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A few pre-race notes and a lot of photos from the 24 Hours of Le Mans

The 82nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is on.
Audi has won 12 of the last 15 events, the scion of Auto Union is trying to make it 13 this year. To do so, it will have to overcome a situation faced only three other times during its dominance of La Sarthe: underdog status. Toyota has won the first two races of the year and claimed pole for this race, the rumor being that this year it's Toyota's race to lose.
And then there's Porsche. It's been 16 years since the Stuttgart brand raced on the top rung at Le Mans, three years years since it announced its return, just a year since it acquired Mark Webber in a signing that wasn't subtle and a few months since we got eyes on the 919 Hybrid.

Watch Larry Kosilla resurrect the finish of this barn-find 1966 Porsche 912

Larry Kosilla, the founder of the Ammo NYC line of car cleaning products, has his own show YouTube's Drive network - we saw his work before when he gave a Ferrari 288 GTO a two-day detailing job. On this episode, Kosilla gets called in to do his best with a 1966 Porsche 912, a car that was last registered in 1990 and recently found in a barn in Connecticut.
Among the expected dirt and cobwebs, the Irish Green Porsche is also covered what is assumed to be cat fur and "waste." The car is in such delicate condition, however, that Kosilla can't wash it for fear of getting more water in it than on it, so he has to steam and wipe the entire thing down before he begins the paint correction process. In addition to the thorough knowledge of his work and his ability to explain it simply, the episode is captioned with further information one of Porsche's popular but less regarded models, and how Kosilla does what he does.
You'll find a compelling 29 minute masterclass in the video below.

Singer 911 gorgeousness explored and experienced by Chris Harris

Few things get us as cranked up as a Porsche 911. Generation after generation, this rear-engined oddity has exhilarated our senses, and the new 991 is the most capable iteration yet. Even so, there's a lot to be said for the older models, from their lighter weights and more modest dimensions to their air-cooled thrums.
That elemental vintage Porsche appeal hasn't been lost on Los Angeles-based Singer Vehicle Design, which has endeavored to take the best bits from every generation of 911 and combine them into one impossibly sexy rear-engined machine. Based on a 964 donor car, we knew that a lot of work would need to go into everything from the structure to the bodywork to realize the Singer's cohesive aesthetic and dynamic vision, but we didn't know just how much until we watched this Drive video featuring Chris Harris. The auto journo gets time with the 350-horsepower, Cosworth-motivated coupe on both mountain passes and at the track, but what could be the most interesting thing about the 27-minute-long video is his in-depth plant tour.
Check it out by scrolling below, but not before paging through our new Singer 911 gallery.