French registration

One of the 16 Vaillantes ever built
Registered race car
Reliable and efficient mechanics

Michel Hommell, press owner and founder of Echappement magazine, has had a thousand lives. Former Gordini Cup driver, wise collector, creator of the Lohéac Museum, "importer" of Rallycross in France, he was also a car manufacturer... Indeed, following an Echappement survey published in 1989 ("Berlinette of the 1990s: imagine it") and intended to help define the ideal sports car, he decided, based on these targeted specifications, to create his own sports car, a berlinette that would logically be called Echappement. Gilles Dupré, the magazine's editor-in-chief, was responsible for the technical aspects and Eric de Pauw, the stylist, for the design. In December 1991, a 1/5th scale model was validated by Michel Hommell, and a first prototype was presented at the 1992 Paris Motor Show. Mechanically, the components were taken from large-scale production, in particular from PSA. The 2.0 litre 16-valve DOHC 4-cylinder engine with 155 bhp (located in the centre rear position) and the 6-speed gearbox were taken from the Peugeot 306 S16. The suspension, with double wishbones, and the ventilated disc brakes are those of an authentic racing car. The performance is up to expectations, with a top speed of 222 km/h and a standing start kilometre in just over 28 seconds. At the end of the show, ten orders were received and two other prototypes were built for the crash test and final homologation. Between 1994 and 1998, sixty-nine Hommell berlinettes were produced in the former Bridel factory in Lohéac, which was bought and fitted out for the occasion. Between 1995 and 1999, fifty-two barquettes also left the factory. Eighty-six RS and RS2 berlinettes were also built and a final prototype barquette ended the beautiful Breton adventure in 2003. In the meantime, at the 1999 Paris Motor Show, for the 40th birthday of the famous cartoon driver-builder Michel Vailant, Christophe Collaro (Stéphane's brother), for a long time organizer of car races reserved for the stars, presents the Vaillante Grand Défi. He bought the last sixteen RS barquettes from Michel Hommell, and had them transformed into Vaillante berlinettes by Philippe-Charles Toussaint, a great fan of the comic book hero, based on a drawing by Jean Graton, all of which was produced by the AC3 company in Nice. Each of the sixteen cars was painted in the colours of a different sponsor, and entered in the 3Com Stars Challenge in 2000, allocated by lottery to a different celebrity for each race.
The Hommell Vaillante Grand Défi chassis #519 038 was driven successively by Marie Fugain, Alexandre Debanne, Jean-Marie Bigard, Caroline Barclay and Stéphane Collaro. With its blue/white/red livery (and at the time "stuck" with the colours of Olla magazine), it was one of the most noticed cars of the cup. Purchased by its current owner in 2011, it has not been driven much since the end of its sporting career but was overhauled in 2017. Once it has passed the technical inspection, it will be ready to take to the track by road. Because yes, the Vaillante Grand Défi is road registered, like all Hommell!

This car will be sold by auction by AGUTTES Auction House, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, on June the 20th, 2021.
The digital catalog is available by the following link
https://www.aguttes.com/en/catalog/113642?

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