Spotted's Spottings (2024 France holiday #5 06/10/2024)

[Spottedlaurel]

19 hours ago, mk2_craig said:

Always great to see this thread updated! Looking forward to more decrepit French tin. 

Thanks! There will be a lot more. Also some shiny stuff from Sunday's show, eventually, but in the area we're staying this week there is a fair bit just languishing in fields, garages etc.

18 hours ago, puddlethumper said:

A good selection of  spots. Living up to half your name.  @Spottedlaurel

Ta. The other half is hopefully sitting in the garage back home. I do idly ponder driving the Datsun here, dawdling along the D-roads and attending the odd show, but I doubt it will ever happen.

Continuing the cross-country journey:

Great to see an original 5, even if this one looked somewhat out of use.

 

 

These were all sat in a yard next to a Citroen dealership. Nearest CX is a 22 TRS, next one a 25 GTi Turbo. What else will I see of the CX/Renault 30/Peugeot 604 Holy Trinity?

Saw a few other things like a couple of Mk5 Escorts, Alfa Spider, Nissan Terrano D21 and possibly a Renault Rodeo but weren't able to stop, then we finally made it to the holiday house and met up with Miss SL and BF in their transport for camping over the last week:

Apparently it was doing near to 30mpg at the start of their trip, but was down to 21-odd after a drive on smaller roads through the hills across country. Exhaust maybe noisier than I remember when they left, and sometimes the dashboard needed a vigorous pat to make the speedo work, otherwise it seems to have been going well and the A/C was certainly doing its thing.

When Mrs SL-to-be and I did a similar French trip at their age, back in the early '90s, our transport was a FWD Sunny with three noisy wheel bearings and a rubbsh aftermarket sunroof.

First spot of Day 2:

As reported in the Grin thread, this seems to have replaced another Solara that I saw on Streetview from 2021. Hasn't yet moved, so I have the pleasure of seeing it daily on the recycling drop-off.

En-route to the show, this was nearby. Fresh for sale notice hoping to entice an attendee?

We were a bit tardy and didn't get there until 11, seems like people dropped in and out of it very casually so I sadly missed getting a proper look at this lovely Kadett fastback.

The show was excellent, I shan't post much now  but for the moment hopefully these shots give a flavour of what was there:

 

 

Plenty of French stuff, obviously, plus other Europeans, British, American and Japanese. Also tractors, stationary engines doing their chug-chug-pop-chug thing and a decent-sized autojumble where I invested/wasted some euros on old magazines and diecasts.

I'm missing FOTU this year, but this more than made up for it.  11/10 to Uzerche Auto-Retro, would definitely visit again.

That's up to where I've edited so far, more to come soon.

[Spottedlaurel]

Continuing on from show day:

 

 

Stuff at a local garage. Odd format plate on the 2CV van.

 

XJ-S looks like it's sat at this garage for a while.

Lots of C15s still in use. Longer wheelbase on this one?

Nice, I'd happily have of these.

Haven't seen too many Pandas yet, and both those I've photographed have been the 4x4 versions which I suppose have more of a USP.

 

 

More ticks on the Renault bingo scorecard, particularly pleasing to see the pre-facelift 11 and what's left of the 17.

[MiniMinorMk3]

And the winner is the bright orange E9

with the Kadett Coupe a close second

[Spottedlaurel]

18 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

And the winner is the bright orange E9...........

with the Kadett Coupe a close second............

Both a good choice, although there is an awful lot you haven't seen yet.

Chucking a few more on:

This sits at a timber yard just down the road from where we're staying. Haven't seen it in use.

Fairly tidy Jetta in the yard of a small VW dealership/service garage.

First 21 of the holiday.

Unexpected.

 

 

The above three all at a small rural workshop. 25 was inside having something done on it when we drove past again later.

We're nowhere near the coast but there's still the odd Mehari around.

Quite a few SWB Land Cruisers, no older models yet though.

[hairnet]

Oof c15 with extra door

Seen extra windows never doors

[Spottedlaurel]

1 hour ago, hairnet said:

Oof c15 with extra door

Seen extra windows never doors

Wonder if it's ex-military?

