The Musée des 24 Heures du Mans sits at the entrance to the Circuit de la Sarthe and contains one of the finest collections of racing cars in Europe. More than 100 vehicles are on display, tracing the history of the 24 Hours race from the early 1920s through to recent decades. The collection includes actual race winners — including Le Mans-winning Porsches, Ferraris, Jaguars, and the legendary GT40 that ended Ferrari's dominance in 1966.
The museum is well organised by decade and tells the story of the race through the machines themselves, the team photographs, and the records. Even visitors with a limited interest in motor racing will find the engineering evolution compelling — the cars from the 1920s look impossibly fragile next to the ground-effect monsters of the 1980s. Combined with a walk around the circuit grounds, it makes for a full half-day visit.