La Vie en Blue - a few pictures

[carlo]

Had such a good time last year I had to go again. Weather not quite as good but the rain just about held off, and amazingly there were no queues at all to get in this time. A really nice, laid back festival of French cars and racers even if there wasn't much that different stuff from last year.

 

 

Not much in our car park. This was nice, tried out my fill in flash technique but not quite up to 'thedoctor' standard I'm afraid.

 

 

A hot topic on the 1948 Autoshite forum.

 

 

Didn't sound like a 2CV to me

 

 

Nice

 

 

Don't think I've seen a Murena in the flesh. Pretty car.

 

 

405!!

 

 

Autoshite exotica

 

 

This was so gorgeous it deserves two pictures. Stunning condition, wonderful colour. Just love these.

 

 

 

The guy who had this twin pot Visa said there were no 1100cc ones left in the country and only 3 of these, find that hard to believe? Another great colour on this car.

 

 

Very friendly crowd on the Citroen stand

 

 

Presume this is dieselnutjob's? Was no-one around on both occasions I went past so sorry I missed you all.

 

 

604 + A/C + Cruise + velour trim = WANT!

 

 

Great look

 

 

Was very pleased to see my favourite can-can girl was there, from last year.

 

 

Must have been chilly driving this up.

 

 

Was struck by how tatty the leather trim was looking on both of these. Very striking though.

 

 

These two were a right hoot.

 

 

When you're bored of photographing cars, you can always photograph the girls instead.

 

Here's to 2012.

[Mr Lobster]

Never saw the GRRLZ. Damn them are hot.

 

Nobody got cold driving the Plein Air, it arrived in a transporter direct from the Renault Heritage place along with their Clio Williams, R5 TX, Megane RS, Clio V6 and something else at about 7am yesterday morning. Anyway, MOAR pictures -

 

Mrs L got quite excited by this. F/S for £1395 she now reckons we need to get a Rancho.

 

R5 TX by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Caravan by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

Capsuleboy of this parish brought his Avantime and caravan which is stuffed full of WIN!

 

Citroen GSA van by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Clio Williams by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Renault 16 by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Simca 1100 by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Simca 1100 as spotted t'other week by Bo11ox

 

Flames! by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Old by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

More L8R

[Pete-M]

That's DNJ's 604, definately.

 

It's a damn cool thing, that. Just seeing it mooching around the NEC car park in the dark, fog, and rain reminded me of so many '70s Euro films I couldn't help but want one. If I had Phil's one I'd just have to get a dodgy beige overcoat and trilby combo.

 

Top pics dude.

[boobydoo]

Great pics!

Did you get an interior shot of the Visa at all? I'd have loved to have seen that.

 

Lancia alloys on the Simca don't appeal at all....and are those Rover wheeltrims on the Rancho? Why would you do that?

[Alexg]

 

Is that not the XR2 engined on that was on ebay?????

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That looks like pretty much my ideal car do - lots of oddball motors, plenty of greenery, some dancing girls, looks like a pretty classy do all round in fact. Great stuff!!!! That rancho is the one off the bay with the XR2 engine and clocks (both installed at a funny angle) if i'm not mistaken

[Mr Lobster]

Yes, it is the XR2 engined one. Bonnet bulge and Rover wheeltrims do it no favours.

[dollywobbler]

That 'flame job' camper came in towing a Bugatti on a trailer. Apparently the bloke paid £4000 for it on American Ebay! Hence the California plates. Sounded great.

 

The Plein Air Renner did go up the hill, and DID look pretty cold. Brrrr. Good old British Summer Time.

[504GL]

 

Is that not the XR2 engined on that was on ebay?????

 

Why the hell do people put wheel covers on from another marque? It's a pet peeve of mine, went to a classic car show today and there was a Minx with 406 wheel trims with the lion covered up by a sticker. Looked stupid. 60's car with 90's wheel trims on it *shakes head*

 

There's no shame in having plain steelies.

[dollywobbler]

Great pics!

Did you get an interior shot of the Visa at all? I'd have loved to have seen that.

 

Just for you, Boobydoo.

 

[scruff]

Great pictures chaps, looks a top day out/weekend away

[brammy777]

Wow, some excellent shots here chaps, that looks like an amazing show! I am a bit miffed about the fact there doesn't to be any good ones going on near me for a while now. That Rancho is excellent, I actually had a dream last night with one in, although it weirdly had a Honda Civic MKI front end on it....

