...I’m the type 9 V.O.S. Duvant engine, on show at Rétromobile for the first /me ever !

Just three of these mechanical monsters were built in 1962 by the Duvant firm in Valenciennes, and for half a century this one remained hidden in the basement of the Auteuil race course. None of the tens of thousands of visitors who go there every Sunday ever knew it even existed. This fabulous engine used to drive a huge alternator that could provide power for the en/re race course if there was a power cut. In 1990, the engine was stopped for the last /me and forgo0en at the bo0om of its pit..

Rebirth

In early 2000, when work was being done in the basement, Jean-François Lacanal and his friends from the Association des Amoureux des Vieux Moteurs (Vintage Engines Apprecia/on Society) appeared on the scene when they heard that the race course wanted to get rid of the giant. In one month, it was taken to pieces and each component was winched out by crane and taken to a place near Toulouse. When you think that the engine block alone weighs 14 tons, a crank-arm 120 kilos and the flywheel 3.5 tons, you can only admire their prowess! In 2010, the monster awoke from its long slumber with a deep, earth-shaking roar, the compressor hissed and great plumes of smoke belched forth.

A unique experience at Rétromobile

The people in charge of the Association des Amoureux des Vieux Moteurs will be inviting visitors to climb up on to a specially designed viewing platform to get a close look at this gigantic working engine.