THE ROAD RACERS OF MARSEILLE

The Road Racers of Marseille

Going on a field trip in two of Team Joffroy Automobile’s best historic race cars.

Sometimes all you need to have a good time are a pair of historic Porsche race cars and an invitation to the sunny hills of Marseille to enjoy them in. Not the most accessible of fantasies by any means, but if you need to live vicariously through someone, let us introduce you to the world of Team Joffroy Automobile. As specialists of historic Porsche racing, they have many vintage circuit, rally and endurance racing cars from the marque under their custodianship. On the day of our photoshoot in Marseille, it was these two in particular that they agreed to take on the road.

The Road Racers of Marseille second image

The first car is a 1974 Porsche 3.0 RSR, preserved in the same green “HCC Skiwear” paint job it was given to compete with in the 1975 24hrs of Le Mans. As with a number of RSRs, the car was supplied by the Porsche factory as a bare shell, which was then prepared to racing specifications by Swiss team Wicky. This was fairly common practice for the 3.0 RSR, the demand for which completely outstretched Porsche Motorsport’s capacity to build them. Many were therefore shipped in component form and subsequently assembled by trusted workshops such as Kremer or Alméras Frères.

Those with an eye for architecture will of course spot Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in the backdrop of the RSR photos, a building that you can read about in a past Type 7 feature if you haven’t already. As one of the world’s most iconic modernist housing projects, we couldn’t resist revisiting it.

The second car is a 1983 Porsche 911SC Group 4, a French rally champion prepared by the legendary tuner Louis Meznarie, who’s name remains stencilled into the front grille. It also retains its original white “Total” livery, as it wore when Michel Teihol raced it all around the country. Meznarie was a brilliant engine builder throughout the 70s and early 80s, referred to in the racing world as “Le Sorcier” (the sorcerer) for his unparalleled grasp of the Porsche flat-6. The “Total” car was the last of just 3 911SC Group 4 cars built by Meznarie from 1979 to 1983.