Spotted's Spottings (2025 France holiday #1 28/07/2025)

[Schaefft]

Pretty sure I've taken photos of that green Land Cruiser and Blazer myself 5 or so years ago!

[Spottedlaurel]

Silly me, I forgot this other beige bombshell:

 

I'm guessing enthusiast-owned with it sitting on the 205 GTi alloys. Within a few minutes of seeing this I also caught sight of a Citroen GSA estate, but sadly I wasn't quick enough to grab a photo of that one.

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

 

I don't know what was going on here.

Twingo with the head removed?

[Spottedlaurel]

Another day of travelling, a slightly sad one this time as we left the Alsace region and headed north-west through the hills, which meant we were vaguely heading home.

Did we get the Musso pickup in the UK? Spray marks on the ground and tyre suggest it's been there for a while.

Continuing with the Ssangyong theme here. Wasn't entirely sure what it was at the time, turns out to be a Korando Family which is effectively an Isuzu Trooper/Bighorn. Certainly not one I can remember seeing before.

 

 

These were in the car park across the road. The 80 was a Quattro.

Saw a few SJs/Santanas.

I think this was from Brittany, pretty much completely the opposite side of the country to where I saw it.

Don't see too many SWB versions of this generation Patrol. A bit odd-looking, like those American pickups dramatically shortened to become tugs.

Nice old garage with Citroen hiding from the rain and Estafette inside.

We were still in the touristy, Germanic/gingerbread area at this point. Not sure if I've previously seen a cabriolet version of the 4CV.

Not sure of the maker of this one.

Wouldn't have found this Mk1 Probe if I hadn't gone for a wander to get photos of the 'jeep'.

Rest of the the day to follow in a bit.....

[Spottedlaurel]

Remainder of that day....

Supermarket bilge.

There was a lot going on at this garage, felt like the sort of place @barrett would appreciate:

 

 

 

I didn't take it in at the time, but I now wonder if that's an Alfa 6 up against the building?

Lousy photo, it was raining, but a big 420G/Mk 10?!

Only saloon version I can recall seeing.

Stately pile. And a chateau.

[barrett]

On 9/16/2023 at 7:12 AM, Spottedlaurel said:

One day I'll work out a way of remembering which is which of the Bravo/Brava duo, but I haven't managed it yet.

BravA. A for Arse. It's the one with the arse. You're welcome.

[Spottedlaurel]

On with another day, definitely more of a northern France feel by this time. We drove through some strange little places that had the feel of a ghost town.

 

 

 

 

Went for a pre-breakfast stroll and found this lot.

Had barely left town when I saw these:

 

 

 

Mazda R100?!?!?!?! I don't think I have ever previously seen one for real. The RX-4 was on UK plates, last taxed in 1985 and with an export marker on it. Definitely one of my top finds of the holiday.

Tidy 305 in the yard of a smalltown Renault/Dacia garage. They also had a sporty Clio and maybe a mid-engined 5 Turbo in the showroom.

Driveway ornaments.

This was another completely autoroute-free day, many of the roads we drove on were this quiet.

One of the villages with a deserted feel to it.

 

Another Renault garage with more goodies in the yard.

Looked like this one was still in use.

Civics were definitely a thing this year.

Good to see an early-ish Mk3.

Possibly some sort of special edition.

Continuing the Mazda theme of the day. Saloon too.

Another 4L Trophy car, with a shiny wrap. An English chap came up to me as I was taking my photos, saying he liked it too.

That's got us as far as Epernay. Not long to go now....

[Spottedlaurel]

If you're lucky, this could be the last installment of the holiday spots. Still got the fantastic Uzerche Auto-Retro show photos to go, at some point....

Epernay - Wimereux:

Seeing this tidy Visa Club was an excellent start to the day.

Second 100NX seen out in the wild.

A lot going on here.

 

Great to see things like this still as everyday transport. I think that may have been a parcel tape repair on the back right corner of the 190D.

Funny how things like this Delta seem so much more exotic when we don't see them at home.

Don't recall seeing many Balenos in France.

 

 

Citroen graveyard, with bonus Uno.

I think this the only 605 I saw during the whole fortnight.

Nissan Maxima! I have seen one in France before, but I bet they were even less popular than in the UK. Mercedes and 309 were both on UK plates.

