Lecoq bodywork will not be a conventional storage. Right here, we discover Ferraris, Jaguars, racing vehicles and even collectibles. Within the industrial space bordering rue Casimir-Perrier, its ultra-modern workshops home Bentley, Mercedes and others You're here on which work with as a lot precision as ardour for coachbuilders and mechanics. The institution's know-how, acknowledged in France and overseas, has enabled it to win the “Dwelling Heritage Firm” label in 2016, simply over fifty after its creation by André Lecoq.
Based in 1963
In 1963, this former Simca worker based his firm in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis). "It was a typical bodywork exercise till the 1970s, with the arrival of fiberglass at manufacturers like Matra or Alpine," stated Thomas Alunni, director of bodywork Lecoq.
Physique builders are reluctant to work with this new materials. André Lecoq makes it a specialty and hyperlinks up with the Matra firm. The model authorizes him to make use of his emblem, a rooster head, which turns into the visible signature of the bodywork.
The distinctive Bugatti Royale Roadster Ester restored right here
"On the finish of the 1970s, a buddy requested him to revive an outdated automotive," says Thomas Alunni. At first, André Lecoq refuses… then yields. This exercise will grow to be one of many firm's specialties and provides it worldwide renown.
Subsequently, in his fingers, Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, Packard or Hispano-Suiza are utterly renovated within the cutting-edge. The one copy of the 1932 Bugatti Royale Roadster Esder finds a second youth. It’s now uncovered to the Automobile City of Mulhouse.
A Bugatti 57 S Atlantic was additionally utterly rebuilt after an accident. One of many three current copies of this mannequin was bought for between $ 30 million and $ 40 million in 2010.
Ferrari, Tesla, basic vehicles … They restore status autos
Prestigious manufacturers
The standard of André Lecoq's work opens different doorways to him. The Franco-Britannic, importer of Bentley, Rolls-Royce and Jaguar, entrusts him with its repairs. The only importer of Ferrari on the time, Charles Pozzi, approached the bodybuilder to do the identical within the 1980s.
This collaboration introduced the corporate to work on aluminum monohull our bodies within the late 1990s. This gentle steel, tougher to work than metal, requires particular know-how. “We now have developed and we have now specialised in manufacturers that had one of these construction,” explains Thomas Alunni. Acknowledged on this space, the Lecoq bodywork authorised to work on Jaguar, Land Rover, Honda NSX, Porsche, Bentley and Tesla.
200,000 euros in repairs
Inside the three,500 sq. meters of workshop, the Ferraris are properly represented. Two Dino 246 GT fashions, the identical as that of the "Amically Yours" sequence, sit on the entrance. They rub shoulders with a particular 458 from 2013, which has regained its unique look after having been critically injured. The restore of the latter value greater than 200,000 euros.
Amongst these distinctive tasks, the transformation of a London taxi for a enterprise supervisor who wished to commerce his Rolls-Royce for a extra versatile automobile, whereas retaining its consolation: full-grain leather-based for passengers, lined folding seat of leather-based and positioned again to the wheel for the secretary, small fridge…
350 hours of labor to refurbish a Ferrari
At the moment, the restoration half features a Renault Nervastella from 1935. Additional on, the physique of a Lancia Flaminia Superleggera has been laid naked. Its restoration has simply began. A job that counts in months, even years. A Mercedes 190 SL constructed from 1955 to 1963 and a black Ferrari 365 GTC4 from the early 1970s face it.
Ludovic bought all the way down to repairing a Ferrari 430 GT3. A shock on a circuit twisted the complete entrance a part of this racing mannequin. It is going to take 350 hours of labor to revive it. The work of aluminum, he realized from contact with "Pinto", 57, the workshop supervisor, authorised like him to work on Ferrari.
"There are 80 technicians on this planet to have this approval," he says. France has 4. They’re all on the Lecoq physique store and its Mandelieu-la-Napoule department, close to Cannes (Alpes-Maritimes). "We make different manufacturers however this one, I'm significantly pleased with it," says Pinto. As a result of it's been 35 years that I work for her. "