Have a photo to come of a C15 with one less door than usual....

[Spottedlaurel]

Still here and seeing a ridiculous amount of stuff, every day there's something that amazes me. Now slowly making our way back north having visited Mulhouse - I didn't think there'd be so much on this eastern side of the country, but I was wrong, and a couple of detours into Switzerland also proved to be rather productive (especially when I found what looked to be an old Nissan dealership).

Continuing more or less in order.......

Stopped to get photos of this BX, with an H-van that seems to have end up in two separate halves. Would like to have got photos at the farm visible in the distance, which had various decaying Saviem and Peugeot light commercials, but dogs and the farmer prevented that. One of the kids then then noticed an overgrown car the other side of the road....

I think it's an S-Class? Bonus Peugeot J9, all at a derelict and overgrown farm. I wonder if all of the above are/were linked with the farm across the way - Streetview shows there was even more there in the past.

 

 

These all at a small town garage. Usually see a Fiat Fiorino or two each year, but van versions of the 205 seem to be surprisingly uncommon given how many of the hatchbacks are still running round.

This would be the first of a few black Traction Avants.

Another of those funky Citroen C32/35 commercials, in quiet retirement on a field in the middle of nowhere.

Have seen more Patrols this year then before. Initially thought this looked quite tidy, but it appears to be out of use.

How long this poor old thing been sat here? Haven't seen many/any others with the single rear door. C15E rather than D, for added rarity?

ARO and cat guard. Regrettably a dog started barking inside the house as soon as I pulled-up (despite the place being rather overgrown and looking abandoned), so I couldn't get a better shot.

One of my favourite finds so far, a Kia Sephia A.K.A. Mentor. I'm not sure if we got this 4-door version in the UK? It pulled-up as I was about to leave, inevitably it was driven by an older chap.

Maybe a parts donor? They had another Safrane on the driveway.

More later.

[StescoG66]

Long time since I have been to France, but my recollection was aways of how many old relics are still around and in daily use. Plus there propensity to park 'em up and just leave them............

Another past observation was the lunchtime race home,  corners taken with door handles scraping the tarmac followed by the post lunch pootle back........... Got to love les Francais

 

[inconsistant]

We visited the Schlumpf Collection on Saturday on our way to Switzerland, wow what a place!

Spotted this XM resting in a village nearby.

and this H van camper in the museum car park

 

[Spottedlaurel]

2 hours ago, inconsistant said:

We visited the Schlumpf Collection on Saturday on our way to Switzerland, wow what a place!

Spotted this XM resting in a village nearby.

and this H van camper in the museum car park

 

We enjoyed our visit there too, last Tuesday IIRC so just a few days before you. Also saw some interesting things in the museum car park, including a piece of UK-registered JDM exotica.

Are you still in Switzerland? If so, and you're anywhere near the town of Porrentruy, then the Lamborghini dealership there is well worth a visit. Loads of news ones, plus various older things and other exotica in the adjacent buildings. Really liked the day our drive took us in and out and in and out of Switzerland, some great older stuff seen in the rural areas there plus great scenery.

Was there some big Citroen thing going on in France this summer? Saw quite a few foreign-registered examples plus travelling groups of French 2CVs.

I'm now back home and able to take an overview of the fortnight, I think this may have been one of my best years for stuff seen (and that's not counting the show day). Every day there was something jawdropping - it got to the point that when a tidy Visa Club was my first sighting of the day I was mildly disappointed and wondered what else there would be (and I did see a couple of things that topped it). The clean air thing may be having an effect in the cities etc where it applies, but out in the countryside motoring life is carrying on and there is plenty of late '80s onwards stuff still in everyday use.

Will continue with the updates here as and when.

[KruJoe]

Just caught up on the last few pages, it's all good stuff. Thank you for keeping this thread going, as I've said before, it has been a real inspiration. 

