Did You Know: Cadillac's Unexpected Influence on Endurance Racing Endures
Photo Credit: Richard Prince
The 2023 International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) endurance-racing season kicks off in a big way tomorrow with the 61st running of the Rolex 24 Hours from Daytona International Speedway.
This year’s race opens a historic new era, as the topline Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class will now be eligible to compete in World Endurance Championship (WEC) events throughout the world – including Le Mans. Under new international regulations, these sleek Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) racecars receive life for the first time from 670-horsepower electric hybrid powertrains surrounded by auto racing’s latest technologies. Joined by two additional classes of prototypes (LMP2 & LMP3) and a sizable group of GT-based racers, a full field of 61 entries will be taking the green flag in America’s twice around-the-clock endurance classic.
Among those headlining this year’s race are the GTP entries from Cadillac Racing, who have three newly minted Cadillac V-LMDh prototypes vying for overall honors. During the most recent DPi prototype era, the brand dominated this race and series, winning the Rolex 24 consecutively from 2017 to 2021 and taking home Series championships from 2017 to 2020. On-track success has also translated to their road-going vehicles, as the V-Series Performance division build some of the more popular enthusiast offerings in the market today.
The current racing program is not the first time Cadillac has been a player on the international racing scene. Did you know the manufacturer was an unexpected early catalyst for American entry into Le Mans competition?
This well-documented project started with the legendary Briggs Cunningham, who brought two road-going Cadillac Super 61 entries to the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours. Prepared by Frink-Tappett Motors out of New York, these two unconventional racecars were a first for an American manufacturer at Le Mans since an independent team entered a one-off Duesenberg in 1935.
The first and more traditional of the two chassis -- co-driven by brothers Miles and Sam Collier -- married a 90-degree, 331-cubic-inch Cadillac V8 racing engine with a road going Super 61 production vehicle. Whimsically nicknamed “Petit Pataud” (Little Clumsy) by curious French onlookers, the more than 3,800-lbs. machine was loud, raw and fast, averaging 81.5 mph for the entire 24-hour race and delighting the crowd with an impressive 10th-place overall finish.
The other car, known as “Le Monstre,” had a very different presentation. Piloted by Cunningham and co-driver Phil Walters and outfitted with a similar V8 racing engine, this unusual-looking roadster went through a streamlining process at an aircraft-designed wind tunnel by aeronautical engineer Howard Weinman. Radically altered with a tube-frame safety infrastructure built from the original chassis, the design optimized airflow by removing the roof, driver greenhouse and inefficient body panels, creating a wedge-shaped racer that was much more functional than eye catching. It was so unusual race officials spent hours verifying its original road-going base to ensure it was rules compliant.
Designed for speed and efficiency, “Le Monstre” regularly outran the coupe on the long straightaways of Le Mans’ Circuit de la Sarthe. Unfortunately, for the team, a lap two incident and various mid-race setbacks hampered its effort for a better finish and it wound up 11th overall. Even with the challenges, the results were an impressive for a team that had limited 24-hour race experience.
If you are attending this weekend’s race, a special treat will be available. "Le Monstre" will be on display in the Cadillac manufacturer display in the midway at Daytona International Speedway along with the centenary Le Mans 24 Hours trophy on Saturday and Sunday.
Much like generations of endurance racing fans before, you too can witness history this weekend. Live coverage from the 2023 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona begins at 1:30 pm ET on NBC. For more information on the entire broadcast schedule, click here.
To search Hendrick Automotive Group’s current inventory of new and pre-owned Cadillac cars and SUVs, visit this link.
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