Last weekend a small band of us rode down to Montlhery just outside of Paris for the Vintage Revival. In my mind the Vintage Revival is the best old vehicle event by a country mile. Absolutely nowhere else can you get so close to rare and exotic vintage cars and bikes at a historic venue and without crowds. The atmosphere is fantastic and despite the insane value of the machinery present it is purely an enthusiasts event and not a static one at that. Most vehicles present take an excursion around the circuit and many of those are driven exuberantly.
Weather this year was not ideal but we had a dry ride down on Friday and the same back on Monday even if it was a bit chilly. Saturday at the event was mildly damp but not enough to curb enthusiasm for the track sessions. Motorcyclists reported slippery conditions, a result of the concrete track, weather and total loss oiling systems...
More on the ride there and back to come in another post and plenty more pictures from the event to follow too...
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| Lovely Amilcar in the rain. |
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| Look closely! This could have been yours. Price undisclosed in the autojumble. |
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| On the face of it a fairly standard veteran pathe cycle in the autojumble. |
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| But look close and what is going on? Strange rocking crank modification or was it like that from new? Possibly a machine adapted for the war wounded? |
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| Very early folding cycle also on offer in the autojumble. |
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| Yep, it was wet. |
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| Soggy Morgan. |
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| Another wet Mog. And a very formidable looking one too. |
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| Splendid Alvis. |
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| Alcyon flat twin two stroke cyclecar. |
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| Rain did not stop play. |
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| Darmont single cylinder supercharged record racer. |
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| Close up on the Darmont. Darmont were Morgans produced under license in France. |
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| BNC car definitely has the right stuff. |
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| French made Ruby engined Sandford three wheelers mingle with the Morgans. |
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| Solitary BSA three wheeler. |
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| Indian board tracker in front of a Model T. |
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| Simca engined project. |
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| Hotchkiss record racer. |
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| Fraser Nash 'Piglet'. One of the many Fraser Nashes and GNs driven over. There were more than a dozen of them on our ferry over from Portsmouth and it made a fine sight! |
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| GN front view. |
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| GN 'Thunderbug'. |
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| Proper minimalist motoring. |
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| One of several Bedelia cyclecars at the event. Scary and fast contraptions they have an in-line v-twin engine and the driver sits behind the passenger. Everything is pared down to the minimum for weight reduction. The steering wheel is spoked like a bicycle wheel, front suspension is from a single leaf spring and steering is on a single centre pivot on the axle. The drive is through long belts. There is a belt on each side, each one a different gear, tensioning up the belt selects the gear. |
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| 1919 Cyclotracteur. |
Great photos. Some of the cars actually look proper with an umbrella in place. Single pivot front steering on a cyclecar. I'd love to try that sometime.
ReplyDeleteWould love to have a go too. They do look quite scary mind!
Deletei enjoyed too,did you find the covel?
ReplyDeleteI didn't, was it there? Would have loved to have seen it.
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