This was my find of the day, what a thing. Was in an old garage showroom.

As was this 5 in another town. Looks like they are an official Renault service place, good to see then having an interest in something older.

 

Modified things.

Final batch in a moment....

[Spottedlaurel]

Wimereux - Calais - Home:

German-registered.

Not so many 4x4s now we were away from the hills and mountains. This Patrol was tidy.

 

Compare and contrast Transit motorhomes.

Last spot on French soil, which like the Alvis last year turned out to be a '60s British classic returning home.

 

M25 was the usual misery, but made a little more pleasant by seeing these V-reg executive wafters.

Worth

Worth a bit I'd imagine?

This 2CV seemed like a very appropriate final thing to see.

I think I've seen more stuff this year than ever before, and that's without the show. I suppose it was to be excepted that I would find a fair bit with all the travelling in the second week, but even the rural area we stayed in the first week still had plenty on offer.

[mk2_craig]

As ever thanks for taking the time to capture what you saw and share it here, it sounds like the family have gone beyond simply tolerant and are active participants! It does seem like there’s a pretty fine line between a tired old clunker and a prized classic in France, when you see the sort of thing that isn’t considered worth fixing up and put out to grass but maybe that’s just my perspective. 

[Spottedlaurel]

Looks like my update of this thread is becoming just an annual affair for the holiday finds. Time for this year's French finds then.....

Starting off with things seen on the journey down to Newhaven, this was sat within yards of picking up Miss SL's BF. Ex @RetroShite I believe?

And this was bravely doing battle with the M25 (which in fairness wasn't too bad, most challenging part of the trip was going across country to Newhaven when we found that the A23 was closed). Rascal had a new MoT the same day we saw it, fair play to them for immediately putting it into use.

After the anticipation it's always a special moment to see the first decent thing worth stopping and getting out for, and this time it was a tidy 1990 520i. No clue as to how much they wanted for it.

Capris a fairy rare sight in France in my experience.

 

 

First garage haul, and might get to be my only chance of seeing a CX?

Always a few Land Cruisers to be seen, pleasing to see different versions which we didn't get. Shame it was raining at this point, but at least we'd broken free from the autoroute.

Miss SL got this action shot for me as I was filling up with petrol.

Great to see cars on the older black plates.

 

 

 

 

Another garage with a load of older stuff. 505 on my first day?! Note the Phase 1 BX just visible in the last shot.

Tidy Millésime being put to good use.

I'm guessig this was something to do with a nearby fair.

 

Weather had picked up by this point, and so had the spot-o-meter. What a thing to see out and about.

Haven't seen many XMs yet. There was another one tucked around the back of this place.

One for @SEATMad. Haven't yet seen any Pandas, which is a little unusual.

That's it for the day #1 journey down to the Dordogne. Did catch sight of quite a bit more in the last hour or two but we were pushed for time - hoping to retrace out route on the way home and stop for some of them.

More to follow from the first week.

[Westbay]

Thanks for posting ! some lovely cars there ...

[hairnet]

2 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

 

 

 

❤️

@Slartibartfast if i quote summat and edit the text why cant i remove the tags? Ta

[Spottedlaurel]

Day #2 onwards. Not doing so much driving around this year as we're at the same place for a fortnight, but still finding a reasonable amount....

 

Market day meant there would always be an interesting van or two brought along by the traders. The RWD Master has a purposeful, distinctive look compared to the FWD versions.

 

 

 

Stuff around the town centre. Volvo doesn't look to have moved for a while.

Local fire brigade seemed to be hosting a boot sale, they were ceratinly in charge of the BBQ, so they had their appliances out including this chunky version of the long-running Midliner.

 

Compare and contrast 2CVs. Seen a few around, but as yet not so many Renault 4s.

Great to see this one, certainy not immaculate but pretty solid.

[Westbay]

 

Anybody know what this is please...

 

[Spottedlaurel]

3 minutes ago, Westbay said:

Anybody know what this is please...

 

The word on Flickr was that it might be a Lancia Flaminia Zagato replica, something like this: https://www.stolzeclassiccars.nl/aanbod/2640/lancia-flaminia-zagato-pf-chassis/

[Westbay]

Thank you I did think 'Zagato' but wasn't sure .

