For those interested, this took place from 7-10 August in the town of
Romorantin-Lonthenay, south of Blois/Orlians, about 150 kms south of
Paris. It was organised by the Sunbeam Club of Germany (Lothar Ditter),
and attracted close to 75 cars from Spain, France, UK, Holland, Belgium,
Germany and Switzerland. I counted 54 Alpines/Tigers and a variety of
other Sunbeams and Rootes cars.
It took the best part of seven hours (with many water stops - for us not
the car) to get there on Thursday. The programme included a photo
"treasure hunt" on the Friday, where each crew was given an album
containing half a dozen photos, with three or four spaces between each,
and about 20 other photos. The idea was to slot in the missing photos
in the right order as you drove around. It took us an hour or so before
we got the idea, but the bottom line was that there was no need to look
for the subjects while driving along, only when stopped in specific
locations. There were also three extra photos to make it more
difficult. In any case, it was good fun. The "treasure hunt" finished
with a picnic at a rather impressive chateau (this part of France is
littered with them), where all the cars were lined up for photo
opportunities.
Saturday was a walking tour of the town with another picnic, this time
at the Matra museum - Matra being associated with the Rootes name
through - if I'm not wrong - the Chrysler/Simca connection. Some very
interesting vehicles and design studies, for racing, sports and town
cars.
Another seven hour journey back to Geneva on Sunday after a most
enjoyable long weekend.
Tigers were present from Switzerland (about four), Germany (three, I
think), and Holland (at least one). I may have missed one or two, but
there were none from the UK - I believe that for them, this event
clashed with another one. There were also Tiger visitors from Irvine,
California - Rick and Bonnie Mueller - who may provide a more
comprehensive report to the US clubs on their return.
Despite temperatures pushing 40c (that's 104 in foreign degrees), there
were few reports of overheating amongst the cars. The crews, however,
were constantly replacing lost fluids ...
Colin Mills
B9473407
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