Images of Tour Auto 2002

Between April and October Europe offers a wide range of vintage car events. While the majority is mainly local, some events certainly have an international reputation like the Mille Miglia in Italy or the Goodwood Festival of Speed in GB. Another one is the Tour Auto in France in late April.

The "Tour de France Automobile" was born in 1899 and took place irregularly until the late 30’s. It went over 3000 to 4000 km, a big task considering the technique at the time. The first post-war Tour was held in 1951 and quickly it became a major event. In the following years the Tour had its regular up’s and down’s depending if organizers and/or sponsors where available or not. In 1992 Patrick Peter, supported by other enthusiasts gave the event a new live and has done so ever since. In 1998 the name had to be changed to Tour Auto due to the pressure of the Tour de France bicycle organization.

The Tour Auto always starts in Paris and ends six days later in a sea-bath either at the Mediterranean or the Atlantic. Each of the major vintage car events certainly has its own characteristics and so has the Tour: it is an interesting mixture of driving on beautiful French country roads, racing at real racecourses (4 in total) and special road stages (7 in total) on winding mountain roads.

We have been fans of the Tour for many years but 2002 was the first year we followed it from begin to end. That means as spectators, not as competitors. Being in the Tour is with some 4500 Euros not a very cheap pleasure and quite strenuous as well and so we were satisfied to be with the Tour.

We started our own tour on a cold and rainy Sunday morning in Munich by boarding our 1977 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super Nuova. The Giulia is an Italian lady and on cold and rainy Sunday mornings she can be quite capricious. First she refused to start at all, then she started but ran on three cylinders only and sounded like an old tractor. While I threatened to leave her at home and take our ugly modern Opel Astra instead, my husband Hans treated her more gently and changed the almost new sparking plugs. After that she ran smoothly and without any trouble for the next 5000 km. Whatever you think – I believe it was the threat what made her run ! Sometimes this car is almost human.

The sun came out as soon as we crossed the French border and although is was still quite cool it was an ideal weather for driving and a lot better than the permanent rain we had had the weeks before. The next day the Tour Auto started with checks and scrutinizing at the Fontaines du Trocadéro which is one of the most beautiful locations in Paris. The Trocadéro museum complex lies on a hill directly across Eiffel Tower with the impressive Fontaines du Trocadéro at its base. When the Eiffel Tower was built in 1887-1889, people filed protests because they thought the tower was so ugly and spoiled the whole city. Only a little later it had become one of the world’s major tourist attractions. Admittedly on that day we rather ignored the tower because the sight of more than 200 vintage cars was much more interesting. The carpark at the Trocadéro is a Parc Fermé but since the footpath around it lies somewhat higher spectators have an excellent view like in a theatre even if they can’t go inside. (more photos)

The competitors of the Tour Auto are mainly French and British with smaller groups of other Europeans like Swiss, Germans, Belgians, Netherlanders, Italians and so on. There were also some "exotic" teams – from the Europeen point of view – like Americans, Canadians, Argentinians, Equadorians, Japanese and Australian. Often prominent names can be found, like Ex-Formula 1 pilot Jaques Lafitte with an AC Cobra Daytona.

The cars represent a wide range of automobile history from 1951 to 1973. Ferrari, Porsche, Alfa Romeo and Ford were the most frequent marks but also Renault, Morgan, De Tomaso, AC Cobra, Aston Martin, Jaguar, MG, Lotus, Maserati, Lancia, Sunbeam, Mercedes, BMW and others could be seen.

The competitors are divided into five groups; the first three forming the Competition Class which must comply with FIA International Sporting Code and do some real racing, the others forming the Sports Class where "precision" is the keyword.

Next day we left Paris and drove south to Magny Cours, the French Formula 1 Racecourse. Surprisingly enough the whole area was wide open for visitors and no entrance fee were charged. Each group of drivers does get some training rounds, then they do the "real" thing, either racing in the Competition Class or driving a previously defined precise time in the Sports Class.

Since it was the first time I visited a racecourse of the Tour I didn’t quite know what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect so much action. Some of these cars cost an awful lot of money but in the Competition Class they raced as if this was to win a world championship. Our favourite car, a red Alfa Romeo Giulia Super from 1969 was driving in the first group and I wasn’t able to watch when she drifted around the curbs at incredible speed. My husband just laughed and enjoyed the action. Of course these drivers usually know what they are doing but still they where some minor accidents, though no injuries.

After that exciting experience we went further South to the Massif Central in order to find a good spot for the next day. The competitors of the Tour have to drive at least 12 to 14 hours each day mainly on small country roads but we took it somewhat easier and didn’t go the whole distance by using some shortcuts and the motorways if available. Tuesday morning we took position at a country road in the Auvergne south of Clermont-Ferrand, an area with a volcanic history and wonderful windy roads. We set up our picknick equipment and watched the passing vintage cars with delight while enjoying lunch. This was a little nasty, because the Tour drivers had a very late lunch this day and they had to watch us eating while they didn’t get anything. Anyway, most of them enjoyed the sight of our Giulia and waved as they passed. It takes about three to four hours from the first to the last car which means that there is about one car every minute. Although the event is during the week, many people come for watching.

