March 2010 Renotes Low Quality.pdf - Renault Owners Club Forum

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e v e N t s - l o H e A c 2 0 0 9lohéac 2009something for everyone, includingsignificant others and children.The Whiteside team lodged at itstraditional watering hole, ChateauSparrow, where Peter and Angie did usproud over the weekend and, havingreached that venue via the Portsmouth/St.Malo overnight ferry, the accompanyinggood weather stayed with us until wewere packing up our stands, when a finerain descended. This clement weatherenabled us to enjoy the delights of themeeting, including spectating at sometrack sessions, during one of which JeanRagnotti (Renault 8 Gordini 1300) andMichel Leclère (Renault 12 Gordini) didmany (stage-managed) laps swoppingplaces, whilst noisy Renault Gordinienginedsingle-seaters buzzed aroundthem like wasps. All good, clean fun, aswere the (non competitive) laps coveredby the earlier-mentioned assortment ofRenault Gordini-engined saloons andcoupés from various past decades.Every year, the October‘Autobrocante Festival’ at theManoir de l’Automobile deLohéac, near Rennes in Brittany,heralds the onset of winter. This year,Clubmen Brian Whiteside, Des Collins andHM-W made their pilgrimage to thisoutstanding venue (two days ofautojumbling on 03 and 04 October 2009)to see the celebration of the ‘SpecialGordini,’ for which Dauphine-Gordinis, R-1093 Rallye Dauphines, R8 Gordini 1100s,R8 Gordini 1300s, R12 Gordinis, R17Gordinis and a selection of RenaultGordini-engined single-seaters (but,regrettably, none of Amédé Gordini’s owncars) were drawn up in a long line in thepaddock.As usual, there were a couple ofamphibious vehicles pottering around onthe lake, a pack of (Peugeot-engined)Hommell Berlinettes reeled off theirmonomarque laps on the circuit and therewas the customary show of VolkswagenBeetles and Combis (with accompanyingautojumble stands) around the lakesidearea. A small display area on the far(circuit) side of the lake featured themuseum’s three Renault 1000kgs-basedpublicity vehicles, seen at previousLohéac meetings – the Red Barrel, theblue twin Butagaz bottles and the whitecastle - and the 3rd Renault 4 Meetingtook place on the original rallycrosscircuit, on to which an army of classiccars descends every year. Thesehappenings take place in conjunction witha free (with event) ticket to visit MichelHommell’s peerless automobile collectionin the manor house (more like anunderstated castle!), thus offeringThe exhibition cars included Renaultsingle-seaters, a Renault (Dauphine)Gordini, a Renault 8 Gordini 1300, aRenault 12 Gordini and a Renault 17Gordini from Renault’s Histoire &Collection treasure chest, plus AmédéeGordini’s own unique 1500cc twin camRenault 8 Gordini from Hommell’smuseum, although this latter did not goout on the track (at least, not while your6 r e N o t e s M A G A Z i N eR E N O T E S M A G A Z I N E
e v e N t s - l o H e A c 2 0 0 9scribe was on the spectators’ banking).We met Dominique Pascal once again,interested in anything and everything todo with cars, about which he might pensome lines. Claude and Joëlle Le Maître(both thoroughly enjoying their retirementon the Brittany coast near Brest) and son,Laurent, were manning the SHGR stand(a pleasure to renew acquaintance withthese Renault stalwarts), where yourscribe purchased some more readingmatter.The designated Renault dealer was sellingmuch of the Renault merchandise atdiscounted prices – especially the F1clothing with the ING logo on! Therewere at least three Alpine specialistspresent, some of whom were displayinghot out-of-the-mould Alpine A-110Berlinette shells (at breathtaking prices).Another stand proudly displayed abeautifully prepared, lightweight, LegaytypeAlpine A-610 Le Mans coupéalongside a pristine Alpine A-110Berlinette. There was a selection ofRenault panels (4CV doors, bonnets andboots, R4 and R8 doors, etc., etc.) for salein the field and so on and so forth. Themain problem was that the asking pricesfor such spares has crept up significantlyand, with the euro and the pound sterlingbeing almost on parity, the amateur(British) impecunious enthusiast isvirtually priced out of the market.The museum has not changed much,exhibit-wise, but is still one of the bestsuch collections in the world. TheRenault 4CV-based Rispal barquette hasbeen transferred down to the ground flooramongst the Alpines and the blue AlpineA-106 convertible is still resolutely up ona hoist, ‘undergoing restoration’ in thegarage montage ! The display of Renaultand Renault-related vehicles remains asjaw-dropping as ever.Besides our three man ROC team fromDorset, both Nigel Patten and Pat Bridger(RCCC) were reputed to be in the field(but we did not see them), but we didmeet Peter Mockler, an ex-Clubman, whoused to race a Renault Dauphine-Gordini.Some years ago, the motoring pressreported on his skilful driving in atrociouswet weather at Goodwood’s Festival ofSpeed. We had a good old natter. Havingdisposed of the said Renault, he, hisFrench wife, Fabienne, and daughtersLucy and Juliette, emigrated fromUxbridge to France in 2005. Car-wise, hehas now ‘gone over to the other side’ andwas exhibiting his (exceptionally clean)Yank Ford Fairlane in the classic car parkoutside.Also, in that car park, there were manyclassic treasures. Since large numbers of‘other cars’ were on display, we willconfine our comments to those of realinterest (i.e., Renaults and the like!). Inorder to keep the size of this reportreasonably concise and because examplesof almost every model of Renault madesince the end of WW2 were on display,we will confine our observations to someof the more unusual variations on show.One of the Renault 8S was fitted with areplacement front Spanish Renault 8TSpanel, which has the outer and inner unitsof the same (small R8) diameter. One ofthe Renault 11 Turbos was a very rarePhase 1 ‘Zender’ model (with the Germanbody kit fitted as standard). One of ther e N o t e s M A G A Z i N e75
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