1912 Lion-Peugeot V4C3

Lion Peugeot, Paris-Rambouillet 2016

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Lion-Peugeot, Beaulieu, France.  A family disagreement led there to being two separate automobile companies set up by members of the Peugeot family.  Lion-Peugeot was not formed until 1906 and was set up by Robert Peugeot and his brothers who owned the main non-automobile Peugeot business that made cofee grinders and other domestic and industrial equipment.  Their cousin Armand had already set up Automobiles Peugeot in 1896.  Eventually the two parts of the family were reconciled and the two firms were merged in 1910.  Smaller models retained the Lion-Peugeot name until 1916. I believe the car pictured must be a 10hp V4C3 voiturette sports model made around 1912.  It had a 1.7 litre V4 engine.

1904 Swift 7HP Single Cylinder 2 Seater.

1904 Swift, Paris-Rambouillet 2016.

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Swift Motor Company, Coventry, England.  After progressing from sewing machine and bicycles, Swift made cars from 1900 to 1931.  This 1904 model looks rather modern compared to many veteran cars,  I believe it had a De Dion 700cc engine.

1908 Renault AX 8CV voiturette

1908 Renault AX 8CV, Paris-Rambouillet 2016.

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Renault, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.   This Renault, produced from 1908 to 1913, was one of the first mass production cars designed not just for the very wealthy.  It had a two cylinder engine of just over 1 litre and had a three speed gear box.  Relatively easy to drive, its top speed was around 50 kph. It is a 2 seater voiturette with torpedo type body.  Great to see this still going well today.

1921 Rochet-Schneider Torpedo.

1921 Rochet-Scneider, Paris-Rambouillet 2016.

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Rochet-Schneider, Lyon, France.  This mark produced cars between 1894 and 1932, and after that produced just commercial vehicles.  Their early cars were Benz copies.  One of the company's subsidiaries produced Zenith carburettors.  This was a luxury marque but after the First World War really failed to keep up with the time.  For a while they had a UK company and gained some fame around 1903 with some long distance runs in Britain including London to Glasgow in 21 hours.

1985 Martini Mk44 Formula Renault Turbo

Lionel Robert, Formula Renault Turbo Martini Mk44, Charade, Historic Tour 2016

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Martini, Magny Cours, France.  Martini, founder by Tico Martini, produced racing cars from 1968 until it was sold to Ligier in 2004.  They were known mainly for their F3 and Formula Renault cars. The Mk44 was built in 1985 and was the car to have that year.  Eric Bernard won the Championnat de France Formule Renault Turbo and Lionel Robert (pictured here 31 years later) was the runner up. Both were driving the Mk 44.  Lionel drove the Ecurie Gitanes car which nowadays has had its livery doctored slightly to get away from the cigarette advertising ban.  Another famous driver who drove the Martini Mk44 was Jean Alesi.  Formula Renault Turbo existed during the nineteen eighties from 1982 to 1988 and utilised a 4 cylinder turbo engine from the Renault 18.

March 783/793 F3

Noel Delplanque, March 793, Charade, Historic Tour 2016, Classic F3 race.

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March, Bicester, England.  Along with almost every other formula, March made F3 cars from 1969 to 1981.  The March 783 and 793 models spanned the years 1978 and 1979.   In 1978 Ralt produced the dominant car.  For 1979 Chico Sera won the Vandervell British F3 Championship in a March. The 793 differed from the 783 by having some additional ground effect skirts and updated sidepods. Many famous drivers drove these models including Nigel Mansell, Teo Fabi, Tiff Needell, Michele Alboreto, Thierry Boutsen, Andrea de Cesaris, Jean-Louis Schlesser, and Stefan Johansson.  The car pictured was driven by Bret Riley who scored a number of F3 wins.  These cars raced with a number of motors but Bret Riley and Nigel Mansell's used to be powered by a Triumph Dolomite Swindon engine.  Nice to see the car in authentic livery from the time.

