Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: The 1934 Renault Nervasport des Records Continue reading the Original Blog Post
Yeah, the car it's based off of is HUGE! Imagine trying to get a 1934 Lincoln down to 1934 Ford weight.
yep, those were big cars, I suppose like the straight eight Chryslers of that era, usually with special custom coachwork. They were the most "American" European car really...
I'm guilty again!!! I was the one who suggested to rebuild this car, which had disappeared shortly after breaking 9 international speed records and 3 world records at the Montlhéry autodrome. We didn't have much to do this: matching engine, gearbox, transmission and various other original parts and a few dozen archive photos. Four decisive factors allowed us to launch the project: - the agreement given by Carlos Tavares, the company's number 2 at the time, - a (very rare) chassis found in an automobile museum that the owner, a friend, kindly let us use, - the help of the Design Department, which has software that can translate drawings (and therefore our period photos) into 3D models, - a period image showing a spare cylinder head gasket in the car's door (if the car broke down on the circuit, the driver had to repair it on his own, without assistance and with the parts he had at hand). This may seem strange, but it has been essential because the deformation due to the photographic lenses of the time or the shooting angles did not allow absolute certainty on certain essential dimensions: in the absence of plans and knowing the dimensions of this cylinder head gasket, this allowed us to have a scale and to confirm the exact dimensions of the door and, from there, those of the different elements of the bodywork... After this extensive period of research and analysis, the rebuilding was completed quite quickly: approximately two years (with other projects and activities to be carried out in parallel). The mechanics were not a problem for the technical team in charge of the company's classic car collection. The all-aluminum bodywork was handcrafted by a brilliant coachbuilder and is mounted on a splendid wooden structure crafted by an equally brilliant carpenter. Everything was done as it was in the original period, using original parts or some identically remanufactured ones (wheels, shock absorbers, seat, etc.). The only exceptions were for safety reasons and mainly concerned the steering column and the fuel tank. The work done by the team and our partners is exceptional, and having driven the car several times at Montlhéry, Goodwood, Normandy Beach Race, etc., I can assure you that the car is absolutely fantastic to drive!!!
@Dubonet Garage that's a great story, very cool how you could scale the photos from the head gasket picture.
Thank you so much! It was a great team effort and it's easy to oversee such a project when everyone involved is a passionate and motivated expert.
The Jalopy Journal
