The Modern Racer’s Franco-American Display at the Detroit Autorama

Anthony Colard was born in the Alpine region of France. His wife Flore is from Normandy. Between them they have two masters degrees in design and about 30 years of industry experience at GM, Land Rover, PSA Peugeot-Citroen, Toyota, Ducati, Airbus, and their current employers. It’s been ten years since they moved to America to work in the auto industry, he as a designer for Ford, and she at Recaro. Together, they run a company called The Modern Racer.

Anthony’s CV as a designer at Ford includes the Mustang Mach 1, the Mach E 1400, the Mustang S650 GT3, and the new 2025 Mustang GTD. He’s also worked on the Pikes Peak, DAKAR Raptor, and Mustang racing programs. Flore’s diverse transportation resume includes Peugeot motorcycles, PHR yachts, Airbus helicopters, and finally, her first love, automobiles, back at Peugeot. Prior to her current job at Recaro, she worked for Ford.

Their current employment explains the Ford and Recaro jackets draped on Recaro seats they were using for chairs in their display at the 2025 Detroit Autorama.

There were also Recaros in one of the two cars they had on display, a pair that reflects the motoring heritages of both their native and adopted countries: a fully race-prepped and caged, cheerful yellow 2010 Renault Twingo sitting next to an ominously gray restomodded 1968 Plymouth Barracuda fastback, also fully race-prepared.

The Autorama is mostly about Detroit muscle and hot rods, but as we’ve pointed out before, it’s not exclusively about customized domestic cars and trucks and high horsepower dragsters. Still, one expects to see quarter mile timeslips at that show, not a Nürburgring track profile sticker with “7:53” next to it, as the Twingo has on its back side. I’m told that a “bridge to gantry” time of less than eight minutes is an impressive “Ring” time for any production-based car or, for the matter, any driver. Anthony was at the wheel for that Ring run, with Flora feeding him course notes.

The Twingo’s mechanical kit includes a 204 hp 2.0-liter F4R832 four cylinder engine, and six-speed gearbox swapped from a Clio 3RS, Sybelle ECU, AIM data logging and dash, custom stainless steel exhaust system, OZ 16×8 wheels, Dunlop Direzza semi-slick tires, and Brembo four-piston brake calipers clamping on 300mm discs. Suspension has adjustable camber and toe, front and rear, and the sway bar links are also adjustable. The interior has a FIA-certified Twingo R1 rollcage, Corbeau seats (I believe the Renault build predates Flore’s employment at Recaro), Schroth six-point harnesses, lightweight windows, along with carbon and aluminum interior panels.

While the Colards have tracked the little Renault in Europe and are participating in Gridlife here in the states, it hasn’t competed in any actual wheel-to-wheel racing.

Anthony told me, however, that wheel-to-wheel racing is the intended purpose of the Plymouth, named “Blackfish”, which was built for the 2023 SEMA show. It has a full rollcage with extensive chassis revisions, a ported and polished small-block MOPAR 318 V-8, with roller rockers, titanium valves with uprated valve springs, forged crank and con rods, Edelbrock intake manifold, and a Proform four-barrel carburetor. The use of a carb instead of fuel injection fits with Anthony’s intention of harkening back to the legendary TransAm series in the 1960s, as does his choice of 16×9 inch Minilite wheels. That vintage vibe, though, hasn’t kept him from custom designing and fabricating a sophisticated triangulated four-link pushrod rear suspension. Also fully custom are the 4:2:1 equal length exhaust headers that exit the engine compartment via a cutout in the fender to join the side pipes. Penske racing shocks and Swift coilovers are used at all four corners as are AP Racing brake calipers. Safety equipment includes Recaro P1300 GT lightweight carbon fiber seats, Luke six point restraints, and a Lifeline fire suppression system.

While the Colards are obviously a car couple, their cars are not just for fun and games. Their Franco-American display is a calling card, if you will, for their business, The Modern Racer, which can provide everything from an initial design sketch to a turnkey build. You can see images of the Twingo and Barracuda builds at the TMR website.