Alfa Romeo and its 8C 2300 remained the one to beat at the 1933 and 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans, but would they be able to hold off the charge of the impressive Rileys?
These post-war years saw huge advances in technology and popularity gaining rapidly on worldwide stage. In 1949 over 100 cars applied to enter!
With Stirling Moss, Juan Manuel Fangio and Mike Hawthorn, the 23rd edition of Le Mans was hugely anticipated, until tragedy struck in what is remembered as the worst accident in motor racing history.
Ferrari arrived at the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans well-prepared. Rain caused many accidents and engine issues, leaving the Italians to dominate in La Sarthe.
Providing much of the footage for the Steve McQueen movie, the 1970 Le Mans race, or Battle of the Titans as it was known, saw Porsche push Ferrari harder than ever.
Porsche entered as favourites, but Rondeau-Cosworth proved stubborn opposition. Would Jean Rondeau become the first driver to win Le Mans in a car baring his own name?
With Sauber not returning and two chicanes added along the Mulsanne straight, Jaguar's new XJR-12 had to now resist challenges from Nissan and Porsche at Circuit de la Sarthe.
It was down to Audi's trio of cars to fight it out, with Tom Kristensen looking to seal his first win with the German manufacturer and his second overall victory.
Audi were keen to return to winning ways at the 78th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the ultra-fast 908s meant they would have to rely on reliability to do so.
After 22 years away, Mercedes-Benz returned in triumph, scoring a 1–2 victory with their new gull-wing Mercedes-Benz W194 which had less power than the road car sold two years later.
The 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours saw entries from Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Aston Martin and Jaguar, who were hoping to take their second win in three years.
Jaguar arrived at Le Mans in 1954 with a trio of the D-Types, which were purpose built for La Sarthe, but would they prove superior to the V12-powered Ferrari 375.
The 1956 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans would prove to be a battle of the British marques, with Aston Martin and Jaguar fighting it out for top honours.
Despite now being three years old, the Jaguar D-Types dominance at Le Mans continued in 1957, but with five of the British cars battling for the win, which car would come out on top?
Ferrari, Jaguar, Aston Martin and factory cars from Porsche headlined the 1958 entry, but rain would be the big turning point of the race.
In 1959, Aston Martin brought a more refined DBR1 to Le Mans, hoping that they would be able to take the fight to the mighty Ferrari 250s.
After their victory in 1960, Ferrari returned to La Sarthe with an updated version of the 250 TR1, in an attempt to defend the crown from the likes of Maserati and Aston Martin.
A change in regulations meant that new cars took to Le Mans in 1962. Though lap records were falling, would the untried machinery prove too fragile for 24 hours of racing?
The 1963 Le Mans 24 Hours would prove to be a race of attrition, with just 12 cars taking the chequered flag, as an array of Ferrari prototype and GT entries did battle for overall honours.
The arrival of Ford to Le Mans saw the birth of a great rivalry between the Detroit marque and Ferrari, but would the GT40's be able to match the Italian cars in their first season of racing?
With Carroll Shelby taking the reigns of Ford's GT40 project, would the second season of the American companies Le Mans campaign prove to be more fruitful?
The 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans saw no less than eight works-supported Ford GT40 Mark IIs take to La Sarthe, as the American auto-giant looked for their first Le Mans win.
After becoming the first American manufacturer to win Le Mans 12 months earlier, Ford brought the GT40 Mark IV to take on Ferrari's new 330 P4.
Ford returned to La Sarthe in 1968, as the GT40 would have to fight a new breed of prototype cars from Porsche, Alfa Romeo, Alpine and Matra for the overall win.
The final outing at Le Mans for the Ford GT40 would see it matched for speed by the prototype cars, but would Porsche's new 917 be able to outlast the Detroit-built machines?
Pedro Rodriguez in the Porsche 917 produced the fastest-ever lap around the Circuit de la Sarthe, but would the #18 John Wyer-run car make the distance in the race?
With the 5-litre Group 5 cars banned, the 3-litre Sport category became the top class at Le Mans. The introduction of the Porsche Curves and an extra Ford chicane added more uncertainty to the mix.
Serving as the antepenultimate round of the 1973 World Sportscar Championship, the French endurance race proved to be a pivotal moment in the title battle between Matra and Ferrari.
Henri Pescarolo and Matra-Simca went looking for their third victory at Le Mans in a row together, but would they be able to hold off the surprise challenge of the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR?
Changes were made to the rules in the wake of the oil crisis and the 3L V8 Ford Cosworth's proved to be the engine of choice for the 1975 edition of Le Mans.
Fuel limitation rules were removed, and Group 5 and 6 cars were allowed to compete together once again. Porsche brought its 936s and 935s as it looked to take its first win at Le Mans since 1971.
Focused on winning, Renault put all their effort in this race but were pipped by Porsche as they took a dramatic win with Jacky Ickx, Hurley Haywood and Jürgen Barth at the wheel
In 1978 the modified Renault A442B was able to hold off Jacky Ickx and the remaining factory Porsche in the closing stages, and Jean-Pierre Jaussaud / Didier Pironi took the win. After this, Renault left Le Mans to concentrate their efforts on F1.
1970's Le Mans racing being dominated by Porsche, Jacky Ickx's efforts to win his fifth Le Mans came to nothing when he was disqualified for receiving outside assistance in repairing his stricken Porsche 936.
The race was marred by the death of Jean-Louis Lafosse, who violently crashed his Rondeau in the early stages on the Hunaudieres while following the Lola T600 of de Villota/Edwards/Fernández.
For 1982, the new FIA Group C rules were in effect. The new ground effect Porsche 956 was introduced, and took all 3 podium places according to their starting numbers.
