Small car show in France (Montauban)

[sebastienbuick]

Hello, this Sunday I went to a small old car exhibition next to my house, in the town of Montauban in the south of France:).
The season for vintage car outings is starting .
I broke the gearbox of my 1978 Dodge Monaco police (automatic gearbox 904, and it is currently being repaired).
And as the dodge is being repaired, we went there with my brother's 1984 peugeot 205 GTI . 
It was a nice little exhibition .
Here are the photos, starting with my brother's Peugeot  

 

 

 

Citroën Traction 

 

 

Simca 1000 Special

 

 

 

VW bettle 1303 big

 

 

 

Alfa Romeo 33 turbo

 

 

 

Citroën XM

 

 

 

Citroën 2cv  6

 

 

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

Beautiful Citroën Traction 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeep CJ-7

 

 

 

Beautiful 1991 Ford E350

 

 

 

 

 

Renault 16 TX

 

 

 

CG ( simca ) 1200 S 

 

 

[zepher]

Some very interesting cars at that meet.

 

Thank you for sharing.

[sebastienbuick]

Simca Aronde 

 

 

 

Beautiful 1934 Renault Vivasport 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Renault Clio 16S

 

 

 

Renault Alpine GTA Le Mans 

 

 

 

Porsche GT3

 

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

2 minutes ago, zepher said:

Some very interesting cars at that meet.

 

Thank you for sharing.

 

Thank you very much !  

[rocketraider]

I like the trailer that 2CV is pulling!

[sebastienbuick]

Beautiful 1958 Buick Special ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

very beautiful 1977 Cadillac limousine, which belongs to the French Embassy ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

8 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

I like the trailer that 2CV is pulling!

 

Yes I like this trailer too   , the owner also has two renault juvaquatre 1956  

[zepher]

The 1934 Renault Vivasport is a gorgeous car!

[rocketraider]

Curious about the extra reverse lights on the limousine's trunk?

[sebastienbuick]

Peugeot 404 

 

 

Fiat 124 sport 

 

 

 

Jaguar E-Type

 

 

 

 

VW beetle

 

 

Military Peugeot P4 and VW Golf 2 GTI

 

 

Renault Clio 2 Sport

 

 

 

Reanault 5 Alpine Turbo

 

 

 

Renault  Mégane RS 

 

 

 

Renault 8 Gordini 

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

8 minutes ago, zepher said:

The 1934 Renault Vivasport is a gorgeous car!

 

yes it is a beautiful and rare car !  

[sebastienbuick]

8 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

Curious about the extra reverse lights on the limousine's trunk?

 

Yes it is surely for the standard for the French embassy at that time  

[sebastienbuick]

Fiat 500 L

 

 

 

Beautiful Citroën SM 

 

 

 

 

Jaguar E-Type

 

 

 

Alfa-Romeo Vivace

 

 

Ford Focus RS 

 

 

 

Then then the 1924 Renault Vivasport left

 

 

 

[8E45E]

How easy is it to get your automatic transmission repaired where you are?  Do they keep a good local stock of parts for them, as I suspect they are not too common in France.

 

Craig

[sebastienbuick]

Jeep Willys

 

 

 

 

Renault Clio Williams

 

 

then a friend came with his very beautiful and rare 1969 Plymouth Road Runner 440 Six Pack !! 

The plymouth satellite or road runner are very rare here, in more than 10 years I have only seen 2 road runner / satellite 1969

 

 

 

 

Then then noon approaches and we go to eat at Tommy's (I love this diner  ) in Montauban, and with my brother with his Peugeot 205 Gti we followed our friend with his superb Plymouth to go eat  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here we had a very good day and we ate well  

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

13 minutes ago, 8E45E said:

How easy is it to get your automatic transmission repaired where you are?  Do they keep a good local stock of parts for them, as I suspect they are not too common in France.

 

Craig

 

It's true that in France it's more complicated to find a gearbox, and I've been looking for a 904 automatic gearbox for my 1978 Dodge for a little over a month.
But by dint of looking I found a person who imports a lot of parts from America to France, and last week I met a member of a Mopar club in France and he has a 904 gearbox. which was mounted on a 1967 Plymouth baracuda.
We try to see if it's the same box, this one is like mine, it's a box with rod control and without lock up.
And she was mounted on a 273 commando, is normally the 273 is the same block as my 318 from the dodge. So normally it's fine.
In my box there is a part in the drum which broke and it broke the housing/box body  

 

My gearbox  

 

 

[TAKerry]

That blue GTA lemans beside the Porsche is awesome! What a great looking car. As usual lots of neat stuff that you send us pictures of. Thanks again for sharing. That desert looks pretty darn good as well!!

[oldcarfudd]

My favorites are the 2CV with the trailer and the two pre-war Citroens Tractions-Avants.  Thank you for this show!