When asked what they liked best at the finish in Biarritz, one team said that they had their first problem at the Circuit de Charade near Clermont-Ferrand with a defect accelerator cable; the co-driver said, his best memory of the Tour was when he lied with his head in the lap of his driver trying to hold the accelerator cable while driving through Auvergne at 40 km/h and people cheering enthusiastically at them because of their "interesting" way to drive.

While the Tour went on via Puy de Dome to Avignon in Provence, we did another shortcut and some sightseeing on the way to Perpignan, on the Northeastern rim of the Pyrenees. We had planned to meet the Tour again in Andorra, but the snow covered mountains made us change our minds. Although the roads were supposed to be free we were not so eager to drive passes of more than 2400 metres with the snow reaching down to 1500 metres. So we stayed at the northern rim of the mountains watching a special road stage instead.

Again, there were quite many people at Col de la Dona where the competitors had to drive up a windy small road. Unfortunately we had to watch a 1953 Jaguar XK 120 making contact with a rock wall after he lost control in a curve. Nothing happened to the drivers, but the Jaguar’s right front didn’t look too well with the wing badly damaged and the front axle probably bended. The British drivers accepted it calmly and with some resignation.

Friday we stayed at the rim of the Pyrenees but went further West where we found another good watching position alongside a small mountain road. Some Tour drivers were quite surprised to see our beige Giulia again. Some cars were already missing but I don’t think the loss rate was higher than in any other race of that kind.

Saturday was the last Tour day and another highlight for us. We expected the field in the morning at the Circuit de Nogaro in Armagnac, Southeast of Bordeaux. It was another exiting race with some spectacular spins on the course; fortunately all cars could be recovered from the sand undamaged. The 1969 Morgan +8 liked spinning so much he did it twice at the same place. I almost got an heart attack watching our favourite red Giulia rotating along the track and sliding backwards over the whole course – thank God no other car came along at the time. After strolling through the car park and examinating the cars close-up we left for the final stage to Biarritz to watch the finish.

Biarritz is a beautiful sea-bath on the Atlantic coast just north of the Spanish border. Before Worldwar II it has been a place where kings and celebrities met and it has some beautiful old villas and hotel buildings. Yet it is not as "en vogue" as Cannes, Nice or Monte Carlo at the Mediterranean and therefore much more peaceful. For the finish of the Tour Auto a perfect place had been chosen on a perfect warm and sunny day: the Place Sainte Eugenie is surrounded by the Cathedral and some prominent buildings and on one side open to the clear blue sea.

Since we took another shortcut from Nogaro we arrived previous to the first car of the Tour. Many people were already waiting when we drove into Place Sainte Eugenie, most of them thought that we were the first car of the Tour and so many looked completely surprised when we suddenly turned left and disappeared into the underground parking area. Hans thought it would have been fun if we had driven through the finish – nevertheless he was afraid of trying it ! Coward.

We then joined the cheerful crowd and watched the cars arrive. I was surprised to hear that most drivers liked the racecourses best, although many of them had damaged parts of their cars there. They all loved the interesting mixture of country roads, racecourses and special stages which was considered quite unique. We certainly go along with that. The winner of the tour were a Ford GT 40 in the Competion Class and a Ferrari 275 GTB in the Sports Class but I truly believe that all cars who made it to the finish after 2100 kms are winners after all.

After passing through the finish and being interviewed the cars of the Tour Auto did their very last leg along the impressing sea-front of Biarritz to the final Parc fermé in Chambre d’Amour (love chamber). The name of the location didn’t mean that the drivers were sleeping in "special etablissements" that night – Chambre d’Amour is a cave and the legend says that once a loving couple drowned here while meeting secretly. The drivers of the Tour finished that day celebrating in the Biarritz Casino and probably most of them didn’t sleep at all (or did they fall into bed right after leaving the car ?).

We also left for our final destination – a holiday apartment near Biarritz. There we relaxed the following two weeks and enjoyed the endless atlantic beaches which are almost as deserted as Ninty Mile Beach at this time of the year. Later in July and August, millions of Europeens will cuddle up here. We drove around in the Western Pyrenees and had a wonderful time until we had to return the long long way to Munich (1650 km). After 3 weeks of sunshine we didn’t enjoy much the rain we met on the way back and our last night in France, near Grenoble, was again cold and rainy. Guess what – our Giulia refused to start again after that. This time she wanted a new distributor cap (some moisture creeped inside the cap) which made her run but again she made some strange noises. We thought it might be the exhaust banging onto the bottom. Only at home we realized that the whole motor was hanging at an angle because one of the engine mounting brackets was broken. Well, we reached home alright and repairing the damage is not a great affair. After some 410.000 km things like that can happen, can they ?

For us, the Tour Auto 2002 was an unforgettable event, and it is something we certainly will do again another year. If you want more detailed information about the competitors, the cars and the route, check out www.tourauto.com. There are more photos of the just finished Tour as well.

If any of you wants to do a journey along the Tour like we did, we are glad to help you with the planning; just contact us via .