Van Diemen RF90 Formula Ford

Maxime Lebreton, Van Diemen RF90 Formula Ford, Charade, Historic Tour 2016.

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Van Diemen, Snetterton, England.  Founded by Ralph Firman and Ross Ambrose in 1973, Van Diemen were best known for their Formula Ford cars.  The marque was named after Van Diemen's land or Tasmania where Ambrose was born.  The RF stood for Ralph Firman.  They produced cars in volume for many of the lower formula, over 5,000 chassis being produced.    Van Diemens won the British Formula Ford Championship every year from 1980 to 1988 and again in 1990 and 1991.  The RF90 was the Formula Ford car for the 1990 season when Frenchman Michael Vergers won the British Championship in one of these cars.  In 1990 FF cars had the Ford Kent 1600cc engine.

1907 Le Metais

A very rare Le Metais, Paris-Rambouillet 2016.

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Les Automobiles Le Metais, Levallois-Perret, France.  Not much is known of this French marque, founded by Loius Le Metais,  that existed from about 1904 to1910.  I believe at least the early vehicles had De Dion Bouton engines.  Some cars were used in Voiturette racing in races such as in the 1908 GP de Voiturettes in Dieppe.

1913 Delaunay Belleville H.C.4

Delaunay Belleville H.C.4,  Paris-Rambouillet, 2016

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Delaunay Belleville, Saint Denis, France.  This car marque was founded in 1903 and quickly became one of the most prestigious manufacturers in France.  A number of foreign royal families purchased their cars prior to the First World War. As with all luxury manufacturers of the time, they provided the chassis and engine to a coach builder.  The body above in the picture is by Rothschild.  The image faded in the thirties and the marque disappeared in the late forties.  The car pictured above has a 4 cylinder 4.4 litre engine and has only recently been restored and put on the road again I believe.

De Dion Bouton 8CV

De Dion Bouton during the 2016 Paris-Rambouillet run for over 100 year old cars.

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De Dion Bouton, Paris, France.  Jules-Albert De Dion and Georges Bouton were early pioneers of the motor car industry who combined together to make the De Dion Bouton marque.  They produced cars from 883 to 1932. The car pictured is an early 20th century car.  In 1899 one of the worlds first motor races was held between Paris and Rambouillet.  An event is held for over 100 year old vehicules to celebrate this event.  This year this De Dion Bouton was taking part.

Gillet Vertigo

Eric Gillet, Gillet Vertigo, Charade, Historic Tour 2016.

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Gillet, Belgium.  The company was formed by Tony Gillet a successful Belgian racing driver.  Since 1991 Gillet have produced hand built sports cars in Belgium.  Famous owners include ex-F1 driver Philippe Streiff, Price Albert of Monaco and Johnny Hallyday.  The car pictured is powered by a 3 litre Alfa Romeo V6 engine, tuned by Ellegi Motori, and is raced in the French Classic GT championship by Eric Gillet.  They have also raced in Spa endurance races without big success.

Maxwell

Maxwell seen outside the Chateau of Rambouillet, 2016

More pictures old 100 year old cars at Rambouillet coming soon on Rouenlesafx.blogspot.fr.

Maxwell,-Briscoe Indiana,  USA.  This American marque was named after its founders.  US comedian Jack Benny was a famous owner of one of their cars, similar to the one pictured.  Early cars were produced in Tarrytown, New York and New Castle, Indiana.   They were one of the big 3 USA manufacturers for a while but overextended themselves with debt and were taken over by Chrysler.

1973 CESCA 740 Cosworth BDG

Franck Metzger, CESCA 740-Cosworth BDG, Charade, Historic Tour 2016, Sports Proto Cup.

CESCA, France.  I believe this car was based on a Grac MT14S, but modified by Claude Swietlick in 1973 who also added the body of a March 73S.  It has a 2 litre Cosworth BDG engine.   This car is now very competitive in French historic sports protos cup  racing.  In the seventies it was raced by Michel Pignard amongst others.