[sebastienbuick]

7 hours ago, TAKerry said:

That blue GTA lemans beside the Porsche is awesome! What a great looking car. As usual lots of neat stuff that you send us pictures of. Thanks again for sharing. That desert looks pretty darn good as well!!

 

Yes they are very beautiful  , this Alpine GTA Le Mans and the Porsche GT3 belong to a friend, and normally the Porsche will be sold.
He also has a beautiful original Peugeot 504 convertible in orange color (a rare version).
Yes this dessert was very good, and the meal too!

[sebastienbuick]

6 hours ago, oldcarfudd said:

My favorites are the 2CV with the trailer and the two pre-war Citroens Tractions-Avants.  Thank you for this show!

 

Thank you  , it is with pleasure that I share the photos  

[8E45E]

13 hours ago, TAKerry said:

That blue GTA lemans beside the Porsche is awesome! What a great looking car. As usual lots of neat stuff that you send us pictures of. Thanks again for sharing. That desert looks pretty darn good as well!!

Believe it or not, in 1987, the Alpine GTA was in the process of being 'Federalized' for sale in North America, as part of Renault/AMC's expansion plan.  What killed it was the sale of AMC to Chrysler later that year, and all ties to Renault were cut, which included any new European offerings and future joint projects, which included the Alpine GTA.  Chrysler already had their long standing contract with Mitsubishi to supply their sports car lineup.  The 'Eagle' division was created only to fulfill ex-AMC and Renault dealer obligations, and honor the contract for marketing existing Renault cars in North America (which immediately got rebranded as 'Eagle'), plus the assembly of the Renault 25 aka Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco at the Brampton plant.  Once those contracts were over and done with, the Eagle Division was phased out.

 

Craig

[sebastienbuick]

8 hours ago, 8E45E said:

Believe it or not, in 1987, the Alpine GTA was in the process of being 'Federalized' for sale in North America, as part of Renault/AMC's expansion plan.  What killed it was the sale of AMC to Chrysler later that year, and all ties to Renault were cut, which included any new European offerings and future joint projects, which included the Alpine GTA.  Chrysler already had their long standing contract with Mitsubishi to supply their sports car lineup.  The 'Eagle' division was created only to fulfill ex-AMC and Renault dealer obligations, and honor the contract for marketing existing Renault cars in North America (which immediately got rebranded as 'Eagle'), plus the assembly of the Renault 25 aka Eagle Premier/Dodge Monaco at the Brampton plant.  Once those contracts were over and done with, the Eagle Division was phased out.

 

Craig

 

Thank you very much for all this information, I did not know that  .
The Alpine GTA was therefore almost sold in America, it's a pity that it's canceled.
I didn't know that Renault was part of the Eagle group.
Thanks for the information !  

[bryankazmer]

48 minutes ago, sebastienbuick said:

 

I didn't know that Renault was part of the Eagle group.
 

Not exactly, while the 25 was sold as an Eagle branded car, the Renault 5, Renault 9, and Renault 11 were sold as Renaults : "LeCar" (silly in English, even sillier in French),  "Alliance," and "Encore."

[Marty Roth]

22 hours ago, oldcarfudd said:

My favorites are the 2CV with the trailer and the two pre-war Citroens Tractions-Avants.  Thank you for this show!

We passed our 1964 2-CV and our 1972 SM Citroens to a friend on this FORUM, along with our pair of 1971 D-Series Station Wagons. The other 3 1967 DS-21 Pallas and sedans and the 1966 wagon went to other friends, and the Ami-6 was sold to a co-worker of my wife.

 

Fantastic daily drivers, back in the day !

[8E45E]

8 minutes ago, bryankazmer said:

Not exactly, while the 25 was sold as an Eagle branded car, the Renault 5, Renault 9, and Renault 11 were sold as Renaults : "LeCar" (silly in English, even sillier in French),  "Alliance," and "Encore."

The 5 (LeCar), 9 (Encore), and 11 (Alliance) were all prior to the 1987 buyout, and were 'Renaults'.  And the 18 was ending just as the 21 (Medallion) was introduced.  Early 21 imports were Renaults, but starting in the 1988 model year, the name was changed to 'Eagle Medallion'.

 

Craig

[Marty Roth]

59 minutes ago, bryankazmer said:

  "LeCar" (silly in English, even sillier in French), 

Back around 1978-1980, when Renault 5 was being marketed here as "LeCar" ,

 

My 2-cv was parked, daily, at a reserved "Faculty/Staff" spot on the main campus of Tulane University where I headed the university's Information Systems Department, and also taught varied Systems Architecture, Software Engineering, language and programming software development related courses.

At LSU in Baton Rouge, the International Students Association was putting on a big display.

