New Casual-But-Competent Driving Shoes From Piloti’s 24 Hours Of Le Mans Collection Are In The Shop

Visit the Petrolicious Shop to view more information regarding ordering and sizing for the Piloti Endurance and more options from Piloti

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is upon us. Next weekend will see the 87th edition of the world’s preeminent endurance race take place over the course of a full day of full-on motorsport in the twilight of the LMP1 era. What used to be a test of a drivers’ mechanical sympathy and outright speed has become all but entirely concerned with the latter. The cars are so well engineered for their task that winning requires a qualifying pace to be kept up for all but the full 24 hours. The drivers’ task at hand will be less about preserving their machines than wringing out their potential lap after lap for an entire day, and the requisite level of stamina to pull off such a feat of unbroken concentration is something that us mortal wheelmen and wheelwomen will never experience.

Lucky for us then that the efforts of the engineers and drivers and all the seldom-seen heroes of the sport that operate in the background eventually trickles down into our own driving experience, in one form or another. Sometimes it means a more efficient or more reliable piece of functional technology, and sometimes it’s just purely aesthetic—an homage, a nod, what have you. In the case of Piloti’s 24 Hours of Le Mans collection footwear, it’s a little bit of both. The range spans some pretty serious driving boots that are best suited for track days than coffee runs on Sundays, to the more casual set of shoes that blend in with a pair of jeans but find themselves equally at home in the footwell of a car with three pedals to push. We’ve just added a great example from the casual-but-competent side of that spectrum in the form of the Piloti Endurance.

They won’t make you look like a tryhard if you wear them to your local Cars & Coffee—nothing wrong with single-purpose driving footwear, but hopping out of your leased supercar with bright red suede on your feet that go halfway up your calves is a bit, well, much—and they’ll make the drive to and from all the more exciting. Handcrafted in Portugal, the Endurance features supple nubuck leather, soft suede, and recycled cotton, and a rolled heel to make the daily pedal dance even smoother. Plus, official 24 Hours of Le Mans licensing is a nice touch, but one that isn’t advertised on the outside of the shoe in garish graphics. Subtlety is the key here. The French flag motif is a nice touch that hints at the Endurance’s namesake without being blatant. We’re currently stocking both Navy and Slate colorways, which you can learn more about in the links below, including construction, sizing, and ordering information.