Two Historic 24 Hours of Le Mans Winners

The 1988 Jaguar XJR-9 ended the Porsche winning streak and the 1990 Mazda 787B was the last chance for the Rotary engine to win at Le Mans due to rules changes, Mazda in that 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans built a car their first using a carbon fiber tub that had the reliability and speed to stay in contention and Jackie Ickx running the program instructed his drivers to push the Sauber Mercedes and it worked as the Sauber Mercedes did not have the reliability to make it the 24 hours. Jaguar who Mazda dethroned as the champion also had reliability issues during the race. The Mazda Rotary engine is the only non piston engine to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Rotary engine was capable of producing 900 horse power but was detuned to 700 horse power for the race for reliability and fuel economy. Mazda also lobbied for an exception to the extra weight that was being added to the cars that did not conform to the 1990 rules and none of the other teams protested that because Mazda was not considered a threat, Jackie Ickx really did a great job for Mazda. The Sauber Mercedes and Jaguar XJR-12 both had to carry the extra weight. Peugeot brought cars that conformed to the new 1990 rules and were the fastest cars but did not have reliability and failed to finish the race. 

Jaguar under Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) in the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans also built a more advanced car than Porsche who was still using an aluminum tub and Jaguar ended the long running Porsche winning streak at 7 straight wins. 

The Mazda 787B is by AUTOart and the Jaguar XJR-9 is by Exoto.