[Spottedlaurel]

A few more, while I have the luxury of some spare time....

 

Circus is in a nearby town and seems to like using older, pink and yellow 4wds to advertise its presence. The Monster Truck show has moved on and is in our nextdoor town tonight, we might go....

Typical street scene.

Haven't seen as many Civics as last year, but it was great to find this one.

Out in the countryside.

This was the first, and probably best, of a haul of Renaults. Vinyl roof signifies it being an auto.

Rather appropriately I bought a Majorette R4 van at the boot sale we went to in this village.

This was tucked away at the same place.

 

 

 

These all seemed to belong to sellers.

More in a moment.....

[Spottedlaurel]

Old Renault livestock carrier seemed an appropriate thing to see at a very rural garage.

Always seems vaguely exotic to see versions we don't get in the UK. Showroom contained an AX GT and 205 XS/GT, and....

This Niva around the back.

Escort looked as tatty and rusty as expected.

I suspect another market trader's transport.

Still lots of Twingos around, some tidy, others a little timeworn and battered.

Another Niva, have seen a few.

Another car in the local town that doesn't seem to have gone anywhere for a while.

Mod's suggest its owner enjoys using it off-road.

Saving the best to last for this batch, wonderful to see this Camry. A 2.2 GL, just like those I most enjoyed. With it only being available as a petrol and there being strong domestic competition these must have been a bit of a rarity even when new - I can only recall seeing one other in France over the years, plus a Mk1 model.

[hairnet]

twingo lol

that 208 never seen someone change it to sliding door

3 door zx oofa

[wuvvum]

8 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

Old Renault livestock carrier seemed an appropriate thing to see at a very rural garage.

When I were a lad there seemed to be either a Goëlette or an Estafette festering in a field outside pretty much every French village we drove through.  (Plenty of Estafettes still in use too, by smaller traders and farmers who couldn't afford one of those newfangled Trafics.)

[Spottedlaurel]

15 hours ago, wuvvum said:

When I were a lad there seemed to be either a Goëlette or an Estafette festering in a field outside pretty much every French village we drove through.  (Plenty of Estafettes still in use too, by smaller traders and farmers who couldn't afford one of those newfangled Trafics.)

With the natural cycle of time, the Trafic and Master now seem to fulfil that role.

More....

The Hotchkiss seems to be static, but the R4 had gone later in the day.

Not many MX5s around, though we did see a tidy example on the ferry. This one a little underwheeled....

Perfect tool for crusing around town on a hot day.

Don't think I've seen many, if any, of these in France over the years.

German visitors in a low-spec facelift model. Interesting plate, perhaps an older issue?

 

A decent amount of 205s still in use, these both at the same hypermarket. Also caught sight of a tidy 309 driving past.

 

There's a scrapyard very near where we're staying, if it weren't for a few trees we could see it from the house.

With a couple of kms from here there's also a place with a load of 2CVs, Ami 6/8s and other stuff, but it's tucked away in the trees and although they do give opening times I'm not sure if it's somewhere I can just wander up to.

A few Meharis around.

RS Turbo probably quite rare here? They also had another one elsewhere in the garden.

 

 

More boot sale Renault vans.

[Spottedlaurel]

Another one.

Not quite as common as the 205, but still a few out and about.

More interesting than a Smart or the like.

Saw a few of these last year, but I think just this one so far in 2024.

This was up in the hills, with a VW LT dropside keeping it company.

Thanks to the handy advice from @barrett I can now remember that this is a Bravo.

Despite seeming to be suitable for the local roads I haven't seen many Subarus around. This one was badged GT.

Seem to find a Juvaquatre or too on pretty much every French trip, they most have sold well when new (and/or been robust and have a decent survival rate).

Blimey! I think this may be the first of this generation Passat that I've properly photographed.

Another significant number ticked off on this year's Renault Bingo scorecard. Kind of cheating here, as we were heading to a village agricultural fair/show (hence all the parked stuff including a Dyane in the distance), but even so it was great to see a 10 on the road.

Now got a bit of editing to do, as these was a nice selection of "voitures anciennes" on display.

[Spottedlaurel]

Blimey, two months since I last added anything? Have virtually finished editing the holiday photos so time to get a few more on here....

On display at the little show we visited:

 

 

Others on display included Simca Aronde, Renaults 4CV and Dauphine, Traction Avant, Beetle and Porsche 924.

The agricultural stuff was a big thing.

Plenty of interest in the surrounding car parks too:

 

 

 

 

 

This 204 appeared to be a diesel, I didn't realise such a thing existed.

And this tiday 505 drove past as we were wandering around.

[Spottedlaurel]

More....

 

 

 

These seen at a couple of different garages.

Don't recall these trims being used on XMs here.

This looked tidy.

Didn't realise they used the Feroza name in France (and the rest of Europe), Sportrak only used in the UK? Rocky in Japan.

 

More garage finds.

Smart 403 on PR duty.

 

And finally for now, this wonderful Taunus. Confusingly the tailgate badging suggetsed it was a 17M, but it had a V6 badge on the bonnet which I think means it would be a 20M. Great to see, whatever.

[Spottedlaurel]

I seemed to have let this thread lapse with regard to day-to-day finds, but through grim determination and bloody-mindedness I shall keep it staggering on to cover the holiday spots. As it's only a few weeks until we next go to France I'd better finish off 2024.....

Poor 900 saloon had been finished off at the monster truck show.

Where this 406 Coupe was doing duty as a Lightning McQueen replica. Quite an amusing night out, with lots of excitable commentary and knackered BMWs being used for stunts.

Nice match of the Transit's paintwork and building colour.

Seemingly ex-MoD, last tax expired in 1993, sitting at a closed-up garage where they also had these hiding in the bushes:

 

403 and 404 pickups (you'll have to take my word for it on the latter).

This one looked like it was still used for work.

V12 BiTurbo, can't imagine it was a particularly tax-efficient choice.

Not sure if this was running right, smelt very rich as it drove past. Saw it parked-up later on at a house with another Merc on the driveway.

'66 Austin Champ an unexpected sight.

Didn't see many Mondeos during our fortnight away.

A bit further up the road from the Mondeo, looked rather tired.

RHD!

More to come over the next few days, to get me in the mood for this year's trip.

[Spottedlaurel]

Lunchtime update.....

403 was rather more intact than the previous example, and the Master dropside was a configuration that I can't previously recall seeing. It looks to be RWD, but still has single wheels like the FWD van. The dropsides that are more common are the heavier Messenger/B-Series. Any thoughts @wuvvum?

Sporty-looking 8 was in the showroom/reception next to the Master.

Always on the lookout for RXs and did see a few second- and third-gen models, but original versions are rare.

Shite-friendly line-up.

Not always a given I'll see any of these. Was there some sort of internal politics at play that allowed Citroen to have a better go at the small van market with the C15?

Looked to have been for sale for a while.

Not many R8s this year. On a related note I was amazed to see a Montego on the road when we were heading back home at the end of the holiday.

Very lightweight version.

 

Saxo Bic edition! As ever negligible difference from any other low-spec Saxo.

I think this was out the front of a Suzuki or Toyota dealership.

As ever always worth looking what's lurking in the yard of a small-town garage.

Be interesting to know how well these sold when new, even now they seem to be not uncommon.

504 looked to be out-of-use, but tucked away undercover it should last for a while yet.

 

LWB J9.

This looks to be the end of the highlights from where we stayed, next update will be the journey home.

[worldofceri]

1 hour ago, Spottedlaurel said:

.

Not always a given I'll see any of these.

If a car’s still on an old-format plate, does that mean it hasn’t changed hands since before the French changed their system, or just that it hasn’t moved départment?

[Spottedlaurel]

1 hour ago, worldofceri said:

If a car’s still on an old-format plate, does that mean it hasn’t changed hands since before the French changed their system, or just that it hasn’t moved départment?

I think the latter, but in recent years I'm not sure whether that has changed. In this case '46' is from Lot, which probably was where we saw it as I think we did stray across the border from Dordogne.

[wuvvum]

I think these days when you re-register a car it's automatically issued with a new-style plate, even if it's staying within the same département.

RWD Master is a new one on me - as you say, I'd only previously seen RWD on the heavy-duty Iveco Daily-based versions.  Could be a 4x4 Dangel-style conversion I suppose.