Small but significant Le Mans memorabilia to be auctioned by Artcurial at Le Mans Classic

Normally, our auction spotlights are focused on million-pound racing cars, but this one is a little bit special: the flag that started the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Just one wave of this flag sent drivers running across the track to start the 35th Le Mans 24 Hours, memorable for the battle between Ferrari and Ford.

Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt took victory in the Shelby American Ford GT40 Mk4 against the Ferrari 330 P4 of Lodovico Scarfiotti and Michael Parkes in front of 300,000 spectators.

This flag was waved by French minister of youth and sports, François Missoffe, and reportedly given to the father of the current owner by a famous political personality and former racing driver at the end of the 1960s. The same family has owned the flag since, and Artcurial estimates that it will fetch €1,000 – €1,500 at its Le Mans Classic auction on July 7.

Also being offered is a 5km marker sign used circa 1930 on the Mulsanne Straight. This concrete sign is one of the few surviving examples, the others either residing in museums or destroyed.

Artcurial estimates that the sign will fetch €8500 – €12,000 at Le Mans Classic.

UPDATED: The flag sold for €32,500 –  more than 21 times its estimate – while the concrete kilometre marker fetched €11,050 on July 7.