THE MAISON
Renaissance 37 was born from the meeting of two men. A designer from Normandy, a builder from the Cape, ten years of friendship, and one shared question: if the line of the French coachbuilders had never been interrupted, what would it look like today?
The answer
The answer.
The Mirage. A car drawn in 2026, whose line might have come from a workshop that had never closed. Renaissance 37 takes the question seriously, and answers it with a car.
Honour
Honour.
Saoutchik, Figoni, Franay, Chapron, Talbot-Lago, Delahaye. We look at their work with admiration, without confusing it with our own. Renaissance 37 does not claim to descend from them. It owes them the question, not the answer.
I. Craig Harper
Engineering, building, driving.
South African engineer, racing driver and builder. Founder of Harper Sportscars, where he has designed and hand-built sports cars for over twenty years (Type 5, Type 6, MegaSnake). A racing career behind him. Based in the Western Cape. Responsible for the engineering, development and driving experience of the Mirage.
II. Clément Simon
Design, creative direction.
French designer. Trained in France, formerly with Renault and Nissan. Founder of Onmotio, his creative direction studio. Based in Normandy. Responsible for the drawing of the Mirage and the visual direction of the Maison.
III. The meeting
The meeting.
Killarney circuit, Western Cape, 2016. A racetrack, one of Craig's cars, a hat and a smile. Antoine, a mutual friend, makes the introductions. The car is the setting, not the subject. What is tied that day is a friendship that will happen as readily on a couch as on a road. Long conversations, well past the automotive subject. Ten years later, it is that friendship that decides to write one together.
IV. Two ateliers
Two ateliers, two coasts, one car.
Renaissance 37 is a joint venture, on equal terms, between Clément and Craig. The drawing, the visual direction and the atmosphere come from Normandy. The engineering, development and driving come from the Western Cape. Two ateliers, two coasts, one car.
An era stopped at its peak. For us, that was 1937. It did not die; it was waiting for someone to ask the question. Two men, put on the same road by the car, ask it today.