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Decades Of Difference
1950 Cadillac Series 61 Le Mans Prototype Le Monstre

Back in 1950, 24 Hours of Le Mans allowed participants in rebodied standard automobiles to enter the race. Briggs Cunningham entered two Cadillacs into Le Mans that year, one was heavily modified into streamliner style for extra competitiveness, the other kept in the original form. While the streamlined version only finished in eleventh, its unusual appearance got it noticed and nicknamed “Le Monstre” (monster in French).

Jordan Taylor, the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech DPi Prototype driver co-champion, recently had a chance to drive Le Monstre at Daytona International Speedway 67 years after it first saw competition. Compared with the Cadillac DPi-V.R prototype he drove during his latest championship, it’s a very different machine, despite both being fitted with Cadillac V8 engines. Le Monstre’s 5.4-litre engine produces 160 hp and the car weighs 3,700 pounds, while the 2017 car features a 6.2-litre V8 with 580 hp, and weighs just 2,050 pounds.

“Getting the chance to drive a car that raced in the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours was super-exciting,” Taylor said. “Besides trying to learn a three-speed column shift, I had to turn the steering wheel past 90 degrees to get it turn.” The racer found the full drum brakes a novelty as well, and experienced the sensation just how steep the Daytona banking is because of the relative lack of safety support on the 1950 car, something that a driver might notice less when driving on the 2017DPi-V.R. Le Monstre is currently kept at the Revs Institute, a museum dedicated to the automobile in Florida.