Wednesday 23 August 2017

Le Mans Mini Marcos project gets ACO approval

Today is a grand day for the Le Mans Mini Marcos project as I received a parcel from France that had been eagerly awaited, putting things pretty mildly. It comes from the ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest), which is the organizer of the 24 hours of Le Mans race since human memory. It contains a copy of their full file on my car. This means all the documents are there, from the very first application form to all the official records that they took at the 12 different posts where they checked, verified, measured and weighed the car prior to the race on June 18, 1966. It's all dated and full of technical detail. It is a gold mine for the restoration.

It's even more than that as it also means the ACO have now officially approved my car as the real deal. And to say they take things seriously, certainly is no exaggeration. To get to this point, I had to send all of the possible evidence that I had over to an ACO jury. When the head of the club's Heritage Service contacted me six weeks later with the now classic words 'It's good' it made my day!
I'd like to thank Gérard Boulin for getting me in touch with the right person in the first place plus Stéphanie Lopé and Antoine Letrésor at the Automobile Club de l'Ouest for their support and enthusiasm.

The filing map that came in the post today from the Automobile Club de l'Ouest
Picture Jeroen Booij

It contains all the official documents that came with the car's entry at Le Mans in 1966. Seen here is the 'Carnet de pesage', showing the approval signatures for all the 12 posts the car had to go through
Picture Jeroen Booij

14 comments:

  1. That is absolutely brilliant, Well done.

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  2. Congrats Jeroen. Bet you'll be smiling like a crocodile for the next while.

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  3. Thanks chaps. I am a happy bunny!

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  4. Well Jeroen, this is excellent news, and amply rewards all the detailed work you have put into the project so far, sincere congratulations.
    Ian.

    psssst, can you whisper the race weight ??

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  5. Thanks Ian, it's good to hear this kind of thing from you! I'm not disclosing any information from these documents at the moment, but all will be revealed in the end.

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  6. Brilliant, all the diligent work you have put in has paid off, there can be no doubt of the car and it's history, that is not something that can always be said about a lot of alleged historically important cars. Well done Jeroen.

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  7. As I always say = "its all in the detail" and sure enough you proved it is.

    Congratulations on the great news - we knew - but always nice to get the official approval from the right people.

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    1. That's exactly why I am so happy with the approval. I can tell everyone it's the real car, but when it comes from an organization like this it is a whole different matter.

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  8. Congrats Jeroen there was no questions it is the Le Mans car ... weldone

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  9. Congratulations Jeroen, at last you have reached the end of the tunnel - Le Mans Classic must surely await you ?

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    1. Thanks Tim. The end of the tunnel is nowhere near yet as the car still is an empty shell, but this is a major breakthrough from the administration side of things. Oh and Le Mans Classic is on the wish list, yes. With the contacts I now have it should surely be possible, too.

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  10. great news, so fine to see the car being saved..

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