Spotted's Spottings (2023 final holiday updates 08/10/23)

[Schaefft]

Woah, a Cosmo! That must be part of the collection, registered in the UK in 1992 yet no mot in the registry at all! It's taxed though.🤔 Also this might even be a 20b triple rotor!

Also nice Safrane.

[Spottedlaurel]

Onwards with day 4, meandering up through the Alsace area. Didn't cover so many miles this day, but still saw a lot.....

Working Land Cruiser.

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.

Swiss visitors.

Stopping for this SuperCinq developed rather nicely. If I hadn't have done, I wouldn't have looked up a sidestreet and seen.....

This Pony (not Accent), and then....

This handsome 7-Series. In turn, that netted me....

This Honda. I believe it's a diesel Concerto, seems like they just rebadged the 200 as the 'proper' Concerto was only available as petrol.

German Citroen enthusiasts had strayed across the border. We were within sight of Germany at this point in the journey, but didn't visit.

Smart Belgian Karman Ghia.

Representative 75. Saw a handful.

Rather charmingly beige 11.

The plate suggests this Logo hadn't come from that far away in Germany.

Part 2 of this day to follow....

[Spottedlaurel]

Continuing onwards. At this point we had the odd experience of visiting a Christmas shop in August.....

Insanely angular Sunny coupe, possibly my favourite find of the holiday. Badged GTi rather than ZX as we got, and looking immaculate.

Made a change from the C15Ds.

A bit of a beast.

Didn't see so many pre-facelift 309s. Slightly dented, but rather less than what I did to my 309 32 years ago.

Passing 205, and the 309.

I don't know what was going on here.

More Belgians.

@Cavcraft's dream holiday.

I did well on Patrols this year.

Nice street scene, Ford 3055 which looked to be of 1970s vintage still at work hauling bottles for a small Alsace wine producer.

[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.