Jean Rondeau and destiny
Jean Rondeau and destiny.
Destiny. The superior force that inevitably sets the course of events and the layout of the universe. Some believe in it, others don’t. Jean Rondeau knew he wasn’t going to have a long life. His career and legacy appears as a hint that could help us understand his thoughts.
Thinking … outside the box
When the Rondeau-Ford M379 n°16 crossed the line of the 1980 24 Hours of Le Mans, majestically driven by Jean-Pierre Jaussaud and Jean Rondeau himself, a life changed, and history was written. A dream was fulfilled. Jean, who was born in Le Mans, always had the wish to triumph in the world’s greatest race in his own car.
But it is far from easy to choose the right terms. When someone starts drawing cars as a little kid, should we call it a ‘dream’ or a ‘vision’ ? Jean was more than ‘passionate’. He was a visionary who thought things through. He never forgot about the kidney disease that followed him since childhood. And he always thought about his deceased father.
After entering three times the race he dreamt of, he decided to step up and enter with a car he would build himself.
Written in the ashes
Jean created an association, the ATAC, in order to finance his ambitious project of building a prototype. He met Charles James, former director of Inaltera tapestries, a Lyon based company at the time. James accepted to help him, and five months later, the car was ready for its first test session. It really felt like everything was prepared and organized in his mind, or as if he managed to plan everything brilliantly in such an abstract environment.
After two brilliant results in two years, Inaltera disappeared. The prototypes powered by the famous Ford DFV V8s engines were now simply called ‘Rondeau’. When one designs powerful cars as an adult, do we call it a passion, or a skill that has been developed over time ?
Rondeau was now winning in his category ; nevertheless, this wasn’t his final goal. So before even starting the 1980 edition of the race, even before Jaussaud stalled in the final hours or before his huge slide over 300 meters in the rain, he was going to win. It seemed like there wasn’t any other possible endings.
The end
Jean Rondeau died on December 27th 1985 forcing a railroad crossing near his home town. Even though he had dark hours in his life, like the loss of his dear friend Jean-Louis Lafosse at the 1981 Le Mans 24 Hours – in one of his cars – his incredible destiny was set since the very beginning.
Living forever is pointless, we have to build something that will outlive us. When important individuals leave this world, the same question comes back : are they truly gone ? Physical death is sad and undeniable, but their inspiring vision is eternal.
