1978 March 782 BMW Formula 2

This car, 782-11

For the 1978 Formula 2 season, French BMW specialist Pierre Maublanc bought two new March 782s under his Maublanc Racing Services banner, chassis 782-11 and 782-16. Maublanc was a regular himself in the French hillclimbing scene and for 1978 gained the backing of Sperry Univac and Total to run a two car effort in the European Formula 2 Championship with drivers Jean-Pierre Jarier, Jacques Lafitte and Alain Couderc.

782-11 was the first delivered of the two cars and was used by MRS in pre-season press release photos, in full Univac livery with Jarier sitting in the car. When building the initial 782s, March used a different design of dashboard roll hoop to the later cars, and 782-11 was the last to have such a hoop, visibly distinguishing it from the sister 782-16.

782-11 was present at the season opening Thruxton round with Pierre Maublanc driving though he did not qualify for the race. 782-11 was then campaigned by Maublanc in several hillclimbs through the early part of 1978, taking 1st place at Revel-Saint Ferréol in May.

In June, 782-11 was entered with Alain Couderc at the Rouen round of the European Formula 2 Championship. Having qualified 20th, the throttle cable broke on lap six and Couderc retired. Couderc again appeared in 782-11 at Nogaro in July and qualified for the race but withdrew ahead of the start.

The French magazine AUTOhebdo ran a track test of 782-11 in their August 1978 issue, with Pierre-Francois Rousselot driving. The article covered the front page of the magazine and ran as a seven page spread in colour. Several detail images of 782-11 feature throughout, brilliantly documenting the car as it was in that moment, liveried up with Jarier’s name on the side.

782-16 was primarily Jarier’s race car and 782-11 was often present as a spare when not driven by Couderc. Couderc did drive 782-11 one more time in 1978, at Hockenheim in September but failed to qualify for the race.

Maublanc had continued campaigning 782-11 in hillclimbing between the F2 rounds, running a plain blue set of bodywork while the Sperry Univac branding remained on the rear wing. The final hillclimb of 1978 was held at Saint Baume on the 1st October and Maublanc finished 5th with 782-11.

Thanks to the research of Chris Townsend, a Race Car Histories ‘Brief History’ dossier accompanies 782-11 and outlines its chain of ownership between then and now. At the conclusion of the 1978 season, MRS advertised both 782-11 and 782-16 for sale in Autohebdo magazine, noting the chassis numbers.

782-11 is believed to have remained unsold for some time, and in April 1979 Henri Pescarolo drove it to 1st place in the Hébecrevon hillclimb, still in MRS livery. By August 1979, 782-11 had been bought by Christian Xiberras who ran it in hillclimbs through the rest of the season.

From Xiberrad, 782-11 passed to Nani Nergutti in 1980 and on to Gerard Fau in 1981. Having been campaigned by Fau, 782-11 found its way into the workshop of Jean-Pierre Navarro by the late ‘80s. It remained there until bought by Alain Filhol and sold on to Fred Harris of the USA where it was restored by David Irwin. The restored 782-11 was sold to Hamish Somerville and remained in the USA until imported back to the UK by Kevan McLurg.

McLurg sold 782-11 to Sean Walker who for a time owned both this and its sister 782-16. From Walker, 782-11 went to Mark Dwyer who raced it in HSCC events along with his son Lee, often winning in the Derek Bell Trophy races.

782-11 was bought from Dwyer by the current owners in 2016 and in 2019 underwent a complete rebuild. With a fresh tub and new rear wing, the M12/7 engine was rebuilt by marque expert Lester Owen and today sits at 400 miles. The Hewland FT200 gearbox was most recently rebuilt by Racing Transmissions in November 2021, with minimal use since.

A new Advanced Fuel Systems fuel cell was fitted in April 2021 and remains valid until April 2026, at which point it can be submitted for recertification and validity extension for a further two years. New FIA HTPs were issued for 782-11 in 2022 and are valid to December 2032.

The 2025 season holds a five round calendar for the Historic Formula 2 Interseries, with races at Paul Ricard, Brands Hatch, Zandvoort, Dijon and Misano. 2024 saw the series running in strong numbers, with 29 cars racing at Spa and next year looks to build on that. Domestic UK racing can be had with the popular Equipe Classic Racing organisers and with the HSCC in the Derek Bell Trophy category.

Having been on the podium in the Historic Formula 2 series on multiple occasions and an overall race winner in the HSCC Derek Bell Trophy, 782-11 has the capability to lap at a pace that would put it well within the top 10 cars in the Historic F1 grid, at a very different cost level.

Sporting one of the best liveries of the period and bolstered further by French legend Henri Pescarolo’s hillclimb victory, 782-11 is an excellent example of the most competitive chassis eligible for Historic Formula 2, the March 782, with clear continuous history and low mechanical mileage.