. Automotive. Porsche factory-entered a standard 906 for Ben Pon and Vic Elford, the Rally driver making his Le Mans debut, another 906 S2.0 entry came from French privateer Christian Poirot. Abarth was back at Le Mans for the first time since 1962, with the French Ecurie du Maine running one of the new Abarth 1300 OT in S1.3. It had Abarth’s own 1.3-litre DOHC engine, that developed 147 bhp.Spurring 2010, p.262
In a similarly small field, there were only the seven entrants in the Group 3 GT category. The Scuderia Filipinetti and Equipe Nationale Belge teams supplemented their Prototype entries with Ferrari 275 GTBs. They were up against Belgian privateer Claude Dubois, running a burly Shelby-modified Ford Mustang GT350, and an American-entered second generation Corvette Stingray. Finally, there were four Porsche 911 S in GT2.0, as the car started becoming the privateer’s car of choice.
This year also saw the increasing significance of the “war” between the tyre-companies, as they partnered with major manufacturers: Goodyear with Ford, Firestone with Ferrari, Dunlop with Porsche and Michelin with Alpine.
Entry list No. Group Entrant Car Drivers 1 P+5.0 Ford Motor Company Shelby American Inc. Ford GT40 Mk.IV Ford 7.0L V8 Dan Gurney A.J. Foyt 2 P+5.0 Ford Motor Company Shelby American Inc. Ford GT40 Mk.IV Ford 7.0L V8 Bruce McLaren Mark Donohue 3 P+5.0 Ford Motor Company Holman & Moody Ford GT40 Mk.IV Ford 7.0L V8 Lucien Bianchi Mario Andretti 4 P+5.0 Ford Motor Company Holman & Moody Ford GT40 Mk.IV Ford 7.0L V8 Denny Hulme Lloyd Ruby 5 P+5.0 Ford Motor Company Holman & Moody Ford GT40 Mk.II B Ford 7.0L V8 Frank Gardner Roger McCluskey 6 P+5.0 Ford France S.A. Ford GT40 Mk.II B Ford 7.0L V8 Jo Schlesser Guy Ligier 7 P+5.0 Chaparral Cars, Inc. Chaparral 2F Chevrolet 7.0L V8 Mike Spence