The 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans, held on 10–11 June, drew an extensive privateer entry list alongside the factory-backed machinery. Among the Group 6 prototypes was Car No. 23, a Lola T296 entered by Team Pronuptia and shared by Bruno Sotty, Gérard Cuynet and Marc Frischknecht — three French club-level racers campaigning one of the most eye-catching non-works liveries on the grid that year. Trofeu has replicated this specific entry in its DSN series at 1:43.
The Lola T296: A Group 6 Privateer Weapon
Designed by Lola Cars in 1976, the T296 was a mid-engine, open-top two-seat sports-racing prototype built to Group 6 and IMSA GT regulations. Its lightweight construction made it an accessible platform for privateer teams throughout the late 1970s, and it accumulated numerous Le Mans entries across several seasons. The Pronuptia car ran a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine, representative of the type of unit that powered various European racing programmes of the period.
A Bridal-Wear Brand at La Sarthe
Pronuptia was a French bridal fashion chain that chose motorsport as a marketing vehicle in the late 1970s — an unusual commercial logic that produced one of the more memorable privateer liveries of the era. Car No. 23 started from the back of the grid among the Group 6 entries on 10 June 1979 and did not finish, retiring before the flag. The overall victory that year went to the Kremer Racing Porsche 935 K3 of Klaus Ludwig, Don Whittington and Bill Whittington, but the Pronuptia T296 remains a sought-after reference for collectors focused on the long tail of Le Mans history.
Trofeu DSN: Covering the Entries Others Miss
Trofeu is a Portuguese manufacturer with a long reputation for modelling privateer and obscure endurance-racing entries that mainstream producers overlook. The DSN series — Diecast Special Numbering — is precisely the range where under-represented Le Mans cars such as this Lola T296 find their 1:43 representation. The No. 23 Pronuptia entry has not been addressed by the major volume producers, giving this Trofeu piece a clear gap-filling role in any serious Le Mans collection.
In the Display Cabinet
At 1:43, this model occupies a compact footprint suited to high-density shelving or dedicated Le Mans grids arranged by year. It pairs naturally with other Trofeu DSN entries from the 1979 race, with related Lola prototypes of the same period — the T294 and T298 — and with the Kremer Porsche 935 K3 that won that edition. Collectors building a complete 1979 Le Mans privateer grid will find the Pronuptia livery an indispensable and visually distinctive centrepiece.
