A very interesting story on porsche racing history, Canadian content, 914/6 GT 24hr Daytona class winner, 906 and Jezabel 911T Options

[Mark Henry]

I was following a thread on the bird board and this post pops up about how a fellow got into Porsche because his dad was a French Canadian racer who owned some very interesting cars. I did a little digging and found though he was off slightly, his story is true. Some of it is off is because he was a young boy and maybe in translation as he is a French Canadian. His dad is Jacques Duval and he did win his class, GTU, in the 1971 24Hrs of Daytona, it's the car that is a 1970 914/6GT.

It's an amazing part of Canadian racing history, French Canadians have long been involved in motorsports and these were the fertile breading grounds for many, the most famous of which were of course Gilles and Jacques Villeneuve.
On to the story....

I was soaked in the Porsche world very early in my life........... here I am in my dad`s 906 at one of many race weekend here in St Jovite........! I was 10 years old
on this picture. 1966

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Ok here we go !
My father is Jacques Duval ( for those who know him ) he strated racing in 1958
in an alpha romeo and quickly move to a 356 after seing these Porsches
performances on the track, Soon after he got an Abarth Carrera ( I was 6 then)
Wich he raced a couple times but the car was poor handling, He switched to a 904 in 1964 and had great results . sure enough i got bit by the porsche bug.
He ended up with a 906 bought from the late Doug Revson from the REVLON family , he clintched the Quebec champion title with that car, He was now with is 4th porsche , After the 906, came the race prep by the factory 911;s in 1968 he also won the championship here in Quebec, sold the car to a group of individuals
The car was named JEZEBEL And is still racing these days. ( was at the rennsport IV reunion a couple months ago ) My father then got another 911T 1969 with wich he was tied at the championship with Jacques Bienvenue. I was following at each race that I could....... Finally he got a 914 6 GT with which he won the Daytona 24 hrs race in 1970....... his biggets achievement. This is a short review of his racing carreer ... You now see why I was soaked into Porsches early in my life.............!

Here are pictures of his dads 914/6 GT.

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His dads other car is a 1969T called Jezabel and it also has a famous pedigree :

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This site has a lot more info and pics of Jezebel:
http://www.canepa.com/inventory/racecar_1/..._911/index.html

I've invited Monsieur Duval over to our site and hopefully he will tell us more about his dad and his story.

Too cool! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

[SirAndy]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/first.gif)

I've seen that GT before, i have a bunch of pictures somewhere ...
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif)

[Mark Henry]

This just gets more interesting
His dad, Jacques Duval is still with us and this guy is a Grand Prix winner! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)


Translated from french wiki:

He was born in Lauzon, in the parish of St. Antoine de Bienville (now Lévis ).

Jacques Duval is interested in the automotive world in the late 1950s. He then made ​​his racing debut and won the first Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières in 1967 . It is then several times the Quebec champion racing drivers.

In the 1960s, he hosted the show Graveyard of the disc Télé-Métropole .

In the mid- 1960s , Duval anime Take the wheel to the Radio-Canada , a show about cars. "Very sure of my ability, I told my sales pitch without taking care to scribble a few notes ... until the day I missed my shot royally in a speech at the edge of ridicule . " This mishap inspires them to take notes on cards. The following year, these boxes are used to write him his first Car Guide .

In 1974, owing its success in Quebec, an English publisher is trying to sell an English translation in English Canada, with little success. From 1987 to 1993, Duval is dedicated to journalism, especially recounting his experiences. He returned to the Guide in 1993 as a collaborator .

It is the first Canadian to sign her name to the winners of an international event, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1971 .

He signs in chronic Press (1969 to 1984) and leads to emission of Radio-Canada , to VAT , the Canal Vox and Canal Evasion thereafter.

In the 1990s, he became a consultant for Ford . Many people have criticized his decision, finding that Smith would not be impartial when writing his Car Guide. He resigned after a few years.

In 2003 , his company sells Duval Jacques Duval Inc.. and the rights of its guide to the company LC Media Inc. , because he wants to continue writing but no longer wants to manage business. In 2004 , he resigned from his position as editor after a dispute with LC Media Inc., who wanted to change the publishing house .

Since 2006, Jacques Duval wrote for the site www.guideauto.com , and it has a blog .

In 2008, after five years of absence in writing an annual guide to automotive, Jacques Duval returns to the charge with the Auto 2009, in collaboration with Eric LeFrançois, Sylvie Rainville, and Jean-Francois Guay.

He has a keen interest in German cars built by Porsche and Mercedes-Benz .