[Mr Lobster]

Few more -

 

Peugeot 604 by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Renault 5 Gordini Turbo by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Citroen ID by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Citroen 350N Pompiers by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Citroen H by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Simca by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Peugeot 104 by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

 

Renault 4 Clan by Mr Lobster, on Flickr

[michiel]

Jolies photos mes amis! That GS Break makes me want to go back to the late 70s and my parents' GS, 02-UP-34...

[dieselnutjob]

some of my pics

 

I had a beautiful run throught some backlanes on the way

 

A 1.9 XUD diesel

 

mated to a Scoda Estelle transmission

 

in a Traction Avant

 

I think that the owner said that the guy who built it has died? Can't remember.

 

about 1/4 of the road legal 604s currently in the UK

 

A van still working for a living

 

Capsuleboys rig

I looked inside the caravan and it is a lot lighter and more pleasant than modern caravans in many ways

 

Old Landrover on recovery duty

I got a pic of the fire engine too but Mr Lobser beat me to it

 

Mr Lobster hard at work

He has a high class of customer as you can see

 

Two Matra Ranchos in one shot.

The one for sale with the XR2 engine and the bonnet bulge does seem in good condition and has seven seats. It it had a 1.8 turbo diesel instead...

I had a long chat with the owner of the blue Simca. His has a 5 speed 309 transmission in it and it does make me wonder if a Pug engine would have gone in better than a ford. The engine bay is narrow on these though as they have double wishbone front suspension and not much room between the inner wings.

 

View from the top of the hill

No idea what the motor is

 

A35, modied I think

 

Very spectularly driven Fiesta. No idea what's under the bonnet but it seemed very, very quick

 

Very old Pug

 

Renault

 

I spent ages talking to Alpine owners. These guys seemed quite committed.

I wanted PRV info

 

This Alpine engine looks identical to my 604, even including the mad big/small Solex setup, though he said its a 2.8 whereas mine is a 2.7. They get about 30bhp more though. The exhaust looked a lot more free flowing than mine though.

 

I looked for the other guys but couldn't find them.

[AeroNautiCal]

Lovely stuff (especially that yellow Visa) and when I saw this, I thought of the Stratos.

 

[carlo]

Whose was the French registered 604, dieselnutjob? Great spec on it.

[dieselnutjob]

Whose was the French registered 604, dieselnutjob? Great spec on it.

 

No. Mine was the other one.

[trigger]

What a good show!, There's some really great stuff in those photos, This Simca has changed a bit since i last saw a photo of it!.

 

[Alpineandy]

Mr Dieselnutjob,

The GTA engine is basically the same but a newer version where almost nothing is transferable.

My A310 engine or the Delorean/volvo engine is similar to your pug motor.

If you really want to know about the different PRV engines the give martin at http://www.delorean.co.uk a call.

He's had deloreans, alpines and even a venturi.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Back in the day I sold a few PRV engines to that guy, he's mega sound

[dieselnutjob]

I just wondered what oil they use and what they do to stop the dreaded rocker arm wear

[Pete-M]

I wonder if he knows anywhere I can get pcd adaptors or a funky set of alloys....

[dieselnutjob]

for the 604?

I have some 15" ones in the garage

[Pete-M]

Mine's already got the 15" STi / 505 Turbo rims on. I just like the idea of some funky Gotti or BBS rims on it.

 

It has already blown its budget quite significantly so getting some funky rimz may just be the finishing touch. Gonna try and get a leather trim on the run back with the Escort. It's getting ridiculous this bloody thing.

 

Oh, and how the hell are you meant to get to the dizzy cap on an injection one?

[dieselnutjob]

no idea. mine has carbs

[Alpineandy]

I just wondered what oil they use and what they do to stop the dreaded rocker arm wear

 

Ask him, but as far as I'm aware in europe the rocker/cam stories are just stories.

I gather there was a batch of weak metal used in some early volvo engines that went state-side and the americans expect their motors to run 100k between services, but this seems to be blown out of all proportion.

 

Oil wise, they're 1970s designed motor that has 70 tolerances with a few more miles on them, I'd stick with 20/50. Certainly not thinner.