ARC MF16

Alfa Romeo Engined ARC MF16 at Charade 2016.

ARC Industrie, Aquitaine, France.  ARC stood for Atelier Recherche Creation.  From 1977 to 1989 they made 86 racing cars and were successful in winning the French Sports Prototype Championship 12 consecutive times between 1978 and 1989.  The MF16 was the car used in 1988 and 1989 and was powered by a 1,500cc Alfa Romeo engine.  Didier Blanc won the 1988 championship in one and Michel Debernard won the 1989 championship in one.

Ralt RT3 - Alfa Romeo F3

Bernard Honnorat, Ralt RT3-Alfa Romeo, Charade, Historic Tour 2016

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Ralt,  , England.  Ralt was founded by Ron Tauranac after he sold his interest in Braham.  The name comes from his initials and that of his brother Austin Lewis Tauranac.  The RT3 F3 car was developed from the RT2 F2 car and first appeared late in 1979 driven by Elio Salazar.  it was a very successful F3 car and had a very stiff aluminium chassis and honeycomb bulkhead and incorporated ground effects.   Stephan Johannson clinched the 1980 F3 championship by winning the last three rounds in a Ralt RT3 using a Toyota engine.  The Ralt also clinched the German F3 championship driven by Frank Jelinski.  In 1981 Jonathan Palmer won the British F3 championship in a RT3-Toyota and in 1982 Tommy Byrne repeated this feat.  By this time most of the grid was drtiving Ralts.  1983 was a classic F3 season and Ayrton Senna won from Martin Brundle, both in Ralt RT3s.  Johnny Dumfries won in 1984.  Most of this British success was with Toyota motors.  Elsewhere in Europe they were also raced with Alfa Romeo and VW engines.  Pierluigi Martini won the 1983 European Championship with an Alfa Romeo powering his RT3.

Lotus Seven

Emmanuel Garci Imaz, Lotus Seven, Charade, Historic Tour 2016.

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Lotus, Hornsey and Hethel, England.  The Seven was the replacement for the Lotus Mk 6 and became the most successful Lotus model with over 2,500 sold..  It was produced by Lotus from 1957 to 1973 when Caterham took over production after buying the rights to the design.  It originally had an all aluminium body, gradually fibreglass sections were developed for it and eventually it had an all fibre glass body. Very simple car but affordable, lightweight and effective.  Engine range from just under 1,000cc to 1,700cc and were often Fords (such as the Kent) but sometimes BMC or Coventry Climax. Chassis were made at Arch Motors in Huntingdon.  Most Sevens had excellent 0-60mph acceleration but relatively low top speed.  They were extensively raced at home and abroad.

TracKing RC01

Vincent Bertheuil, TracKing RC01, Course de Cote de Sancerre 2016

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Bourgeon Concept, Saint Benigne, France.  This company was founded by Dan Bourgeon.  These cars are regulars on the hills of France for the past three years.  They compete in the motor cycle engined Proto CM class but look like DTM cars. Engines are 1,000cc.

2015 Oreca 05-Nissan

Bradley, Howson and Lapierre, Oreca 05-Nissan, Le Mans 24 hours 2015

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Oreca, Magny Cours, France.  Oreca is a manufacturer of racing cars since 2008 and specialises in the LM P2 class.  The 05 first run in 2015 but quickly scored its first class win at Imola in May and then in June finished 9th overall and won the LM P2 class at Le Mans.  Following that it continued the year with class wins at Nurburgring and Estoril.  In 2016 it has had class wins at Spa, Imola, Red Bull ring, Le Mans and the Nurburgring.  Various teams use this car including KCMG (pictured), Thiriet and Signatech Alpine.  The body is fully enclosed and made of Kevlar and slightly narrower than most LM P2 cars.  The one pictured has a 4.5 litre Nissan V8 engine producing nearly 450hp..

