To see what that means, consider the surprising outcome of another great motorcar race.
MARGARET THATCHER was a great fan of the motorcar, speaking approvingly of "a great car-owning democracy".
IN 1904 Willie Vanderbilt hit a thrilling 92.3 mph (147.7 kph) in his new German motorcar, smashing the land-speed record.
But they have long since disappeared, destroyed by the motorcar, the cult of corporate focus, and the general maturing of the economy.As so often, what is dying in the West is surviving or being reborn in the emerging world.
In 1903 he created his own motorcar, the Model A Cadillac, a machine that proved successful and remained in production for several years.
By 1891 Levassor had designed a radically new motorcar to house Daimler's engine.
Le Mans was mainly a market town for the agricultural products of the region until the mid-19th century, when new industries developed and later expanded, principally producing railway, motorcar, and agricultural machinery; textiles; and tobacco.
The first decade of the 20th century saw the establishment of the motorcar in Europe and North America, and the automotive industry remained entirely dependent on natural rubber for its tires and other components until World War II.
This year, the future of the motorcar may be decided not in the BMW boardroom, nor on the Fiat factory floor, but around the kitchen table of a home inventor with a very big idea.
On that night Puccini suffered the first-ever motorcar accident to receive widespread press coverage in Italy.
I don't have a motorcar, so I've got to know and be fairly fond of the buses.
