Fashion, book, movie and music addicts!: Cars! Cars! Cars!

lundi 9 février 2009

Cars! Cars! Cars!

A few months ago, we visited the Le Mondial d’Automobile and were a bit surprised by the absence of any vintage cars. It turns out that vintage cars they have their very own Salon. The Retro Mobile currently running at the Porte de Versailles until the 15th of Feb is the most important gathering in France of vintage car enthusiasts. This year marks its 34th edition. There are over 300 participants in this trade fair and while vintage cars are the stars of the show, there are as well a good number of motorcycles and trucks for those interested. As with the first car trade show we visited, the Retro Mobile is packed (a lesser degree in numbers but definitely not in enthusiasm) with avid collectors and others like us who came to admire the beauties on display. And they were very many.
Looking around the hall, it is easy to see why these cars are the object of so much affection. They are beautiful, wearing their age gracefully thanks to all the loving work that has gone into them. It is clear that much care has been lavished on them. One sees this readily with the lovingly buffed wood exteriors of the Benz roadsters whose leather seats smell and feel as good as they probably did when they first came out. I don’t know much about the different models but what struck me was the immense size of these cars. I thought I was used to American sized SUVs but these dames of the road can more than hold their own. The Rolls Royce Phantom 1 was certainly as tall as if not bigger than me. That said, there were a number of pretty little convertibles that I could easily see myself driving in.
What was very nice to observe was the way everyone in the hall was united in their interest in and affection for these old cars, in a way that was different from what we saw in the Mondial D’Automobile You could see it in the animated discussions that the people were into about the relative merits of one roadster over another or the best method for restoring leather seats and wood paneling. Who knew there could be so many different ways? I suppose one comes to the Retro Mobile not so much to gawk over the latest gadget filled car but to participate in the reverie that these beautiful relics elicit.

The Peugeot convertible