2015 Gibson 015S-Nissan LMP2

Dolan/Evans/Turvey, Gibson 015S-Nissan, Le Mans 24hrs 2015.

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Gibson Technology, Lichfield, England.  Originally known as Zytek Engineering, the company was rebranded in early 2015 as Gibson Technology when purchased by a German group. Gibson is mnamed after Bill Gibson, Zytek's founder.  They updated the formed Zytek  Z11SN LMP2 car into the Gison 015S.  The Jota Sport entered car (pictured above) finished second in the LMP2 class in 2015 on the same lap as the winner.  The designer of the car was Tim Holloway.  The car above has the Nissan 4.5 litre V8 engine.

Ligier JS P2 - Nissan LM P2

Bird, Canal, Rusinov, Ligier JS P2-Nissan, Le Mans 24 hours 2015

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Onroak Automotive, Le Mans, France.   Designed and built by Onroak the name is in partnership with Guy Ligier. It is the first fully enclosed LM P2 vehicle they have built.  Its first race was the 2014 Le Mans.  In the 2015 Le Mans they finished third in class with the G-Drive entered car and on the same lap as the winner.   

Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE

Nygaard, Sorensen & Thim's Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE, Le Mans 24 hrs 2016.

Aston Martin, Banbury, England.   The road version of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage is at the core of this GTE race car.  The aluminium chassis and core of the engine are the same.  However, the race car is lighter through the use of  carbon fibre body panels and because a lot of the interior is stripped out.  There is a big rear wing at the back and the 4.5 litre V8 engine is repositioned and tuned.  In 2014 The all Danish crew won the GTE Am class at Le Mans and finished an excellent 19th overall.  Aston Martin nearly repeated this in 2015 but crashed out in the last hour.

BMW 320 ST

Ligier JS47

Lotus Elise

Gloria RS

Mickael France, Gloria RS, Course de Cote de Sancerre 2016.

Honda Civic

Bernard Sautereau, Group N Honda Civic, Course de Cote de Sancerre 2016.

Citroen Saxo

Didier Lhomme, Citroen Saxo, Course de Cote de Sancerre 2016.

2008 Riley Porsche Grand Am Daytona Prototype

2008 Riley Porsche Dayton, Laguna Seca 2015, Porsche Rennsport Reunion V.

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Riley Technologies, Mooresville, NC, USA.  Riley produced Daytona Prototype class cars for the Rolex Grand Am series.  Some such as this one were powered by Porsche engines. The sponsor, Ruby Tuesday, is an American restaurant group.  More to come....

1953 Porsche 550 Coupé

1953 Porsche 550 Coupé, Laguna Seca 2015, Porsche Rennsport Reunion V.

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Porsche, Stuttgart, Germany.  The car picture above was the very first Porsche 550 and was a pure racing prototype rather than a modified road car.  It had a 1.5 litre flat 4 engine and was capable of over 120 mph at circuits like Le Mans.  The car was initially an open roadster and won its class at the 1953 Nurburgring 1000kms.  After this it was converted to a coupé and finished second in class at Le Mans to its sister car.  In the colours it is pictured here it competed in the Carrera Pamericana but did not finish.  it finished the season by winning its class in the Buenos Aires 1000kms.  Beautiful, stunning car!   Drivers of this particular car included Hans Herrmann, Helm Glockler and Jaroslav Juhan.

2014 Porsche 918 Spyder

Porsche 918 Spyder, Porsche Rennsport Reunion, Laguna Seca 2015

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Porsche, Stuttgart, Germany.  The Porsche 918 is a hyper car of which just 918 examples will be built.   A mid-engined two seater with electrical hybrid technology linked to a 4.6 litre V8 engine, it has a top speed of over 200mph and a 0-60mph time of under 3 seconds plus handling to match. There is one electric motor on each axle as the 918 is 4 wheel drive.  It can lap the 14 mile old Nurburgring circuit in under 7 minutes.  The one above copies the 1970 psychedelic hippy livery of one the Martini 917s.