Back home: the SEFAC Grand Prix car

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A unique 1934 Grand Prix racing car called the SEFAC, with a special connection to the Montlhéry circuit, will return to the historic banks of the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry after a long period of rebuilding. This is the circuit where the car first raced and where it was also stored in its cellars during the war.

1934 SEFAC Grand Prix

The racing car was manufactured by the Société des Études et de Fabrication d'Automobile de Course, and was designed by Émile Petit (designer of the successful Salmson car in the 1920s). Using two 4-cylinder engines assembled as a U8 engine, it was built to win Grand Prix races. The whole project was a bit of a mystery as the public and journalists were not allowed to see the car up close. The first race it entered was the French Grand Prix at Montlhéry on 23 June 1935. It was not a success because the car did not deliver what was hoped for. It lacked power, was too heavy and was not reliable enough.

Four years later the SEFAC was seen again. At the 1938 Reims Grand Prix the engine started smoking after a few laps and the car was withdrawn. The last time the car was seen in the pre-war days was at the 1939 Pau Grand Prix, but again it was retired early.

The U8-engine

There were two 4-cylinder blocks mounted side by side on their own crankcases, each block had a cylinder head with two overhead camshafts. The two crankshafts were aligned so that they ran in opposite directions. A large supercharger was mounted on one crankshaft (at the rear of the engine) and the other was fitted to the drive shaft.

After the 1939 Grand Prix the car was hidden in the cellars of the Montlhéry circuit. It was only a few years later that the car was seen again, but now as a Dommartin, or at least partially so. It never raced and was then in the hands of a French museum, followed by an English enthusiast before finally falling into the hands of Dutchman Han Brouwers. He intended to do what the car was meant for and entrusted Classic Job with the restoration. It was a serious task that required a lot of re-engineering and reworking, but the car is now ready to do what they had in mind in 1934. And next weekend it will be back home when it takes part in the Vintage Revival Montlhéry in Grid E. The car will knock you off your feet on Saturday at 10:40am and 3:55pm and on Sunday at 10:40am and 4:10pm.

Sources: ClassicCarGarage, Grahams Blog.

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