1967 24 Hours of Le Mans
Ferrari were second and third, and these top-three cars all broke the 5000 km mark in total distance covered for the first time.
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.
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.
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) This year Ferrari chose to concentrate its efforts on the large-Prototype category.
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.
[9] After Jacky Ickx and Dick Thompson sensationally won the Spa 1000km race, two cars were entered for Le Mans.
Two cars were present, driven by 1964 race-winner Jochen Rindt with current Hillclimb champion Gerhard Mitter and Jo Siffert/Hans Herrmann.
[15] 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.
Porsche entered a standard 906 for Ben Pon and Vic Elford, making his Le Mans debut, as well as 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 1300 GT.
They were up against Belgian privateer Claude Dubois, running a burly Shelby-modified Ford Mustang GT350, and an American-entered second generation Corvette Stingray.
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.
Foyt Mark Donohue Mario Andretti Lloyd Ruby Roger McCluskey Guy Ligier Phil Hill Bob Johnson Dick Guldstrand Giancarlo Naddeo David Hobbs Peter de Klerk Dick Thompson Brian Muir Henri Greder Chris Tuerlinckx Mario Casoni Peter Sutcliffe Nino Vacarella Mike Parkes Herbert Müller Piers Courage "Jean Beurlys" Giancarlo Baghetti Ricardo Rodríguez Dieter Spoerry Johnny Servoz-Gavin Henri Pescarolo Ben Pon Jochen Neerpasch Joe Buzzetta Gerhard Mitter Hans Herrmann Herbert Linge Anton Fischhaber John Wagstaff Mauro Bianchi José Rosinski Jean-Claude Andruet Jacques Cheinisse Alain LeGuellec Jem Marsh Andrew Hedges Denis Dayan Alain Bertaut Mike Beckwith François Chevalier Patrick Depailler Paul Hawkins Leo Cella Philippe Farjon Hughes de Fierlant Brian Redman Jean Mésange Christian Poirot Patrice Sanson At the April Test Weekend, Bandini was fastest in the Ferrari P4 spyder with a sensational lap record of 3:25.4, ahead of Parkes in the other P4, then Surtees in the Lola (3:31.9).
[10] The Team Elite Lotus had a similar problem but resolved theirs by putting empty plastic bottles in the fuel tank.
[19][21] Bucknum's Ford and Rodriguez's NART P3 were first away,[19] while both Chaparrals were among the last as Jim Hall insisted on his drivers doing up their full race-harness before leaving.
At the end of the first lap it was the Mk IIBs of Bucknum and Gardner leading Gurney's MkIV, then the Ferraris of Rodriguez and Amon, and Surtees in the Lola.
[19][23] Dubois brought the Shelby Mustang in missing half its front spoiler after bumping fenders in the startline rush[24] and Jaussaud because his Matra's door wouldn't shut properly.
[26] Suddenly Mike Salmon's JWA Ford GT burst into flames at over 300 km/h down the back straight with a full tank of fuel.
Salmon bravely got the car near to a marshal post at Mulsanne corner before jumping out but was taken to hospital with severe 2nd and 3rd-degree burns.
Because of a faulty mallet he could not change the tyre out on the track[19] and while crawling back to the pits, sparks from the wheel hub started a fire in the engine.
[26] Not long later the Chaparral had to pit with its aileron stuck in the brake position, making the car lose about 20 km/h off its top speed.
[3] Bucknum lost two hours to get a water-pipe rewelded then had to creep around for two laps to reach the mandatory 25-lap minimum for liquids replenishment[19] Twice Lloyd Ruby ditched his Ford in the Mulsanne corner sandtrap, losing all the time Hulme had made up having to get repairs to the undertray.
A. J. Foyt, who had brought in J-5, the #1 Mk IV at the same time, was complaining loudly about his American rival's aggressive driving.
(It later transpired that Bianchi was right and the brakes had been put in back to front[7]) Soon behind him at speed came McCluskey (9th) who deliberately hit the other wall believing the wreck might still have the driver trapped inside, then Schlesser (6th) who tried to weave between the two.
McCluskey, carrying the injured Andretti, commandeered a marshal's car and drove back to the Ford medical centre.
To top it off, the rear engine bonnet later flew off racing down the Mulsanne straight and another 45 minutes were lost retrieving and refitting it, dropping them to 6th.
Bucknum and Hawkins, early race-leaders, had driven hard to get back up to 6th after their overnight delay when they were finally halted by engine issues at 9.40am.
In the end it was a comfortable victory for the all-American Ford with Gurney and Foyt winning by four laps, having led for all but the first 90 minutes of the race.
It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime occasions where things turned out perfectly… I thought this hard-fought victory needed something special”.Gurney, incidentally, autographed and gave the bottle of champagne to Life Magazine photographer, Flip Schulke, who used it as a lamp for 30 years.
It was a suitable finale for Phil Hill, 1961 F1 World Champion to retire from a distinguished sports-car racing career that included three Le Mans victories.
