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1936 24 Hours of Le Mans

cancelled motorsport event

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ216381 ↗
Source-derived summary

The 1936 24 Hours of Le Mans was originally planned to be the 14th Grand Prix of Endurance to be held on 14 and 15 June 1936. However, after several years of economic recession, France was in the middle of the turmoil and civil unrest sweeping over Europe.

A general strike across the country in the wake of the recent electoral victory of the Popular Front had only been resolved days before scrutineering was due to start.

In response to the dominance of the German teams in grand prix racing, the Automobile Club de France (ACF) had chosen to run their Grand Prix to a sports-car formula, which would in turn be eligible to run at Le Mans. Owing to the strikes, many of the teams had been unable to prepare their cars sufficiently, and even such matters as getting fuel, transportation or fuel for entrants and spectators would be difficult.

Therefore, at the beginning of June, the ACO organisers postponed the race. However, at the end of the month, being unable to arrange a suitable alternative date later in the year with the motorsport governing body (the AIACR), the event was cancelled.

There had been fifty-eight entries applied at the time of cancellation. It comprised French teams of Talbot, Delahaye, and Delage, along with privateer cars using Alfa Romeo, Lagonda, and Bugatti.

Regulations

The AIACR had introduced the new 750 kg Grand Prix Formula in 1934.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “1936 24 Hours of Le Mans” as cancelled motorsport event. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Hours, Mans and cancelled.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1936, 1934—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Hours, Mans and cancelled providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “1936 24 Hours of Le Mans”, the useful work is to connect “cancelled motorsport event” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q216381. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1936 and 1934.

Critical limits

Institutional narratives can privilege the records that survived while minimizing voices that were never formally collected. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “1936 24 Hours of Le Mans”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 1936 24 Hours of Le Mans primary sources, 1936 24 Hours of Le Mans archive and Hours research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1936 24 Hours of Le Mans”?
  2. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
  3. What chronology connects this entry to wider political or social change?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “1936 24 Hours of Le Mans” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.