Restored driver?

Sir,
There has been much comment recently about historical accuracy as it pertains to restored or even “replicated” cars. How about a “restored” driver? I refer to M Mestivier of Amilcar fame.

TR Nicholson, the author of the Profile The 4-Cylinder Amilcar of 1967, said that Marius Mestivier, the head of the Amilcar racing department, was killed in the 1925 Le Mans 24 Hours. This is confirmed by David Hodges in his detailed book The Le Mans 24-Hour Race where he says, “Mestivier was killed when his Amilcar spun off the Mulsanne straight.”

Nevertheless Paul Sheldon in his Grand Prix and Voiturette Racing Vol 1, in the notes relating to the 1922 Cyclecar GP at Le Mans, speaks of Maurice Mestivier, one of the entrants, thus: “Mestivier was still to be seen, still in his Amilcar, in 1946!” Similarly, David Venables in The Racing Fifteen Hundreds records that Maurice Mestivier with an MCO Amilcar was active in the mid 1930s, and his comment implies that it was the same Mestivier.

Thus, in my limited library, there is a 2-2 split as to whether Mestivier survived the 1925 Le Mans 24-Hour race. It seems unlikely that there were two Mestiviers, otherwise that fact would surely have been mentioned. I would be very grateful for any further comments on this enigma.

Douglas C Mitchell, Elloughton, Humberside