Gregor Wenner
Specialist Consultant
Lot 127
Le Mans competitor in 1983 and 1985
1983 Rondeau M482 Cosworth Group C Prototype
1983 Rondeau M482 Cosworth Group C Prototype
1983 Rondeau M482 Cosworth Group C Prototype
• One of only three M482s built
• The last Rondeau works car
• Formerly part of the Rosso Bianco Collection
• Presented as last raced in 1985
• The last Rondeau works car
• Formerly part of the Rosso Bianco Collection
• Presented as last raced in 1985
Footnotes
French racing driver Jean Rondeau first fielded a car under his own name in 1978, competing in the GTP international sports car racing series. In 1980, paired with co-driver Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, he became the only man in history to win the prestigious Le Mans 24-Hour endurance classic driving a car bearing his own name.
Two years later, on 18th April 1982, a Rondeau M382 won the Monza 1,000km endurance race, the very first World Sportscar Championship event run under Group C regulations. The M382 was very much an interim design based on the French manufacturer's earlier GTP cars. On 16th May 1982, Rondeau's first purpose-built Group C racer debuted at Silverstone; this was the M482, which was also its first monocoque design. The newcomer had been designed with input from aerodynamicist Max Sardou. His involvement was crucial as sophisticated 'ground effect' aerodynamics would become a key element in the design of all Group C cars. Sardou was one of the ground effect pioneers and had already helped design the Lola T600 GTP racer a year earlier.
For the M482, Sardou devised broad under-body tunnels, which ran on either side of the cockpit and engine. Together with large venturis in the tail, the tunnels helped accelerate the airflow under the car, creating a low pressure area, which literally sucked it to the ground. The tail itself swooped downwards and featured fins which supported the rear wing.
Beneath its carbon-fibre and Nomex body panels, the M482 featured an all-new aluminium monocoque that used the Cosworth DFL engine as a fully stressed chassis member. To enable clean airflow through the tunnels, the rear suspension was mounted in-board with the springs and dampers actuated by rockers.
Entered alongside the interim M382s, the first M482 had a disastrous debut. Driven by Jean Rondeau and François Migault, it qualified a lowly 27th and was eventually forced to retire with bodywork and suspension failures caused by engine vibrations and the huge loads generated by the ground effect body. The issues proved difficult to sort at short notice and Rondeau decided to rely on the M382s for the remainder of the year.
For the 1983 season, Jean Rondeau signed with tyre supplier Michelin and also benefited from the support of Ford France. He resumed development of the M482 and built two new chassis: '002' and '003'. Numbered '24', '25' and '26', the cars would be driven by, respectively, Henri Pescarolo/Thierry Boutsen, Philippe Streiff/Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, and Jean Rondeau/Michel Ferté.
At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jacky Ickx achieved a lap time of 3' 16'' 56 on a track where the Hunaudières chicanes had yet to be installed. The first of the three Rondeau M482s qualified 16th, 20 seconds from pole! '003' was to be driven by the experienced Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, twice winner at Le Mans (in 1978 and '80), and Philippe Streiff, then about to start his Formula 1 career. The race was a fiasco, with all three M482s retiring, '003' going out in the third hour with an engine problem. It must be said that the M482 was not helped by its destructively vibration-prone 3.9-litre Cosworth DFL V8, which could not compete with the six-cylinder Porsche turbo for smoothness.
The Le Mans debacle precipitated Jean Rondeau to file for bankruptcy in September 1983, as a result of which the cars were sold. The M482 was the end of of the line for Rondeau's brief but successful spell as a manufacturer. Today the French marque is best remembered for that historic victory at Le Mans in 1980.
The Rondeau Group C prototype offered here, M482-003, is the third and final chassis built for the 1983 season and the last of Jean Rondeau's works cars. Following the bankruptcy of Automobiles Jean Rondeau, '003' passed into the hands of Christian Bussi, a gentleman driver who had been competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours since 1975. In 1985 Bussi entered '003' in his eighth and last participation in the 24 Hours, assisted by Americans Jack Griffin and Mel Speer. The car got further than in 1983, retiring during the third hour, on this occasion with suspension failure.
Bonhams would like to take this opportunity of thanking Louis Monnier of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) for his help in researching the specific history of M482-003.
Offered for sale from an important European private collection, M482-003 is presented today still in its 1985 Le Mans 24-Hour configuration. The car comes with a Cosworth DFV V8 engine (not installed).
Additional information
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