AM's Le Mans pedigree

1935: Charles Martin/Charles Brackenbury steer their Ulster to third overall. In doing so they win the Biennial Cup, the result of which is based on back-to-back performances at La Sarthe, and the Index of Performance.

1950: DB2s (above) finish first and second in class by coming home fifth and sixth overall; George Abecassis/Lance Macklin (19) finish ahead of team-mates Brackenbury/Reg Parnell (21). Abecassis/Macklin also claim the Index of Performance.

1955-58: DB3Ss finish second in three out of four years: Peter Collins/Paul Frère are runners-up, but first in class, in the fateful race of 1955; Collins repeats the result a year later sharing with Stirling Moss: the private entry of Graham and Peter Whitehead embarrasses the works team with the runner-up spot in ’58.

1959: Parnell and John Wyer’s team finally hit the mark. As Ferrari’s drivers are let loose to race and chase after Aston’s hare, Moss Roy Salvadorl/Carroll Shelby (above) keep to a strict pace in their DBR1 to record Aston Martin’s only overall Le Mans triumph. They are backed up by Maurice Trintignant/Frère in second.

1960: Jim Clark scores his best Le Mans finish, taking third overall with Salvadori in a Border Reivers-entered DBR1.

1963-64: Aston’s blisteringly fast Project Cars (above) fail to beat 250GTO in class. It wins elsewhere but AM fades from top-line racing.

1989: Works team makes a return to Le Mans with a pair of Group C AMR1s. Brian Redman/Costas Los/Michael Roe finish 11th (below).