1977 Chevron B36 #26 Pilots: R. Stirling, R. Hyett, D. Shead Team: Racing Organisation Course (ROC) Race: 6th overall (1st in S 2.0 class) at Le Mans in 1977 Spark - S9410 (resin)
Published 02/15/24
In 1976, Group 6 was officially the class for “two-seater race cars”, and a few manufacturers offered models for the class. Chevron was one of these, and in 1976 they released the Chevron B36. Successor to their B35 (a Formula 2 car), the B36 was a conventional car, built and conceived for FIA’s Group 6. Aimed solely for sale to privateers, the car was cheap to maintain and accepted many different engines. The chassis was an aluminum monocoque with rear subframe, allowing easy maintenance or replacement. Chevron used fiberglass for the body, which was longer than most other cars of the time. Commonly, the engine was a 1993 cm³ inline-4 from SIMCA/Chrysler, longitudinally mounted. With DOHC and fuel injection, the engine delivered 295 hp. All in all Chevron built and sold 21 cars, and they raced from 1976 until 1987.
French team Société Racing Organisation Course (ROC) bought two brand new B36 in 1976. In the same year, they debuted both (chassis #76-07 and #76-04) at La Sarthe. Unfortunately, both DNF. Car #27 ( #76-04) abandoned on lap 88 and a broken oil pump retired car #26 (#76-07) on lap 241. The following year ROC was back, again with the same two-car team. While a faulty engine took out car #27 (#76-04), car #26 (#76-07) had a much better race. Piloted by the French trio Pignard, Dufrene and Henry, B36 #26 completed 306 laps. They finished in sixth place overall, managing a first place in the S 2.0 class.
I think you can say that the Chevron B36 was in the 70s what an ORECA 07 is today. What I mean by that is that it’s a feasible way for small teams to race. Though definitively not ground-breaking (far from that), the B36 allowed small teams to race at La Sarthe. With that, it definitively has an historic importance. And B36 #26 here is of special interest because it was a class winner. The model is gorgeous, and Spark did a fantastic job recreating it in scale. However, it is an oddball, so I don’t think most people would get too excited about it. For me though, since it is a class winner and an oddball, it was a must buy.