C’est La Vie – A French Racer in the Hill Country

By John Dean

“Life is racing; everything else is just waiting.” – Steve McQueen

Photo: ireport.cnn.com

Down a lonely state highway somewhere west of Harper is a little valley carved out of the white native limestone by the creeks and washes that feed into the headwaters of the Guadalupe River. From the bluffs just to the south you can see a modest ranch house set low amongst the plateaus. As you draw closer the stone house with its delicate white wooden railing and shutters has the appearance of the limestone farm houses that dot the Dordogne river landscape of southwest France. Except for the cactus. This is not coincidence. This is the home of Jacques Vaucher. It’s where a retired French racing driver has chosen to spend the rest of the waiting.

Photo: arteauto.com

Jacques lived the itinerant existence of a professional speed mercenary. In his day automobile racing was the very essence of life on the edge. Any mistake behind the wheel might be your last. A single miscalculation by the team of engineers — amateurs who assembled vaguely sleek vehicles before their discovery of the nuances of Bernoullian fluid dynamics, resulting in cars designed to fly along the tarmac while possessing all the aerodynamic efficiency of a brick and the structural integrity of an aluminum beer can – could result in fiery death. Every driver danced a pas de deux with eternity because it was exciting in the visceral manner aerial combat once was. Tonight we drink for tomorrow we drive!

Photo: arteauto.com

Born in Lyon, but reared near LeMans, the Mecca of modern racing where the acrid fumes of fuel and burning oil linger in the atmosphere, Jacques found his calling early, age fourteen by his recollection. His passion for driving was honed at the prestigious French driving school Winfield. His first professional drives were hill climbs, a form of racing more prominent in Europe than stateside, piloting a Renault Gordini. He found his niche in endurance racing in the United States. At the time the sport was less precise and team managers less strict on the observance of rules. An unfair advantage regardless of how achieved was fair game, like a spitballer in baseball, as long as you didn’t get caught. Jacques got factory rides from companies wanting to advertise their sports cars and their brands such as Mazda, the Japanese company that has won more sports car races than any other make. Jacques wins include circuits famous with American sports car racing fans, with names like Limerock and Watkins Glen.

Photo: pbase.com

Like all athletes, eventually Jacque slowed a bit, losing the razor edge of finesse that a professional driver needs to succeed. He moved to New York and began a succession of jobs peripheral to the industry, like selling high end sports cars, notably pushing Ferraris for Luigi Chinetti. (Chinetti himself was famous for driving a Ferrari at Le Mans for a marathon twenty of the twenty-four hours.) Jacques met a woman named Karen at a restaurant in Manhattan and after a second chance meeting she became his wife and partner.

Photo: arteauto.com

A chance meeting with a German photographer in New York inspired a new direction, one that would allow him to run his own business and retain his roots in automobiles and racing. Jacques Vaucher is now the preeminent dealer in automotive collectibles. At first he opened galleries in New York City and lived on Long Island. But Jacques longed to live in the country. He had to escape the claustrophobia that is New York City. Then, on the long haul from Arizona to Daytona, Jacque stopped to visit a friend in the Hill Country. It would be where he’d hang his helmet for good.

Photo: arteauto.com

A short walk from the gardens of his stone house, surrounded by the accoutrement of the gentlemen farmer – and a herd of Llamas – is the building that houses his collection. Jacque deals in high end memorabilia of racing and the great names of the industry. There are paintings, prints, club badges, models – almost everything you can conceive inside, not to mention a Porsche 911 that is, like everything else, for sale. He has a side business decorating garages – filling the man caves (or woman caves as it might be) with images of racing and the vintage marques of the automotive world. It is, for a man who chooses to live in the middle of a beautiful nowhere, an appointment only affair, unless you find his spot at one of the auctions that are now popular on television in far off places like Monterrey, California or Scottsdale, Arizona. He hosts the occasional affair for auto clubs like the Ferrari Owners in Austin. The rest of the time, Jacques will be at home on his ranch in the Hill Country with his wife. Still waiting.

Photo: etsy.com/people/jvarteauto

You can find out more about Jacque Vaucher by visiting his website.