I haven't been to rural France for at least 20 years (God, I sound ancient!) It's great to see there are still quality spottings to be made. A surprisingly attractive highlight to me was the Renault 21 hatchback. I'd nearly forgotten about those. Thanks again 🙂

[inconsistant]

Saw a surprising number of 205s being used as dailies. Once off the motorways there are still mk1 Twingos everywhere. When I was a kid there were 2CVs everywhere, then years later it was the R5, now it seems like it’s early Twingos that are omnipresent across the french road network. 

We drove across the mountains/hills of Alsace from Nancy to Colmar and bizarrely there were loads and loads of tatty mk2 Espaces parked up everywhere. In rural S. Switzerland so won’t make it to that dealer. Not much shite in CH, other than lots of old 4wd Subarus, Suzukis and corollas. Will update my chod spotting thread with recent spottings soon. 

[Spottedlaurel]

On 8/8/2023 at 3:00 PM, inconsistant said:

Saw a surprising number of 205s being used as dailies. Once off the motorways there are still mk1 Twingos everywhere. When I was a kid there were 2CVs everywhere, then years later it was the R5, now it seems like it’s early Twingos that are omnipresent across the french road network. 

We drove across the mountains/hills of Alsace from Nancy to Colmar and bizarrely there were loads and loads of tatty mk2 Espaces parked up everywhere. In rural S. Switzerland so won’t make it to that dealer. Not much shite in CH, other than lots of old 4wd Subarus, Suzukis and corollas. Will update my chod spotting thread with recent spottings soon. 

I found exactly the same with the 205s and Twingos, a fair few SuperCinq 5s too.

You did pretty much the opposite of our journey, we went through the Alsace up to just a bit north of Colmar then headed across to Luneville, not far from Nancy. Don't remember so many Espaces, although there was a tidy one in Luneville (photos to come, one day).

 

Have struggled with time for editing since getting home (messing around buying a new car, work, family life etc), but here are a few more.....

Another out-of-use Traction Avant.

Haven't seen many of these in France over the years.

Very clean.

Do like seeing these ghost signs on our travels. This one seemed a little excessive for a fairly minor road in a small village.

 

Pair of Cromas lurking at a rural garage which seemd to have been a Fiat agent/specialist at some point. I suspect there was more old stuff in that barn at the back, and Google Maps suggest there is/was a bit of a stash in the field beyond the hedge.

This Acadiane looked immaculate.

Quick drive-by shot from one of my passengers.

Tidy Pajero making a change from the Land Cruisers.

Odd. Had never considered whether it was possible to fit 2CV wings to a Dyane/Acadiane - it seems that it is (sort of). Seems to be an import to the UK in 2019, but has now found its way back to France.

Another one, but looking more roadworthy than the others.

 

Smalltown bilge.

Not sure if the sloping front end works on this Grandin Dallas. Earlier models had a more traditonal front end, all seem to be based on FWD French underpinnings.

No doubting what this was.

Fantastic. Seems like a good place to finish for now.

[mk2_craig]

There's something that's just so right about that 505, cant quite express what it is - maybe its subconscious memories of seeing them everywhere when new on family French holidays back in the 80s. Thanks for sharing, SL.

 

Also, remarkable to see that the Cargo has manage to return at least one original spec wheel trim. I would have thought that most hauliers would consider them a bit of a hindrance given the expectation to very regularly check wheel nuts are torqued up correctly, unless Ford devised a very robust quick release arrangement on these. 

[Spottedlaurel]

48 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

There's something that's just so right about that 505, cant quite express what it is - maybe its subconscious memories of seeing them everywhere when new on family French holidays back in the 80s. Thanks for sharing, SL.

It looked just as good from this angle:

Oldish chap was sitting it, I'd say a long-term owner who just liked it for what it was.

[barrett]

I hadn't realised it was 'that time of year' - this summer has just flown by. Always a highlight to see what you've found, and your continued dedication to spotting whilst on holiday with family in tow should be applauded

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I found exactly the same with the 205s and Twingos, a fair few SuperCinq 5s too.

You did pretty much the opposite of our journey, we went through the Alsace up to just a bit north of Colmar then headed across to Luneville, not far from Nancy. Don't remember so many Espaces, although there was a tidy one in Luneville (photos to come, one day).

