Simca 1000 Rallye 3

Philippe Ginel, Simca 1000 Ralle 3,  Course de Cote du Mont Dore 2016.i

Pour plus de photos de la Course de Cote du Mont Dore VHC 2016, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the historic cars at the 2016 Mont Dore mountain hillclimb, click on the link above.

Simca, Poissy France.  This was introduced in December 1977 and followed on from the Simca 1000 Ralltye 1 and 2.  Only 1,000 were produced which homologated it as a Group 1 car.  It had a front spoiler and widened wheel arches which distinguished it from the earlier versions.  The engine was a 1.3 litre and the top speed was 183kph and it was regularly used in rallies, hillclimbs and slaloms.

1978 Rondeau M378-DFV

Marc Devis & Martin O'Connell, 1978 Rondeau M378 - Cosworth,  Le Mans Classic 2016.

Pour plus de photos du Mans Classic 2016, suivez ce lien.

For more pictures of the seventies Le mans cars, click on the link above.

Rondeau, Le Mans, France.  This was the first of the cars to bear Jean Rondeau's name, although previously he had built the Inaltera cars that had borne the name of the wallpaper manufacturer.  This car was built just to race at Le Mans and was powered by an endurance version of the Cosworth DFV engine.   It was similar to the Inaltera but it had a longer tail and partly cover rear wheels. The aerodynamic body was designed by Bureau de Design Ovale.  As with the Inalteras it was entered in the GTP class rather than Group 6 that Porsche dominated.  With Jean Rondeau, Bernard Darniche and Jacky Haran driving it finished ninth in the 1978 Le Mans 24 hours and won its class.   In 1980 Jean Rondeau would go on to win Le Mans in a car bearing his name, the only man to have done so.  Sadly, he was killed near Le Mans on a level crossing when his car was hit by a train.

1978 Renault Alpine A443

Jean Ragnotti & Alain Serpaggi, Renault Alpine A443, Le Mans Classic 2016.

Pour plus de photos du Mans Classic 2016, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 1972 to 1981 races at the le Mans Classic in 2016, click on the link above.

Alpine, Dieppe, France.  This Group 6 sports racing car was built by Alpine with a 2.1 litre turbo-charged Renault engine.  The chassis was similar to the previous A442 but had an enlarged Renault V6 engine in a slightly lengthened chassis.  At the Le Mans 24 hours in 1978 it was the fastest car in the field driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille and Patrick Depailler but retired after 18 hours.  It's pace, however, had also broken the Porsches and thus an earlier A442B was able to take the win.  The cars had over 500bhp and could easily exceed 20 mph on the Mulsanne straight.  This was the car's only major race and thereafter Ranault concentrated on F1.

March 783/793 F3

Noel Delplanque, March 793, Charade, Historic Tour 2016, Classic F3 race.

Pour plus de photos de Historic Tour 2016, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2016 Historic Tour round at Charade, click on the link above.

March, Bicester, England.  Along with almost every other formula, March made F3 cars from 1969 to 1981.  The March 783 and 793 models spanned the years 1978 and 1979.   In 1978 Ralt produced the dominant car.  For 1979 Chico Sera won the Vandervell British F3 Championship in a March. The 793 differed from the 783 by having some additional ground effect skirts and updated sidepods. Many famous drivers drove these models including Nigel Mansell, Teo Fabi, Tiff Needell, Michele Alboreto, Thierry Boutsen, Andrea de Cesaris, Jean-Louis Schlesser, and Stefan Johansson.  The car pictured was driven by Bret Riley who scored a number of F3 wins.  These cars raced with a number of motors but Bret Riley and Nigel Mansell's used to be powered by a Triumph Dolomite Swindon engine.  Nice to see the car in authentic livery from the time.

Lola T620

Thomas Beaufils, Lola T620, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Benouville 2015

Pour plus de photos de la Course de Cote d'Etretat-Benouville 2015, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2015 Etretat Hillclimb, click on the link above.

Lola, Huntingdon, Engl;and. The T620 was a car produced in 1978 and 1979 to race in Formula Super Vee.  About 26 were originally constructed and had Volkswagen 4 cylinder 1,600cc engines. This one looks as though it has had some development over the years with its untypical side pods.  A few famous drivers cut their teeth in the Lola T620 including Arie Luyendijk. He won a number of European Championship Super Vee races in 1978 in a T620 before eventually moving on to Indy Car racing.  Thomas Beaufils runs this car in French Hillclimbs in the class D/E (2) which is for single seaters up to 1,600cc.  It would appear to now have a Skoda engine.

Lola, Huntingdon, Angleterre, La T620 était une voiture de course fabriquée en 1978 et 1979 pour Formule Super Vee.  Environ 26 était produit avec un moteur 4 cyl 1,600cc Volkswagen.  La voiture dans le photo a un moteurSkoda et quelques modifications.  Peut etre le plus connu pilot de la T620 était Arie Luyendijk qui gagnait deux courses de Super Vee en 1978.  Thomas Beaufils et le pilot actuel.

There is a nice video on You Tube of his ascent of the Etretat Hillclimb. Click below: