Gérard "Jabby" Crombac (7 March 1929, Zurich – 18 November 2005, Paris) was a Swiss auto-racing journalist and author.
Biography
In 1954 Crombac bought the
Lotus Mark VI
The Lotus Mark VI is the first production car by Lotus Cars. It was introduced by Colin Chapman in 1952 after previously building multiple trials and road racing cars. The heart of the Mark VI is a space frame chassis. Rather than a complete car ...
previously owned by Lotus founder
Colin Chapman
Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars.
In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...
and began racing with this car. While this marked the start of a long friendship with Chapman, Crombac realised he was not racing driver material, and stood down in 1958.
In 1959 he began managing the interests of
Jo Schlesser
Joseph Schlesser (18 May 1928 – 7 July 1968) was a French Formula One and sports car racing driver. He participated in three World Championship Grands Prix, including the 1968 French Grand Prix in which he was killed. He scored no championship ...
in association with
Jean Lucas, while working for French discount retailer Prisunic.
In 1962 Crombac partnered with Lucas to found the French magazine ''
Sport Auto
''sport auto'' is a German automobile magazine, established in 1969, published monthly by Motor Presse Stuttgart, based in Stuttgart.
The magazine publishes its "Supertest" of cars, featuring the laptime at the Nordschleife. Until 2015 almost al ...
'', where he was chief editor until 1989. In 1973 he and a ''Sport Auto'' team composed of
Thierry Lalande
Thierry is a French male given name, derived from the Germanic "Theodoric". It is the cognate of German " Dietrich" and " Dieter", English Terry, Derek and Derrick, and of various forms in other European languages. It is also a surname.
Peopl ...
,
Luc Melua
Luc or LUC may refer to:
Places
* Luc, Hautes-Pyrénées, France, a commune
* Luc, Lozère, France, a commune
* Le Luc, France, a commune
* Luč, Baranja, Croatia, a settlement
People and fictional characters
* Luc (given name)
* Luc (surn ...
and
Jean-Louis Moncet Jean-Louis Moncet (born 30 July 1945, in Rabat, Morocco) is a French motorsports journalist.
He is mostly known for his work on Grand Prix racing for French television and magazines.
Newspapers and magazines career
In 1969, he joined the French ...
, assembled a kitcar in one week-end.
He shared an apartment in Paris with racer
Jim Clark
James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...
during the time that Clark listed his official residence as Switzerland for tax purposes.
Crombac and his wife Catherine had a son, who was named Colin James in honour of close friends Chapman and Clark.
Crombac died from cancer in a hospice in Paris on 18 November 2005. His funeral was held on 28 November 2005 at the Crematorium in
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figures ...
in Paris. In August 2007, in accordance with his wishes, his ashes were scattered in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez.
Publications
Biography/autobiography
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Racing and racing cars
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Road cars
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References
External links
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Motoring journalists
Formula One journalists and reporters
Swiss motorsport people
1929 births
2005 deaths
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