 

Have struggled with time for editing since getting home (messing around buying a new car, work, family life etc), but here are a few more.....

Another out-of-use Traction Avant.

Haven't seen many of these in France over the years.

Very clean.

Do like seeing these ghost signs on our travels. This one seemed a little excessive for a fairly minor road in a small village.

 

Pair of Cromas lurking at a rural garage which seemd to have been a Fiat agent/specialist at some point. I suspect there was more old stuff in that barn at the back, and Google Maps suggest there is/was a bit of a stash in the field beyond the hedge.

This Acadiane looked immaculate.

Quick drive-by shot from one of my passengers.

Tidy Pajero making a change from the Land Cruisers.

Odd. Had never considered whether it was possible to fit 2CV wings to a Dyane/Acadiane - it seems that it is (sort of). Seems to be an import to the UK in 2019, but has now found its way back to France.

Another one, but looking more roadworthy than the others.

 

Smalltown bilge.

Not sure if the sloping front end works on this Grandin Dallas. Earlier models had a more traditonal front end, all seem to be based on FWD French underpinnings.

No doubting what this was.

Fantastic. Seems like a good place to finish for now.

You lost me at Dubonnet...

[Spottedlaurel]

9 hours ago, barrett said:

I hadn't realised it was 'that time of year' - this summer has just flown by. Always a highlight to see what you've found, and your continued dedication to spotting whilst on holiday with family in tow should be applauded

With the amount I still have to churn through it's going to be 'that time of year' for a while yet.

I think there are photos taken by all my family here, they will often get thrust the camera if I'm driving. Sometimes they just point things out to me than have to sit for a minute or two parked-up randomly while I jump out, or when we get somewhere they wait in a car park while I head off in the opposite direction. Miss SL and BF got a fair few decent finds of their own when they were driving around separate to us.

Still haven't moved onto the second week, when we did 1000+ miles across and up the country with negligible autoroute use - there's a lot to come from that.....

 

I think this was the only Mk1 25 that I saw. A few 19s still in use.

404 pickup lurking around the back of the same garage.

I think I've ended up seeing one of these on most of my previous French trips. This one looked to be out of use.

3.4, maybe sold new in France? They went for amber reverse lights back then. Have a particularly surprising Jaguar still to come.

I don't remember seeing many 607s, they really seem to have fallen out of favour.

So many older/unusual camper vans and motorhomes still around, could have taken photos of many more.

 

Neighbours. Don't recall seeing many Demios in France over the years.

Tidy auto model in a barn.

 

Both of these were on the rather productive journey into a local town when I did the morning bread run. I had to wait a couple of days for the Uno however, as when I was first about to stop a chap came out and shambled across the road to feed some sheep. He didn't look like someone I'd have an easy conversation with, and he spent ages watching me drive up the road. Luckily Master SL got a quick shot when we drove past later in the week.

Another ARO, this time a Green City version - presumably one of the endless special editions available back in the '90s. And an old 5 and tractor, of course, becusse it was at some sort of workshop.

What a shame to have lost one of those wonderful trims.

Went for a meal and when we returned this had conveniently parked in front of us.

All the beige. This is the last shot from the my first week in the Limousin. Next up, travels east and then north.

[Spottedlaurel]

Second week of the holiday was basically eight days of driving across to the Swiss border then meandering up to Calais. As such we went through a lot of places where we'd never normally visit for a week or two, and we had time to enjoy the smaller, quieter roads. And take a lot of photos....

Rainy start to the day, but that didn't deter the driver of this tidy 5.

SVM French division.

Great to see, was driven by an oldish chap on a Saturday morning run to the post office.

Off-road toy #1.

 

Brocante display pieces.

Don't remember seeing many other 200-series. Was surprised to catch sight of a 144 another day.

Off-road toy #2. LWB Patrol probably less capable than SWB Land Cruiser.....

Wonderful sight, but a little sad too. They were festering away in the yard of a garage that looked to have closed-up.

