: Ha, yes! Audi have excelled themselves. The R18 looked superb but

: Anything is an improvement over the Lotus 49 and Ferrari P4, or
: Maserati 250F and Jaguar D Type.

Safety-wise, yes. Have you seen under the skin of any of these cars? In the 917 the driver's feet are right at the front with no protection!

Sadly we'll never see anything as beautiful and pure as those cars but back then driver deaths used to be the norm, not the (very rare) exception.

I actually liked the 2011 R18 and am very excited about Le Mans this year. I have been every year since 1995 (when the McLaren F1 won) until 2010, last year I had to go to a wedding in Scotland and had to watch it on the internet from my hotel room through the night! I booked my ferry for the 2012 race back in August, just in case. I saw the practice day in April last year and the R18 looked like a spaceship on wheels. Didn't make much noise either. The crash protection wasn't bad either:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCsV2kmyzSA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmn2YgPJEUE&feature=related

The second crash was in the fastest part of the circuit just as the cars turn in and brake for Indianapolis corner. Two different crashes, two bruised but alive drivers. There's no denying though the 2012 hybrid R18 is ugly!