A group of students from France , in costume, and with many home-related items including baguettes, wine, a model of the Eiffel Tower, and a street-cabaret scene,

Borrowed my 1964 Deux Chevaux (2-CV),

and made a big sign, noting the American version "LeCar" label with juxtaposition by calling it "The Voiture" !

Edited March 22, 2023 by Marty Roth
additional note (see edit history)

[8E45E]

15 hours ago, Marty Roth said:

Back around 1978-1980, when Renault 5 was being marketed here as "LeCar" ,

And the sales of them in North America increased by giving it a name instead of a number.  

 

Craig

Edited March 22, 2023 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[sebastienbuick]

21 hours ago, Marty Roth said:

We passed our 1964 2-CV and our 1972 SM Citroens to a friend on this FORUM, along with our pair of 1971 D-Series Station Wagons. The other 3 1967 DS-21 Pallas and sedans and the 1966 wagon went to other friends, and the Ami-6 was sold to a co-worker of my wife.

 

Fantastic daily drivers, back in the day !

 

I see that you have had a lot of Citroëns !  

 

21 hours ago, 8E45E said:

The 5 (LeCar), 9 (Encore), and 11 (Alliance) were all prior to the 1987 buyout, and were 'Renaults'.  And the 18 was ending just as the 21 (Medallion) was introduced.  Early 21 imports were Renaults, but starting in the 1988 model year, the name was changed to 'Eagle Medallion'.

 

Craig

 

I didn't know that these Renault models were known in America . 
There is someone (in Canada I believe) on youtube who has a lot of American cars, he recently restored a very nice Plymouth Fury. And this person has a Renault 5 LeCar.
I saw in France a Renault 11 Alliance which had just been imported from America

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

21 hours ago, Marty Roth said:

Back around 1978-1980, when Renault 5 was being marketed here as "LeCar" ,

 

My 2-cv was parked, daily, at a reserved "Faculty/Staff" spot on the main campus of Tulane University where I headed the university's Information Systems Department, and also taught varied Systems Architecture, Software Engineering, language and programming software development related courses.

At LSU in Baton Rouge, the International Students Association was putting on a big display.

A group of students from France , in costume, and with many home-related items including baguettes, wine, a model of the Eiffel Tower, and a street-cabaret scene,

Borrowed my 1964 Deux Chevaux (2-CV),

and made a big sign, noting the American version "LeCar" label with juxtaposition by calling it "The Voiture" !

 

It's a great story  , it's interesting to know that people in America were driving French cars, because now there are more.
I've been to America 3 times and I only came across a Renault 9 in California, a Citroen DS in a museum, and another Citroen DS Chapron in the parking lot of the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles.
And I haven't seen any other .

[rocketraider]

Not only did they drive them, they sold and serviced them!

 

My Uncle Buck was the French car mechanic here for many years, having learned how to work on Peugeot and Renault while stationed in Portugal with the US Army. He liked them and always had a Renault of some type around, so I saw everything from Dauphines to Fuegos growing up. He especially liked the R10.

 

Buck always said the secret to successfully repairing a French car was to learn to swear at it in French.🤬

[Walt G]

I too really appreciate seeing the photos of the Renault Vivasport. I have for many decades tried to collect material originally published by Renault on the pre war Reinastella and Nervastella, period photographs, etc. wonderful cars as were the earlier 45 HP machines. Most Americans have never seen any of the huge Renaults . There was a fairly active Renault distributorship here in the USA in the post WWI era up until the early 1930s when the Great Depression set in. Color advertisements in the souvenir programs for the custom body salons held in the USA featured the larger Renaults. The sale and promotion of European luxury cars in the pre war (WWII) era here in the USA is not a well known nor documented subject. Guess I need to eventually do something about that.

Isotta Fraschini even issued and had printed here in the USA a sales catalog offering their cars ( typo 8 and 8A)  that I have in my collection. They had bodies by Fleetwood mounted on the chassis very often.

Walt

[sebastienbuick]

55 minutes ago, rocketraider said:

Not only did they drive them, they sold and serviced them!

 

My Uncle Buck was the French car mechanic here for many years, having learned how to work on Peugeot and Renault while stationed in Portugal with the US Army. He liked them and always had a Renault of some type around, so I saw everything from Dauphines to Fuegos growing up. He especially liked the R10.

 

Buck always said the secret to successfully repairing a French car was to learn to swear at it in French.🤬

 

Agreed thanks for the information . Were there a lot of French cars in America at the time?
Haha yes you have to learn to swear in French to work on a French car  
I also like the Renault 10, like the Renault 8 too.
Were there sports versions of French cars in America? like the Renault 8 gordini, Renault Dauphine 1093, Renault 4cv gordini, Alpine a110, ...

Besides just to know, if you have 3 models of French cars to choose from, which would be your favorite?

