Quebec's Gilles Villeneuve museum closes amid dispute with late F1 driver's family

The Gilles Villeneuve museum in Berthierville, Que., announced its temporary closure due to an ongoing disagreement between the museum's administration and the late Formula One star's family. 

Villeneuve's legend still holds an outsized place in the minds of Canadian auto racing fans, more than 40 years after he died at age 32 in a crash during qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix in 1982.

Now, his widow and two children — including former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve — are taking action to get back his possessions from a museum that bears his name, citing concerns over the institution's ability to safeguard both the physical items and the racing star's legacy.

On Thursday, the museum issued a public statement explaining its decision to close in light of this disagreement.

"I can't believe we're doing this to Gilles Villeneuve's memory," said the museum's general director, Alain Bellehumeur, in the statement, citing near four decades of dedication to the famous driver.

"This morning, with the unexpected visit from bailiffs, the Villeneuve family is squandering this legacy."

Family says statue theft was catalyst

Melanie Villeneuve told The Canadian Press that the theft late last year of a large bronze statue of her father from outside the museum was the "point of no return" that cemented the family's loss of confidence in the institution.

"I think [the theft] damages the image and I think for us, when we speak about it in the family, we decided that perhaps we do not necessarily trust in the security measures that the museum has put in place to protect our heritage and legacy and the items that we've lent to the museum," she said Wednesday in a video interview.

The statue was created in 1984 as a tribute to Villeneuve, who participated in 67 Formula One races from 1977 to 1982, winning six.

Thieves sawed off and made away with the five-foot-three-inch tall likeness, leaving behind a pair of metal boots and a podium, in what provincial police said was likely a plan to melt the statue down to sell the metal.

Melanie said that while the "bizarre" theft was the catalyst for the family's decision to retrieve her father's items, concerns with the museum about 70 kilometres northeast of Montreal began earlier.

In recent years, she said, they've noticed examples of her father's image being "misappropriated," including being used without permission on beer and wine labels.

"For quite some time we've been worried about how his image is being diluted by this use," she said, noting she doesn't think it was done with the wrong intentions but now the family is ready to turn the page and take ownership of his legacy.

Melanie said the family's steps toward that goal will include legal action, described in a news release as a pre-judgment seizure, scheduled to be filed by Thursday.

The family is seeking items including personal possessions as well as trophies and memorabilia, some dating back to Villeneuve's early days of racing on Quebec's snowmobile circuit and the Formula Atlantic league. Melanie said all the memorabilia being sought was on loan from the family, and they are not trying to stake a claim to items donated by other parties.

Museum attempted to find solutions

In an earlier statement, the museum said it "regrets that the family perceives the situation negatively" and although the family is not involved in the management of the museum, "it has indeed lent a few artifacts representing less than five per cent of the entire museum collection."

At first, the museum aimed to contest the legal proceedings. Then on Thursday evening, the decision to close was announced.

Throughout the day, the museum, along with its lawyers, attempted to find a temporary solution to avoid the seizure of assets, the statement says. The museum has always taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of its belongings and artifacts, and to claim otherwise is regrettable, it says, noting none of the artifacts were damaged.

"We have always cared for the collection with all the respect that Gilles deserved. Despite this, we are beginning to see bailiffs leaving with objects that belong to the museum," the statement says, quoting Bellehumeur. "It breaks our hearts."

The museum director said negotiations failed and  "we are witnessing the project of a lifetime disappear little by little."

Melanie said that while she doesn't want to start a fight, her family doesn't have an "active relationship" with the management of the museum and that emails she sent last summer were never returned.

She said she did not inform the museum direction of the family's intention to take legal action.

She described the effort to retrieve the items as part of the family's bigger plan to promote her father's legacy in new ways, including through media projects and online.

She said her father's legend has continued to grow, which she said is a testament to his incredible talent and also the strength of character that took him from snowmobile races in rural Quebec to Formula One in a few years' time.

"The amount of work that he put into his career is mind-boggling and he was a single-minded, passionate individual that would never take no for an answer," she said.