After its successful debut in 1982, Porsche had twelve 956s on the grid for the 1983 race, as it aimed to dominate Le Mans for a third consecutive year.
Despite no factory-run Porsches being on the grid, the 956 was still represented en-mass in 1984, but with Lancia LC2 looking to be the fastest on the grid, could it match the Italian marque?
With Porsche bringing the new 962 to La Sarthe for the first time, the then fastest ever lap of Le Mans was set in qualifying, but would the new car be able to outlast the 956?
After the Porsche 956 took its fifth consecutive win at La Sarthe in 1985, the factory team from Stuttgart handed the mantle over to the 962C for 1986, but could they outlast the proven 956s'?
With no homologated-class entries on the grid for the first time in the races' history, a huge number of Group C and GTP cars took to La Sarthe, with the aim of beating Porsche's 962s.
1991 saw a raft of new cars arrive at Le Mans to take on proven machinery. Mazda brought the unusual rotary-engined 787B, with the aim of becoming the first Japanese team to win Le Mans.
1992 saw the new 3.5L C1 class introduced, with Peugeot and Toyota emerging as the only real challengers. Would it be the Japanese marque's TS010 or the French manufacturer's 905 that came out on top?
The reintroduction of the GT class saw a greater entry list and battles up and down the field. Peugeot brought back the 905 Evo 1B in an attempt to claim back-to-back Le Mans victories.
The win gave Porsche its 13th victory, and for the drivers it was Haywood's 3rd, Dalmas' 2nd and the first for Mauro Baldi - who became the 100th different Le Mans winner.
The 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 63rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 17 and 18 June 1995 in one of the wettest races in the event's history with about 17 hours of steady rain.
The Jones/Reuter/Wurz car never missed a beat, and was never headed on the scoring charts. In the end they won by a lap from the Porsche GT1, yet again Bob Wollek was beaten back to second place.
Porsche retook its crown in 1996, with the WSC-95, and for 1997 brought the same car back to Le Mans. Run by Joest Racing, the German marque also gave a young Tom Kristensen his Le Mans debut.
1998 saw a significant increase in manufacturer involvement. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz remained, with upgraded cars in both GT1 and LMP. Toyota sent three of their new, extremely fast GT-One racing cars.
This event became famous for the incidents involving the team of Mercedes-Benz CLRs during qualifying and the race itself. Tune in to relive the Mercedes "flip"
Audi's top two finishers had to share the podium with a Bentley interloper, but their margin over third place was formidable.
The 2002 edition saw Audi Sport Team Joest, with drivers Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen, and Emanuele Pirro, taking their third victory
Bentley, with an Audi engine and support from Audi works team Joest Racing, won its first Le Mans title since 1930 with a Bentley Speed 8, driven by Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Guy Smith.
In true Le Mans style, inspired driving ensured the 24-Hours was anything but dull with breakdowns and crashes adding to the already intense action. And with only 40 seconds separating the first two cars, the entertainment went right to the finish.
This race marked the record 7th victory for Tom Kristensen, including his 6th straight win.
This race marked the first Le Mans win for a diesel engined sports car, the Audi R10 TDI, and the second time that a diesel-powered sports car won a major international motorsports event.
It was a wet start to the 75th running of the 24 hour race. Audi was being challenged by Peugeot as they debuted their diesel engined Peugeot 908 HDi FAP prototype. It was a crazy race for the LMP2 class as only two cars managed to complete the race.
Peugeot showed dominance during the race but when the rain came down, Audi managed to out pace the Peugeots. In a desperate attempt to adapt the Peugeots to the wet conditions all 3 cars were fitted with high-downforce nose and tail sections.
New rules resulted in slower diesel LMP1 entries. It was a difficult race for Audi as they struggled with performance. Peugeot managed to maintain their pace throughout the race and finished 1-2 convincingly.
Audi had taken their first pole position for the first time in 5 years and subsequently locked out the front row; but Audi lost two of their cars early on. How did they feat against the fleet of Peugeots?
Audi came with the e-tron quattro, a hybrid electric version of the R18 for 2012. They also made history as both the first hybrid electric car and first four-wheel drive car to win the 24 hours of Le Mans.
Tom Kristensen makes history with his 9th victory at Le Mans, It was also Audi's 12th win. The race was marred by Allan Simonsen's fatal accident exiting Tertre Rouge.
Marcel Fässler, André Lotterer, and Benoît Tréluyer won their third Le Mans together. Porsche challenged Audi after the leading Toyota retired at half race distance.
The Porsche 919 of Neel Jani, Romain Dumas, and Marc Lieb claimed pole but it was the #19 Porsche of Nick Tandy and Le Mans rookies Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg who took the victory!
The race started behind the safety car due to rain but it was a three-way fight between powerhouse teams Audi, Porsche and Toyota for 24 Hours of action-packed racing!
The race was won by Porsche's Timo Bernhard, Brendon Hartley and Earl Bamber. Toyota's Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, and Anthony Davidson were the only other LMP1 to finish. Jackie Chan racing completed the podium after leading for a few hours.
It was a record year at the 86th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Toyota took victory for the first time ever. It was only the second Japanese team to take the win at Le Mans after Mazda in 1991. Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi, and Kazuki Nakajima all took their maiden win at La Sarthe with the number eight Toyota ahead of their fellow teammates, making it a one-two finish.
It was another eventful 24 hours of Le Mans. 2019 represented the 87th running of the event as the number 8 Toyota took back to back victories at the Sarthe circuit after their sister car, who lead from the start, ran into problems near the end of the race. The LMP2 class provided plenty of action with Signatech Alpine, who took a heartwarming class victory. Ferrari won in GTE Pro while the privately run Keating Ford claimed the win in GTE Am, but was later disqualified.