In 2007 he published his autobiography, Jacques Duval, Gilbert Bécaud to Enzo Ferrari for publishers America. ( ISBN 2764405863 ) - ( ISBN 9782764405864 )

[Mark Henry]

Jacques Duval

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His Blog, he is an automotive writer.
http://www.guideauto.com/jacques-duval/blo...ques-duval.html

[balljoint]

Very cool. Thanks for posting this! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Mark Henry]

If you speak French he has quite a few videos on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...209l209l2-1l1l0

[Mark Henry]

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He was 16th in the 1966 12hour at Sebring in a Porsche 904 which he co-drove with another famous Canadian race driver Horst Kroll.

[Mark Henry]

The history of Jacques Duval's 904. Amazing fact was he drove it home, in the snow from Milwaukee to Montreal. That's about a 30 hour drive in good weather.
Ahhh.... the good old days when you could get away with that sort of thing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

$7500 would have been a fair chunk of change back then, imagine what that car would be worth today (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

904-014
Originally sold to Frank Rand, who quickly turned the car over to Harry Heuer of Chicago, Illinois. Mr Heuer, of the brewing "Heuers", had apparently acquired the car.

Shortly thereafter, 904-014 was sold to another brewing heir, Eddie Weschler of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but was not raced. A few months later, it was sold to Jacques Duval, the enthusiastic and talented Porsche privateer from Montreal Canada.

Mr. Duval, who worked as a radio personality, had raced Porsches in Quebec since 1960. Starting with a 356 roadster in 1960, he had obtained a Lightweight 356 Coupe for '61, '62 and '63, and a 1600 GTL Abarth Coupe (chassis # 1004) for 1964.

Acquired in the winter of 1965 for the sum of $7500, Duval drove 904-014 home from Milwaukee. To deal with snow, he mounted VW wheels with snow tires that he obtained along the way. Though remembered by many a racer for having a pretty girl by his side, his true talent (for a racer, anyway) was his ability to obtain sponsorship. During his ownership, the car was painted yellow to complement his Mr. Muffler (a Quebec exhaust repair chain) sponsorship, then blue (Porsche Club of Canada color) and, finally, red to go with his G. Lebeau (a body repair shop) logos.

In 1965, Duval and 904-014 won its class in the Quebec Championship. This series comprised 12 events held, predominantly, at Mt. Tremblant, a beautiful and challenging racetrack near Ste. Jovite, about 70 miles north of Montreal. The following details some of the results obtained by Duval during 1965 and 1966:

- May, 1965, 6th-Pepsi Cola Trophy (Tremblant);
- 1965, 13th-Mosport GP, #58;
- 1965, with Horst Kroll, 3rd-Sundown 4 Hr GP (Tremblant);
- 1966, with Horst Kroll, 2nd in class-Sebring 12 Hrs, #56;
- 1966, 2nd-Player's 200 (Tremblant);

Near the end of the 1966 season, 904-014 was sold to Victor Herman Haus, also from Montreal. At his first outing, the ACAM 6 Hrs, held at Tremblant on October 17, 1966, he rolled the car shortly after the start of the race.
From Mr. Haus, the car made its way to Rainer Brezinka and to Mr. Campbell of Vancouver.
Tony Campbell raced it in 1968 and 1969. In '69 racing season, Tony finished 3d in the Northern Pacific Division/SCCA point standings
It was then sold to Dick Barbour, the 935 racer and Porsche collector. And from him it passed to a Mr. Harming and then to Paul Harmatuk. Tony Singer & Jay Rosenfield from New York acquired 904-014 and had it restored.
From Singer, in 1975, the car passed to Tim Kuser of Bordentown, New Jersey

[Mark Henry]

Francois Duval wrote back to me on the bird board and hopefully he will chime in soon with a bit more about his dad and his rides.

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Bonjour Mark merci pour votre message.
I wrote an article back then that relates most of my dads carreer . It was published in THE MAGAZINE of the
Quebec Porsche club. I will try to locate it and maybe I could post it on your site.
Give me a couple days and see If I can find it.
best regards
Francois Duval

[carr914]

This just gets more interesting
His dad, Jacques Duval is still with us and this guy is a Grand Prix winner! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)


Translated from french wiki:

He was born in Lauzon, in the parish of St. Antoine de Bienville (now Lévis ).

Jacques Duval is interested in the automotive world in the late 1950s. He then made ​​his racing debut and won the first Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières in 1967 . It is then several times the Quebec champion racing drivers.

