If Canepa Motorsport and Gunnar Racing are the American “meccas” for period correct race prep and historic Porsche maintenance, Crubilé Sport is the French equivalent, but you’d be forgiven for not knowing this. Situated 45 minutes outside of central Paris, a stone’s throw away from Château de Rombouillet lies a pristine warehouse with no sign, no boisterous claims, and at first glance, almost no door. It is an exercise in French restraint that is typical of those doing exceptional work.
Inside the door, once you’ve found it, will be standing Sebastian Crubilé, a humble man with a beaming smile surrounded by his favorite toys: “Look, over here! We are rebuilding a 917 drivetrain, it’s fully disassembled. How special this is to see!” He exclaimed through our translator while gesturing towards a parts rack before picking up a con-rod and handing it over to me to feel like an archaeologist on a T-Rex dig. It’s just one of the many projects ongoing at Crubilé, which range from full-scale restorations to minor upkeep and race prep, like on the 2.1 RSR Turbo.
We’ll get into that car specifically at a later date, but to give you a taste, it’s a pretty fascinating story. All of the mechanical bits and the body panels are original from the factory R5 car, but they are bolted onto a tub created by Kevin Jeannette at Gunnar Racing in Palm Beach many years back. The original R5 tub was converted back to 2.8 RSR specification, which is what it left the factory as before getting the 2.1 RSR Turbo treatment. That car also lives at Crubilé, however I was unable to photograph it in all its glory due to the time restrictions of the day.
As you can see, every car there was truly special, and we look forward to telling the stories of them in print and through film in the coming weeks and months.
