Hugo Mode: 24 Hour Chrono, or how to make a car conversation

Once unusual, today I will talk to you about a car from the 1990s. There is no car without history, and even if my preference is for pre-war sports cars, “opening the cotton ball” and going back. year after year, owner after owner, and race after race the history of the car is part of what interests me most in the work I do…

It all starts when the customer entrusts us with a Porsche. White. What could be more banal than a Porsche. White. Another Porsche. White. But not just any white Porsche, as at first glance we have before our eyes the Supercup 3.8 RSR. Already, the holy monster has been made into several units.

With one of my colleagues and the very nice Augustin, we start to dig, because the owner of the car only tells us what he knows: the car raced and won in Spain in the early 2000s, where it was bought in France through. the Almeras brothers, the famous Porsche producers. A good start.

The file, very thin, includes a few photos during his Spanish career (winner of his category in the Spanish GT championship anyway!). Our Porsche at that time was red, in the color of the company Iberia Galfer, which specializes in high performance brake systems. The car also has branded calipers/discs, after making the fitting of custom rims necessary. We leave in this white Porsche, almost… white paper.

First idea: isolate the serial number. The owner told us about the 3.8 RSR Evo. The series of numbers and letters stamped on the cash register confirms this. Our white Porsche was born as the 3.8 RS Cup in 1995. It later evolved into the RSR Supercup, a top-secret version built only in 1997.

As it’s a racing car, we’re lucky enough to be able to detail its equipment (including quick-lift cylinders, a pressure-filling system for the tank, or a single central wiper) and – best of all – a series of stickers of the past. safety features (here, the roll bar) and on the previous sections “guided” and checked at the beginning of each season by the technical commissioner, who then puts a verification sticker.

Most of the stickers on the rollbar are stamped with the seal of the Spanish federation, but four stickers catch our attention, one on the rollbar, the other three on the car’s electronic boxes, in the passenger compartment and in the front. These stickers show that our car participated in the important Carrera Cup in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998. Four years the Cup was run by the 993. A great first for the history of our car. It remains to know with whom, with what decorations, and what else he did.

The second song, Alméras. Call the seller: “Send email to this address”. As we are always bound by very short deadlines – and we are very impatient by nature! -, a formless form of communication does not suit us. Augustin uses his internet and gets a direct call from one of the brothers. Voicemail, and the phone rings at the office five minutes later.

Passionate and heated conversation: they sold the 993 Cup in Spain in the late 1990s, to the Zanini Racing team (the car also has a Zanini sticker on the dashboard). And it might just be him as, as strange as it may seem, they only had the 993rd Cup in their hands!

This car was then driven by Roland Bervillé, in the 1998 Carrera Cup France We know Roland well as we have already sold one of his old Porsches. Second call to Roland, happy to be told about this car and who explained to us that he had bought it from someone else gentleman driver, Didier Van Straaten. Augustin, at the edge of technology and courage, makes several calls, and ends up succeeding in contacting our person, all in less than an hour. Once again, a lively and interesting discussion.

Didier bought this 993 Cup in 1997 to compete in the FFSA GT (2^e of its class) and GTR developed by Patrick Peter under the supervision of his company BPR Organization. Didier sends us some pictures of the car this season. Superb shots! Didier also told Augustin that he got this car from Jean-Luc Chéreau, a well-known and recognized driver, today credited with nine participations in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and three in the 24 Hours of Daytona.

The car was then followed by the important Larbre Compétition team, led by Jack Leconte. Two phone calls enabled me to get the contact information for Jack, who agreed to give me Jean-Luc Chéreau’s phone number. Who answers on the third ring. Strange. He bought a new car and drove it in the Carrera Cup France… and the Supercup, in 1995 and 1996. That means that our white Porsche participated in four Cup seasons, and two Supercup seasons, which would be contested mostly on the best European circuits, including Business or… Monaco. Not less!

One detail remains at this point: we’ve traced the entire history of the Porsche 993 Cup. How can we be sure it’s ours? None of the main characters interviewed kept any documents on this mysterious Porsche. And the 993 Cups are of course unregistered… Salvation will come again from Alméras, which provides us 24 hours after the start of our research, the chassis number of this famous Porsche that passed through their premises 25 years earlier. The planets are aligned. It’s our Porsche.

Our client entrusted us with a Porsche. White. Believe it or not, he was born white, and was sold 30 years earlier to a certain Jean-Luc Chéreau. There is no car without a story, but only their owners-drivers can tell them. And that is the magic of my work. To make a simple white Porsche a real Cup and one of the best records in the series…

This car will be offered during the next Aguttes promotion at the start of Tour Auto. Catalog overview here.