1982 - RONDEAU M382-CHEVROLET, CHÂSSIS 001

Lot 4
Go to lot
1982 - RONDEAU M382-CHEVROLET, CHÂSSIS 001
Châssis : Tubular steel Bodywork : Polyester Weight : 910 kg Dimensions : 4820 mm / 2040 mm Engine : Chevrolet V8 OHV, 5,7l Gearbox : Hewland VG à 5 rapports (5 speed) Brakes : Hydraulics front and rear Rims: Aluminium Suspensions : Double wishbones Far from resting on his laurels after his historic success at the 1980 Le Mans 24 Hours, Jean Rondeau decides to develop his small business. He expanded his workforce (about fifteen people gathered near the circuit) and tried to become a manufacturer capable of marketing his products. He even found, in the person of Philippe de Lespinay, a motivated agent to find him potential buyers in the United States. Already a representative of Stand 21 safety equipment and Gotti rims in the USA, this Frenchman living in California has a good network there: “Since its victory at Le Mans, Rondeau has had a good image and this has aroused immediate interest across the Atlantic. Americans in general love France and the French. In the IMSA championship, there was a gap between the Porsche 935s and the rest, so the M382 was a very good option on paper...” Quickly, he found two customers: Garry Belcher and the Golden Eagle team, whose representatives come to Le Mans in delegation to visit the workshops. On the Bugatti track, Henri Pescarolo took them aboard an M379 to offer them some unforgettable memories. For these American customers, the M382 was a sure bet, as Hubert Rohee, then a member of the Rondeau design office, confirms: “We were a little behind in the development of the M482 with ground effect. So the M382 was a transitional car: a direct evolution of the M379, which had won at Le Mans, with the added bonus of the mechanical elements of the rear axle of the future M482. Like its predecessor, it was originally designed to take a Cosworth DFL V8. Chassis 001 (sold to the Belcher team and now for sale) and 002 (destined for Golden Eagle) were flown to America to compete in the Daytona 24 Hours on the last weekend of January 1982. Gary Belcher shared the wheel of chassis 001 with Hubert Phipps and future Formula 1 driver Danny Sullivan. Qualifying in 14th position, the M382 with black livery and race number 3 was forced to retire with three hours to go due to a valve being out of order. CONQUERING THE WEST Supported by his victory in the 1980 Le Mans 24 hours race, Jean Rondeau feels like having wings. With his new M382, he tackles the World Endurance Championship and even targets the American market with a version equipped with a V8 Chevrolet. After Daytona, the two American M382s swapped their Cosworth V8s for a 5.7-liter Chevy engine, which had several advantages: a little more power, but above all, a lot more torque in the mid-range. Incidentally, it cost half as much as a DFV or a DFL and the price of its spare parts - immediately available - is much lower. Hubert Rohee was in charge of designing an adaptation kit: “The Chevrolet V8 was not load-bearing, so we had to design a tubular lattice to provide the necessary rigidity”. Lucien Monté, Jean Rondeau’s loyal mechanic, came to the USA to install this kit on the 001 chassis. Unfortunately, Rondeau’s American ambitions soon came up against the Lola T600, which had the ground effect. Gary Belcher puts his M382 under cover and only brings it out at the end of 1983 for the 3 Hours of Daytona (John Gunn’s retirement). At the beginning of 1984, Belcher teams up with Jean Rondeau for the Miami Grand Prix and the 12 Hours of Sebring: two retirements. The four races run in 1985 by Goral Racing did not add anything to the pedigree of the 001 chassis. As for the “official” M382, equipped with a Cosworth DFL V8, it competed for the first time in the World Endurance Championship in 1982 and even won the inaugural round at Monza (with Pescarolo and Francia at the wheel). It would also have won the championship, against the Porsche 956, if the federal authorities had not mysteriously added to Porsche’s capital the points scored by a Porsche 930, victorious in... Group B, at the Nürburgring! Jean Rondeau: driver-builder... and winner! Which young Manceau driver hasn’t dreamed of competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or even winning it? For Jean Rondeau, the dream did not stop there: he saw himself winning at the wheel of a car of his own design and with his own name! A pure delirium, thought those who did not know his determination...
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue