Dreyfus' racing career began at a very early age: at nine he joined the Moto Club in Nice, a type of Automobile Club for young drivers.

Rene Dreyfus was an idol in both Europe and the United States having won a grand total of 36 races as a professional driver. Throughout his career, he enjoyed the support of his manager, his brother Maurice, and of his mother. In 1923, at eighteen years of age, he was presented with his first racing car by his mother. In the car he claimed a great many victories as an amateur, winning three consecutive Riviera championships. Following this early success, Dreyfus took the decision to turn professional.

He made his debut in 1929 at the Monte Carlo Grand Prix where he stunned everyone by coming first in his class and claiming fifth overall.

In 1930 he received a telegram from Alfieri Maserati inviting him to Bologna to become an official driver. He drove a Type 26M in 1931 and '32, but, dogged by misfortune, he opted to abandon Maserati in favour of Delahaye, only to return in 1936 to the House of the Trident behind the wheel of a 6CM.

With the arrival of the war, Dreyfus joined the army in the defence of the French flag and he served on different fronts around the world. In 1940, the French Governor in the United States invited him to represent France at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 500 - then called the Memorial Day 500. Dreyfus paired up with his yellow Frenchman LeBegue in a Maserati, splitting the drive equally. They came in tenth overall.

Dreyfus then moved to the States and took US citizenship. He opened a famous restaurant in New York - Le Chanteclair - that became a meeting point for those in the racing world at the time.

Of his 36 wins, the ones at Monaco, Florence, Reims, Belgium, Cork, Dieppe, Tripoli and Pau stand out. Dreyfus passed away in New York on 16 August 1993.