Beschreibung
For sale in our forthcoming auction in Paris, on 24 october 2021.
Competition car
Unregistered
Chassis no. BSthe details below
- From the Manoir de l'Automobile at Lohéac
- Exceptional history in World Rally Championship
- Remarkably well preserved
- A Group B car to collect and to drive
- 8th in the 1986 Ivory Coast Rally with Alain Ambrosino
The Artcurial Motorcars team is extremely proud to present the two final Group B cars from the collection at the Manoir de l'Automobile at Lohéac, built up with great care by Michel Hommell and Olivier Quesnel from the end of the 1980s. The Manoir is today disposing of these two cars in order to create a larger area devoted to the rallycross cars which made Lohéac's history.
This type BS 110 Nissan 240 RS was homologated in Group B and was highly successful in period, thanks to its handling and sturdy construction. The model we are presenting made its mark with Alain Ambrosino and his co-driver Daniel Le Saux: in 1985, driving another RS 240 still registered in Japan, they finished third on the Ivory Coast Rally, behind the stars Juha Kankkunen and Björn Waldegård, both in Toyota Celicas. This performance led to Ambrosino being given a quasi-official place with Nissan for the Zaire Safari Rally, which he won, before returning to the Ivory Coast Rally, an event which counted towards the World Rally Championship. Whilst in fourth place, he was let down by his gearbox and ultimately finished eighth. In the livery of the JVC-Marlboro Africa team, the car he was driving was chassis number 087, and it is this very car we are presenting today. At the wheel of this car, he competed in the 1987 Zaire Safari Rally and finished second. The customs clearance certificate from 1988 with the car indicates that it was registered at the time in Ivory Coast with the number GIW 3187.
After these rallies the car was imported into France, as can be seen from a customs certificate dated 25 September 1990. It then had the Ivory Coast registration 9603 ITJ and was the property of a company director. Quesnel and Hommell bought the car from him soon afterwards, at the start of the 1990s, and kept it unmodified.
The car is therefore in exceptional original condition today for a competition car, as if it had just finished its last rally in Africa. Under its old paintwork, traces can be seen of the logos of the successive sponsors who backed Ambrosino during his successful career. The Nissan has been regularly started up and runs, although a full service should be carried out. Jean-Claude Andruet recently drove the car and stressed its excellent handling. It was one of the leading lights of the 1986 season during the golden years of Group B, that legendary category which has never been matched. As such, it is a rare witness to one of the greatest chapters in the history of rallying.
Photos © Romaric Croisile
Auction estimate: €130 000 /€190 000
- details above