Street furniture. One of a number of occasions when I got my legs cut up by brambles, but isn't there always some suffering in creating great art?

 

Lined-up outside another garage.

'Hero car' at a place selling more recent used stuff.

Still only partway through the first day of our tour....

[wuvvum]

On 8/24/2023 at 8:03 AM, Spottedlaurel said:

 

I don't remember seeing many 607s, they really seem to have all been scrapped due to expensive electrical issues.

FTFY

[MiniMinorMk3]

And the winner is

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Wait for it.

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No it's not the Orange A110

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It's the Renault Juvaquatre

6 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

 

 

 

[Spottedlaurel]

15 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

And the winner is...............

It's the Renault Juvaquatre

Interestng choice. For sale if you fancy a project.....

More Juvaquatres to come. In the meantime, from a garage that had some 'quite good' stuff around the yard:

Yay! Looked to be in great condition.

Taunus in full fat 2.3 Ghia auto flavour.

 

 

 

 

 

VWs were their main thing, but what an array of other goodies there too.

After all that excitement it's time to calm things down with the only Carina E I saw over the whole fortnight. Rather appropriate for it to be a silver GL, reminded me of what I had to look forward to collecting when I got home.

Bonus Land Rover, which I didn't notice at the time.

Proper yellow headlamps, bet it looks great at night.

Poor little thing seems to be marooned here as a display prop.

 

Starting to get into the hills, I imagine this would be a useful thing and sometimes has to work hard. Saw another one the other side of France years ago.

 

Should have perhaps added a warning about there being a Rancho and Fuego in the same batch. Doesn't look like this one has moved for a long time.

Finally reached our first B&B, seems like a good place to pause for now.

[MiniMinorMk3]

3 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

 

Poor little thing seems to be marooned here as a display prop.

 

Is someone have a laugh or was it actually a French Diplomats car in the UK?

 

 

[Spottedlaurel]

On 8/27/2023 at 11:33 AM, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Is someone have a laugh or was it actually a French Diplomats car in the UK?

I fear we may never know....

Onwards with the second day of travelling:

Smart example, a little more intact than the derelict example a few days earlier.

The sort of thing that's so satisfying to find, not super-exciting but completely unexpected.

This Volga certainly fell into the surprise find category.

Shame they hadn't got the hood down on a sunny day.

"There, that fixed it" boot latch repair.

Tidy 11 was an automatic.

Contrasting French classics.

Saw a handful of Polos.

In similar vein, another no-frills thing from the late '80s/early '90s.

Inevitably a few VW campers of various sorts were seen, often belonging to other tourists (I think this one may have cone from Belgium). Several 100NXs this year too, two or maybe even three.

 

Ageing Renault vans.

Seen a few of these Trophy cars over the years.

More to follow tomorrow/over the weekend.

[Spottedlaurel]

Continuing with day 2 of the second week:

A handful of these seen over the fortnight.

 

Not vast numbers of these tiddly things seen in the hilly/rural areas we visited. By coincidence I saw this pair of Aixams in succession, some kms apart.

 

These two were somewhere nearer the opposite end of the motoring spectrum.

Going to make a start on day 3 now, beginning at Lac de Nantua in France and ending up a little bit south of Mulhouse, with a couple of forays into Switzerland. It was a long day of driving 99% off the autoroute, but my favourite with fantastic scenery and some rather interesting things seen on our travels.

A40 autoroute on stilts above us as we headed out of town.

Pajero looked to have seen a bit of action.

First spot in Switzerland, but it turned out to be from the other side of the border. Saw this both ways, with the Swiss maybe taking advantage of cheaper prices in France?

 

That's better, first proper spots in Switzerland. Felt like I'd stumbled across @Ghosty's Swiss counterpart, with those being in the same car park.

Back in France for a bit. First older Land Cruiser seen - did glimpse an earlier example later in the day.

Renault 12 (with Dacia lights?) painted like the local cattle. Obviously.

Nice to see a Juvaquatre passenger car for a change, not a promo van.

 

German things.