[sebastienbuick]

43 minutes ago, Walt G said:

I too really appreciate seeing the photos of the Renault Vivasport. I have for many decades tried to collect material originally published by Renault on the pre war Reinastella and Nervastella, period photographs, etc. wonderful cars as were the earlier 45 HP machines. Most Americans have never seen any of the huge Renaults . There was a fairly active Renault distributorship here in the USA in the post WWI era up until the early 1930s when the Great Depression set in. Color advertisements in the souvenir programs for the custom body salons held in the USA featured the larger Renaults. The sale and promotion of European luxury cars in the pre war (WWII) era here in the USA is not a well known nor documented subject. Guess I need to eventually do something about that.

Isotta Fraschini even issued and had printed here in the USA a sales catalog offering their cars ( typo 8 and 8A)  that I have in my collection. They had bodies by Fleetwood mounted on the chassis very often.

Walt

 

Thank you for all this information, I did not know it
Yes this Vivasport was very beautiful and in very good condition  

[8E45E]

2 hours ago, sebastienbuick said:

 

I see that you have had a lot of Citroëns !  

 

 

I didn't know that these Renault models were known in America . 
There is someone (in Canada I believe) on youtube who has a lot of American cars, he recently restored a very nice Plymouth Fury. And this person has a Renault 5 LeCar.
I saw in France a Renault 11 Alliance which had just been imported from America

Was the 11 Alliance he imported a convertible?  I believe the convertible was a North American-only offering.  (We never got the Renault 19 convertible here.)   As I recall, it and the 2-door coupe were offered in standard and GTA trim/performance levels.  

 

For your information, LeCar/5's sold in the U.S. had the round sealed beam headlights, while the Canadian market models had the rectangular Cibie (H4) headlights.  And the R5 was sold in Canada until 1985 in both two door and four door hatchback.  The 7 (5 with a trunk) was never sold here.

 

Craig 

Edited March 22, 2023 by 8E45E (see edit history)

[sebastienbuick]

8 minutes ago, 8E45E said:

Was the 11 Alliance he imported a convertible?  I believe the convertible was a North American-only offering.  (We never got the Renault 19 convertible here.)   As I recall, it and the 2-door coupe were offered in standard and GTA trim/performance levels.  

 

For your information, LeCar/5's sold in the U.S. had the round sealed beam headlights, while the Canadian market models had the rectangular Cibie (H4) headlights.  And the R5 was sold in Canada until 1985 in both two door and four door hatchback.  The 7 (5 with a trunk) was never sold here.

 

Craig 

 

No, the renault alliance that I saw was a two-door coupe if I remember correctly.
Ok I didn't know .
This LeCar that I saw on the internet has round headlights if I'm not mistaken.
Thank you for the information  

[Rusty_OToole]

I remember most of those cars when they were new especially the Renaults, which were popular here in Canada in the fifties sixties and through the eighties. Some less usual cars like the Simcas were seen here because of the air force base at Trenton, returning service men brought European cars with them that were not normally imported. The American models must be unusual in France and no doubt, take dedication and deep pockets to operate and keep in repair.

Edited March 22, 2023 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Reynard]

Bonjour Sebastien,
Abusiez-vous de votre Dodge Police lorsque la transmission a éclaté?

Les pièces de rechange sont-elles facilement disponibles ?

Cordialement, R.

[sebastienbuick]

8 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

I remember most of those cars when they were new especially the Renaults, which were popular here in Canada in the fifties sixties and through the eighties. Some less usual cars like the Simcas were seen here because of the air force base at Trenton, returning service men brought European cars with them that were not normally imported. The American models must be unusual in France and no doubt, take dedication and deep pockets to operate and keep in repair.

 

Agreed thank you for the information .
Do you still see French cars driving ?
Yes it's like here in France, when young Americans came to France for the war, some came with their American car, and some cars stayed in France . 
Yes in France it's easy and cheap to repair a French car  

 

3 hours ago, Reynard said:

Bonjour Sebastien,
Abusiez-vous de votre Dodge Police lorsque la transmission a éclaté?

Les pièces de rechange sont-elles facilement disponibles ?

Cordialement, R.

 

Non je roulais normalement , j'ai toujours respecter la mécanique . Je n'ai jamais fait de burn , ou d’accélération brutale .

 

In English :

 

" No I ride normally, I always respect the mechanics. I have never done a burn, or sudden acceleration. "

[Rusty_OToole]

French makes come and go from the market. They have a habit of coming in, selling some cars for a few years, then abandoning the market leaving their dealers and customers high and dry. Last time they were here Renault partnered with AMC selling the Renault R5, Alliance, and some larger models under the Eagle brand.That came to an end when Chrysler took over AMC in the mid 90s. They sold a few Citroens in the 70s. Haven't seen a French car on the road in years.