Gilles Villeneuve's first racing car
06/13/2012
The Formula 1 Grand Prix in Canada commemorated Ferrari star and national hero Gilles Villeneuve, who died in an accident 30 years ago.
His first racing car, a Magnum Formula Ford 1600, took a lap of honor shortly before the start of the GP. During his drive, an impressive documentary about the unforgotten Canadian favorite was shown on the big screens.
It was a poignant sight to see the entire grandstand rise from their seats and applaud throughout the performance.
The Magnum Formula Ford 1600 was driven by its builder Jean-Pierre Saint Jacques himself. He was not a vehicle designer in 1968, but a machinist at Sibec-Dosco in Contrecoeur (Qc). At that time, there was really only one way to get into racing without money: You built your own racing car. Saint Jacques used a Caldwell Formula Ford as a model and built five new cars under the name "Magnum".
In 1972, Jean-Pierre met an old friend from the snowmobile scene - Gilles Villeneuve - at the ACAM racing school.
Gilles showed great interest in Formula Ford. Jean-Pierre was about to get married and wanted to hang up his racing career at the end of the year anyway, so he sold all his equipment to Gilles without further ado. Villeneuve spent the whole winter in Saint Jacques' garage working on the cars. He wanted to get to know them inside out. "Gilles was not only a talented driver but also an extremely gifted mechanic," says Saint Jacques.
Still without a racing license, Gilles completed his first test at the Autodrome St-Eustache in 1973 under the watchful eye of Marc Cantin. Saint-Jacques said: "Never before or after that test had one of my Magnums ever been moved like that again. "Some wheels on the track, others on the grass and the rest in the air...."!
In the end, it was no surprise that Gilles won the Quebec Formula Ford Championship outright in his rookie season. Just four years later, he was in a McLaren Formula 1 car, without a penny to his name, but with incredible talent in his suitcase.
