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The Kupka brothers...
A passion for motor sport from an early age!
Brothers Stephan and Mike Kupka’s love of motor sport began in the 60s and 70s when they were still youngsters. Their father took them to circuits all over Europe and they were bitten by the bug! Since then they have always kept this passion burning.
They began their career in motor racing at the Trôs Maret hill climb in 1975 in which they competed in a Group 2 Sunbeam IMP they had tuned themselves.
Mec Auto’s history – from the Hillman to Formula 1!
Mec Auto’s story really began in 1973 with two Hillman Imps, one entered by Stephan and Mike Kupka, and the other by one of their German friends.
Thanks to the experience they gained in motor racing the Kupka family soon attracted their first clients. The Hillmans were replaced by other sports touring cars, mainly Alfa Romeo Suds and Giulia Sprints, which had already achieved legendary status.
Mec Auto then oriented its activities towards historic racing, a world in which the sporting spirit is omnipresent.
In the middle of the 80s the brothers set themselves another challenge by tackling a new branch of the sport when some friends from Antwerp told them about a Ginetta G4. However, they still had a lot to learn. This car proved its reliability in 1987 when it raced in the German Open Historic Sports Proto Championship. The Kupka brothers’ success was crowned by a stunning victory in the 1988 German Championship.
This win put the friendly team from the Ardennes in the limelight and contacts and orders began to pour in. The Kupka brothers have been lucky enough to see dream cars from Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula 3 passing through their workshops.
For the two brothers human contact and sharing their passion are the leitmotifs of their adventure.
Thus, Mike and Stephan forge close friendships with their international clientele.
In 2002, the Portuguese chapter opened and in 2004 this was capped by a world championship title in the TGP Historic F1 Championship plus several class victories.
Year after year other links are being created in Europe, and above all in their home country, Belgium. Thanks to all these years in motor sport Mec Auto is now running like clockwork and today the team watches over some 30 cars!
On circuits everywhere they are real enthusiasts who look after the exceptional single-seaters and prototypes which are their pride in the Mec Auto workshops.