I was in area where I can imagine this sees some use in winter. Seemed to be connected with a garage that had some rather interesting things like a Renault 11 Turbo, but unusually there were people around so sadly no photos.

 

Visiting Citroens, at the same supermarket. German Ami 6 was about 200 miles from home, funky 2CV with appropriate plate more like 600 from Zagreb, Croatia.

More to follow....

[grogee]

The R12 Fresian is ace! 

I really like the Axiams and clones. Has anyone ever done a souped-up one? 

When I last visited Switzerland I noticed they tended to go in for higher specs than us paupers so lots of Ghia/Elite etc. It was a while ago though. 

Have a fun trip

[Spottedlaurel]

Onwards....

Back in Switzerland. Don't remember seeing many 850s during the whole trip.

Pontiac LeMans Sport hiding up the side of a garage.

Exhaust looked a little perilous, dog appeared to be rather bored with it all. Wrong jazzy colour for Miss SL, her ideal RAV4 is apparently more of a blue.

 

These all at the same place.

'90s Japanese cars seemed to be popular in Switzerland, saw a few others. Master SL got this shot as we did a bonus lap of a roundabout - wonder what my mileage and journey times would be if it weren't for doing that sort of thing?

The black Traction Avant theme continued in Switzerland.

Best garage haul of the fortnight?.........

 

 

 

 

Another 300ZX here, plus the Chevy and Sunny(s).

Justy, cool. But hang on, what's that in the background?....

Blimey! Certainly hadn't expected to see a Datsun Violet (not sure if it was a 140 or 160J). Brings back fond memories of the SSS version I had in the '90s, I always found the grille/headlamp arrangement particularly pleasing. Seemed to be an older 100A lurking behind it as well.

[Spottedlaurel]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

The R12 Fresian is ace! 

I really like the Axiams and clones. Has anyone ever done a souped-up one? 

When I last visited Switzerland I noticed they tended to go in for higher specs than us paupers so lots of Ghia/Elite etc. It was a while ago though. 

Have a fun trip

Thanks. Sadly past tense now, we've been back nearly four weeks. It's just taking me a long, long time to edit them.

Final batch for the big journey day:

Another Trophy 4?

 

Yes, they certainly did like their '90s Japanese stuff. Thinking about it I think also caught sight of a Carina E, in that lovely pale metallic brown.

A different sort of garage here, one that was of considerable appeal to Master SL:

 

 

Had a wander around the new car showroom. Other dads and sons were doing the same thing.

Some rather interesting older stuff in other buildings, but couldn't get in them. So you'll have to take my word that there were sundry old Lamborghinis including Miura x2, Countach, Diablo, sixties GT plus oddball Jaguar XJ6/12 convertible. Mrs SL watched storks fly past as we wandered around.

No plates on the Scirocco, but I don't think I'll forget where I saw it.

There were at least two other CXs mouldering away at this place.

Good to see a J7, although I suspect it doesn't go anywhere nowadays.

One for @Schaefft, this R129 sounded nice. Traffic lights of note, with countdown timer.

Odd hardtop.

Now reached Ferrette, south of Mulhouse. Next instalment to come, including a visit to the Schlumpf Collection.

[MiniMinorMk3]

6 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

 

Nice to see a Juvaquatre passenger car for a change, not a promo van.

 

Day 2 winner.

[Spottedlaurel]

Moving on, now day 3 of the travelling week. I think this was Ferette up to Eguisheim.

This year's representative Xantia. Still a fair few of them around.

Glenda, the Google Maps lady, often tends to take a rather interesting route to a destination using sideroads and small streets. Good for me, as I wouldn't have found this otherwise.

Inevitably there was some interesting stuff in the Schlumpf Collection car park:

 

 

 

 

 

Mazda Cosmo?!?! More rotary goodness to come.

Inside the museum. Interesting exhibits and building, enjoyed the visit there.

 

 

 

Retail park randoms.

Interesting to compare these two, Twingo Mk1 surely had some influence on the Yaris? Plenty of both still to be seen in everyday use.

Final one for day 3. Didn't see many of them on our travels.