"I'm not lucky enough to own a Porsche 550 Spyder. However, a 718 RSK, the next version, is still part of my collection in full size."

Porsche for ages

This Solido Porsche 550 is a survivor for Regis Mathieu, the only one of all his little cars that never lost its head!  Regis Mathieu, the famous chandelier maker currently restoring the chandeliers of Notre-Dame, tells us about it.

In my childish mind, this open-topped car, so typical of the 1950s, evoked the height of refinement. I didn't even know it was a Porsche, but the little figure's head peeking out was mine, and I could already picture myself in it, wearing my leather aviator jacket and sunglasses perched on my head. In my messy room, my mother would often burst in like a hurricane, carelessly tossing my scattered miniatures into the barrel I'd set aside for them. I don't know by what miracle I managed to keep it safe from the daily chaos of my mother's tidying, preserving that fragile little head!

As a teenager, I had some great adventures restoring Beetles. I realized that the 550's lines were, in a way, the flattened version of the Beetle. To me, this gave it even more value, and it naturally found its way into my student room. In a way, this miniature car witnessed my burgeoning passion for Porsches. 

If I indulge in some introspection and reflect on the origins of my passion for Porsches, my first memory is linked to a purely sensory experience in the 911SC belonging to a friend's father who drove us to school. Sitting in the back, I could feel the extraordinary difference in propulsion thanks to the engine roaring behind me. Later, between Marseille and my boarding school in La Seine-sur-Mer, a friend's father impressed us in his 930 with a four-speed gearbox, racing motorcycles as they exited tollbooths. In the 80s, it's important to understand that in my circle, an Aston Martin existed only in James Bond films, and Ferraris and Lamborghinis only on calendar pages. My friend's father, playing with the accelerator of his Porsche, gave us bursts of pure pleasure!

These sensations were also mingled with aesthetic pleasure; the beauty of the lines captivated me. I admired the effectiveness of the drawing, which touched me deeply. I found this same effectiveness in the model of the  Beetle, and for good reason, since Ferdinand Porsche himself had designed this very popular car, which was also more affordable for me. Around the age of 16, I restored my first Beetle.  With the help of Hélène, who would become the love of my life. Bought for 2,000 francs, we sold it for 20,000. Thanks to the proceeds from other good deals, restorations, and resales, I was able to buy my first Porsche 356 SC at 18. We found it through classified ads in Germany. What a joy to be back behind the wheel!  We stopped at the Automobile Museum in Mulhouse where they opened the main gate for us, then went to Les Gets  where there was a concentration of Porsches, what an adventure!  I then found my second Porsche 356 by chance during a trip to the United States, and now I'm the proud owner of a Speedster. The car I was sold was in pieces and had been reassembled in America. It miraculously made the journey from Le Havre to Paris despite an engine with no oil, a major fuel leak, and a loose front suspension. But this time, I was starting to resemble my childhood character, with my head sticking out of the bodywork!

At the side of the road, when I stopped  To admire its lines, I understood one thing: I was facing a sublime object, conceived before me and destined to outlive me. This car wasn't fashionable, largely unknown in Europe, and yet it possessed that timeless beauty of perfection. I was experiencing my first great lesson in humility before such an object. And even if my friends at the time didn't see the point of this car, which bore no resemblance whatsoever to the Porsche models so popular in the late 80s, I had an intuition. I felt this need to believe that what matters isn't being fashionable, but rather approaching perfection and achieving an aesthetic that will also revolutionize the generations that follow us. 

We own nothing, we are just a link in the chain. I have made this the leitmotif of my lighting creations and if the great business schools are now trying to uncover the secret of my success, it is this: respecting and nurturing the soul of beautiful objects born from collaborative and passionate know-how and, like with my little Solido, never losing my head.

"This photographic portrait has a distinct 70s feel."

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