The fabulous World of the unknown French sports car makers!

The fabulous World of the unknown French sports car makers!

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Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
People tend to think that France makes only fast and large airplanes, trains and ships, bot not fast vehicles.

There are a lot of small sports car manufacturers in France of different types such as endurance, all-terrain, rally, electric, etc..

anonymous-user

54 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
Venturi?

Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
"ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS.

In 2008 Oreca became a manufacturer, producing the Oreca 01.

During 2009 Oreca started producing the Formula Le Mans 'FLM09'. This was initially run in its own series named the Formula Le Mans Cup until 2010 when it was adapted to allow it to be run three other endurance series including the American Le Mans Series which gave the car its own category (LMPC). The idea was to give an affordable platform for smaller teams to get into endurance racing.

The Oreca 03 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Oreca in 2011. It is built within the revised 2011 ACO regulations for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car made its début at the 12 Hours of Sebring run by Signatech Nissan and is set to race at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is the third car that Oreca has produced after the 01 and FLM09.

The Oreca 05 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Oreca in 2015.

The car was designed to compete in the LMP2 class. The car's first win came at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans by Hong Kong-based team KCMG."

EnglishTony

2,552 posts

99 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
I'm still not going to sponsor it

Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
allroad one said:
Venturi?
Nowadays Venturi is based in Monaco, but the engineering is mainly French.;)

Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
Oreca 05




williamp

19,248 posts

273 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
Courage
Alpine

Plus older ones such as
Pescarolo
Rondeau

Thinking about it, it would make a good book.

Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
williamp said:
Courage
Alpine

Plus older ones such as
Pescarolo
Rondeau

Thinking about it, it would make a good book.
That's a pretty great ideia!

And also, Matra, Panhard, Ligier, etc..

Blayney

2,948 posts

186 months

Saturday 4th June 2016
quotequote all
Ciid said:
williamp said:
Courage
Alpine

Plus older ones such as
Pescarolo
Rondeau

Thinking about it, it would make a good book.
That's a pretty great ideia!

And also, Matra, Panhard, Ligier, etc..
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0711033692/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=410JdwtEv9L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL100_SR100%2C100_&refRID=YGRYYABXQDX7523A3DAP

I have the British and German ones but only browsed so far.

Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
quotequote all
Blayney said:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0711033692/ref=pd...

I have the British and German ones but only browsed so far.
Thank you very much!

Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
quotequote all
The Winners of the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2: KCMG Oreca-Nissan 05.



daveofedinburgh

556 posts

119 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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My Dad rolled in from work one night when I was about 15y/o and presented me with a big hard-back book called (IIRC) 'The World's Fastest Cars'.

I wasn't a fully-fledged PHer/ car guy at the time, and I blame that book for my somewhat left-field/ eclectic tastes now, as it was full of rare/ weird/ obscure cars.

I remember for many years I was much more fond of the Venturi Atlantique than I was the eg. F355, as it was smoother/ more curvy and therefore more appealing to my uneducated eyes.



Ofcourse nowadays I'd have the Ferrari, but this garlicky old thing had my affection for many years. Apparently Venturi are Monaco-based now, but that's still French enough to me!

Could tell a similar story about Aplines (also in the book) but they were never quite as exotic or appealing to me, then or now.

Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
quotequote all
daveofedinburgh said:
My Dad rolled in from work one night when I was about 15y/o and presented me with a big hard-back book called (IIRC) 'The World's Fastest Cars'.

I wasn't a fully-fledged PHer/ car guy at the time, and I blame that book for my somewhat left-field/ eclectic tastes now, as it was full of rare/ weird/ obscure cars.

I remember for many years I was much more fond of the Venturi Atlantique than I was the eg. F355, as it was smoother/ more curvy and therefore more appealing to my uneducated eyes.



Ofcourse nowadays I'd have the Ferrari, but this garlicky old thing had my affection for many years. Apparently Venturi are Monaco-based now, but that's still French enough to me!

Could tell a similar story about Aplines (also in the book) but they were never quite as exotic or appealing to me, then or now.
I fully agree with you, the Venturis are awesome and the Venturi Atlantique is also my favourite.

In a 1992 episode, Jeremy Clarkson noted that the two most exciting sports cars of the time were the Alpine A610 and the Venturi Atlantique, and that the Atlantique was "like having your own personal jet fighter [...] I love it to death."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venturi_Atlantique

Ciid

Original Poster:

211 posts

110 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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joncon

1,446 posts

223 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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I remember seeing one of these at le mans in 96 or 97 ...
helem ... based on a Renault sport syder



Edited by joncon on Sunday 5th June 13:15

joncon

1,446 posts

223 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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it was on the reserve list to race


blueg33

35,808 posts

224 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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Don't forget Bugatti. Although now owned by Germans

I think it's a little known French make as most people think they are Italian.

Edited by blueg33 on Sunday 5th June 08:54

OwenK

3,472 posts

195 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
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Joncon those are both lovely! More info please!

joncon

1,446 posts

223 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
quotequote all
I know very little
I remember chatting to someone involved in the project at le mans, they were hoping to race to get some press coverage
lovely looking car the silver race car

think they replaced the 2 litre Williams Renault engine with a 3 litre v6 motor

Edited by joncon on Sunday 5th June 13:16

joncon

1,446 posts

223 months

Sunday 5th June 2016
quotequote all
it was nearly 20 years ago ....lol