The 7 coolest cars at the 2022 Daytona Classic 24

Porsche 962C

GTP cars, Daytona Prototypes, the odd old LMP1 car, they’re not unusual sights in the Classic 24 paddocks. But a genuine Le Mans winning Group C car? That’s something pretty special.

Malcolm Ross owns some pretty cool cars – he has two, yes two, Jaguar XJR-16s at Daytona this weekend – but the 1986 Le Mans winning car must be the most amazing in his collection. And he’s not just got the car here for show, it’s been racing in support races as well as the Classic 24 all event so far. Ross might not be Jacky Ickx, Derek Bell or Al Holbert, but he’s no slouch, and to watch this near-priceless car spin up its tyres as it exits the International Horseshoe is a truly special thing.

Love Le Mans cars? Check out our FOS 2023 celebration!

BMW M4 GT3

Brand new cars are allowed at the Classic 24, so we get to see some pretty quick machinery mixed in among some of the more classic fare. This weekend we’ve seen current Audi R8 GT3 cars, some LMP2 machines and very briefly a just-retired DPi car racing. But the one that caught our eye has to be Samantha Tan’s stunning M4.

Tan is the reigning 24H series Champion – a multi-class racing series that competes over endurance distances that, despite the name, aren’t always 24 hours – and this year upgraded her racing car to the latest GT3 machine from BMW. It’s not the only M4 GT3 racing this weekend (in fact there are two) but it’s the one we love the most, and that’s simply because it looks like it raced through a paint shop at some point. If you can look at this wild livery, especially at night, and tell us you don’t just absolutely love it, then we’re not sure we can be friends.

De Tomaso Pantera

The De Tomaso Pantera is not a car known for its racing abilities. People are far more likely to comment on it being a car that looks a lot like a Countach than ask you if it’s any good on track. It’s really supposed to look pretty and sound even better.

So when you do get to see one on track, you have to stop and take a look. Steven Lisa owns this particular black and white Pantera and is racing it this weekend alongside his son. He also owns a Panoz Esperante GT2 which races this weekend too, so he obviously is a man with a love for big V8 engines. This weekend the Pantera isn’t particularly displaying high racing abilities, but this one isn’t really about that, it’s just about seeing it on the banking.

SuperNatural Callaway Corvette

It might not look like a Corvette, but underneath it very much is. Callaway are known for making their own racing versions of Corvettes, sometimes when Chevrolet didn’t fancy building a racing version of their own. That has continued until only recently, as Callaway built GT3 Corvettes while Chevrolet resisted.

This particular Callaway Corvette was built to race at Le Mans. Only four race cars were ever built, alongside five for a lucky few to drive on the road. With a Callaway-built engine it competed at Le Mans from 1995-1997 and managed a podium in its class.

Jaguar E-type low drag

Not a car you expect to see on the banking at Daytona, let’s be totally honest. There’s a debate to be had about whether the low drag version of the Jaguar E-type is the prettiest or actually the ugliest version of the car. I have to admit I fall on the latter, it just doesn’t look quite right, but there is no denying that it has both a massive following and looks pretty interesting when you see one, even if that doesn’t make it pretty.

Watch more E-types racing!

Riley & Scott Mk3 C

This weekend the Classic 24 at Daytona is celebrating Riley and its racing history. Riley is not a name known particularly well in Europe, but it really should be. As well as running racing teams in IMSA it builds both full cars and bits of cars that are branded by some pretty high level companies.

But back in the day Bob and Bill Riley worked for Riley & Scott and built their own, badged, prototype racers for competition. We’ve seen Riley & Scott Mk3s before, even at Goodwood in our LMP Demo, but at Daytona this weekend we can see the final iteration of that car. Actually the Mk3 C threw away pretty much everything from the Mk3 away and added learnings from the failed GM Northstar project. But we’ll get into that in a different article. This one has a big V8 under the engine cover and spits flames.

Oldsmobile aurora

We finish with one of our favourite cars in the world. It’s a simple fact that if I am going to be at any Historic Sportscar Racing event and be asked to write this article, the Oldsmobile Aurora will make it onto this list every time. And that it purely because it spends its entire time off throttle belching flames in a way no other car manages.

And that’s no exaggeration. This IMSA GTS car raced in the 1990s with a reasonable amount of success – an Aurora apparently won eight races in its first season – but it’s not exactly famous, and nor did it achieve long-term fame. However it should be famous for it’s flamethowing ability. If you’re trackside at any HSR event, just watch out for it. From the moment driver comes off the throttle to the moment he picks up again that big Oldsmobile V8 is rejecting fuel like it’s a burden.

Photography by Pete Summers and Ben Miles