In the 1960s, he hosted the show Graveyard of the disc Télé-Métropole .

In the mid- 1960s , Duval anime Take the wheel to the Radio-Canada , a show about cars. "Very sure of my ability, I told my sales pitch without taking care to scribble a few notes ... until the day I missed my shot royally in a speech at the edge of ridicule . " This mishap inspires them to take notes on cards. The following year, these boxes are used to write him his first Car Guide .

In 1974, owing its success in Quebec, an English publisher is trying to sell an English translation in English Canada, with little success. From 1987 to 1993, Duval is dedicated to journalism, especially recounting his experiences. He returned to the Guide in 1993 as a collaborator .

It is the first Canadian to sign her name to the winners of an international event, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1971 .

He signs in chronic Press (1969 to 1984) and leads to emission of Radio-Canada , to VAT , the Canal Vox and Canal Evasion thereafter.

In the 1990s, he became a consultant for Ford . Many people have criticized his decision, finding that Smith would not be impartial when writing his Car Guide. He resigned after a few years.

In 2003 , his company sells Duval Jacques Duval Inc.. and the rights of its guide to the company LC Media Inc. , because he wants to continue writing but no longer wants to manage business. In 2004 , he resigned from his position as editor after a dispute with LC Media Inc., who wanted to change the publishing house .

Since 2006, Jacques Duval wrote for the site www.guideauto.com , and it has a blog .

In 2008, after five years of absence in writing an annual guide to automotive, Jacques Duval returns to the charge with the Auto 2009, in collaboration with Eric LeFrançois, Sylvie Rainville, and Jean-Francois Guay.

He has a keen interest in German cars built by Porsche and Mercedes-Benz .

In 2007 he published his autobiography, Jacques Duval, Gilbert Bécaud to Enzo Ferrari for publishers America. ( ISBN 2764405863 ) - ( ISBN 9782764405864 )

Race Winner, but the Grand Prix of Trois Rivieres was just the name of the race, it was not part of F-1

[Mark Henry]

Yes I realized that afterwards, but he did win his class at Daytona in a 914/6 GT.
How many here can say that?

[carr914]

Well, there is one Member, (maybe 2) that I can think of that has accomplished that Feat (a Win in Class @ the 24 of Daytona)

[tornik550]

I believe son is a member here- fduval. I purchased an engine from him a couple years ago.

[sixnotfour]

Hopefully it makes it way back to where it belongs.. posting for historic purposes..

time has come to pass along this piece of history.
This is the steering wheel that was installed in the car that won the 1971 24hr of Daytona back in 1971, my father removed the wheel after the end of the season and kept it all these years. Its in excellent condition , no tears no rips , just nice patina from one season of racing. Comes as picture with the somewhat customised 914-6 GT solid hub. and Porsche horn button. Will also provide a letter written by my father to certify the authenticity. Not cheap, $ 1,000 USD plus shipping for this piece. please contact me via PM if interrested.
see pictures below.

[rgalla9146]

I think I sold Francois a rear bumper top at Hershey in April.

[maf914]

That 914 GT has been shown at several historic displays associated with the Daytona 24 Hrs races. I have seen it at least a couple of times over the years.

Who owns it now? And where is it located?

On a separate note, Brumos used to display their various customer 914's prepared for historic racing at events. Sometimes multiple Brumos themed replicas under their tents. I wonder if with the sale of Brumos we will see these 914's, as well as their other historic cars (911, 935, etc.) any more.

[Mark Henry]

Who owns it now? And where is it located?

.

http://www.pbase.com/9146gt/9146gt_factory...0431017_daytona

[Montreal914]

Wow Mark, thank you for sharing this!

I was born in 69 so I didn't get to see Jaques Duval race. I knew about his Porsche cars 914, 906, 908 as he sometime mentioned them on his TV shows at Radio-Canada (french channel). His shown had a good following (including me as a young kid) and so did his annuel reference book car review called "Guide de l'Auto" where he would undertake the evaluation of every car sold in Québec by the various manufacturer. He clearly is a local celebrity and everyone knew him and appreciated his work. Also a fan of German cars, Porsches, BMWs. It was clear that the BMW 3 series was up there in his book.

Found this picture; I remember going though some of them...





I never made the link between him and the 914 World member fduval but the recently sold Prototipo steering wheel (deal) is obvious. He also has nice 73 Bahia red for sale.

[fduval]

I think I sold Francois a rear bumper top at Hershey in April.

No, wasent me sorry ! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

[Mark Henry]

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