Rebuild of the 1934/39 SEFAC ‘parallel eight’ Grand Prix Engine

Classic Job was entrusted with the full restoration and rebuilt of the mysterious and unique 1934/39 SEFAC Grand Prix racing car. The complex 2600 cc parallel eight supercharged engine was being fully rebuilt and modified to function perfectly by Classic Job. The parallel eight engine features two four-cylinder banks arranged side by side on a joint crankcase. The crankshafts are geared together, and they turn in opposite directions. Both four-cylinder banks feature twin overhead camshafts. Many special parts had to be engineered and machined. The restoration, engineering, machining, rebuild and extensive testing took a few years time to be completed. The restoration was completed in January 2022.

LATEST NEWS:

The SEFAC Grand Prix car will be presented on the Montlhéry Vintage Revival which will be held in the weekend of 7 & 8 May.
The car will take part in Grid E. Time schedule: Saturday 7 May at 10:40am and 15:55 and on Sunday 8 May at 10:40am and 16:10.
More photos of the very special racing car will follow shortly on this page!

Article on PreWarCar.com: Back home: The Sefac Grand Prix Car

More information on the SEFAC GP car

The SEFAC was an ambitious project to build the ultimate French Grand Prix car. A group of four specialists Raymond Sommer (racing driver), André Parant (Industrialist), Raymond Brault, and Emile Petit (designer) formed the Société d’Etude et de Fabrication d’Automobile de course, in short SEFAC to achieve this goal. The project and the car were covered in mystery and the Grand Prix car materialized at one Grand Prix practice which was held at the circuit of Montlhéry. No one was allowed near the ‘phantom car’ and the only thing that was revealed was that the SEFAC was powered by a ‘parallel eight’ engine of own construction. After this short outing the nothing much was heard of the SEFAC GP car, only that it had covered a few very fast test laps at Montlhéry. Four years later, in 1938, the car appeared at the Rheims Grand Prix where the complex engine blew up after just three laps and in 1939 the car participated in the Pau Grand Prix where it also did not last until the end of the race. When World War 2 brought an end to Grand Prix racing the SEFAC was laid up and forgotten. The car was discovered in the catacombs at Montlhéry many decades later and purchased by the current owner. This illustrious GP car is being restored to top condition.