French 480 club meeting

Discussions about meetings, both organised by us and by others, can take place here. If you want to organise a meeting yourself, this is the place to start! If you want to inform everyone of a meeting no one might know, feel free to post it here too.

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dragonflyjewels
480 Is my middle name
Posts: 1584
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2010 10:38 am
Location: Norfolk

French 480 club meeting

Post by dragonflyjewels » Wed Sep 19, 2018 8:41 pm

We are just back from a 2 week holiday which we arranged around a French club meeting in the Rhone Valley. Being a lot of mileage, we only took one car and it had to be the green GT for the aircon. The interior attracted the usual attention and our French friends were impressed we had come so far - we even won a trophy for the furthest distance travelled, although it was very close between us and our Belgian friends. I wondered why the wife of one of the organisers produced her phone and wanted to see our house on google street view !

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Here is part of the lineup at one of the visits (ours is second from the left)

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The red ES next to us belongs to a French member who came over to England to buy it because it has aircon as well as a sunroof, auto gearbox, half leather interior and best of all cruise control. All for just £400 ! He has of course spent a lot on it and still more to do. He got it through the French MoT recently, just before they tightened up the rules and it won't pass next time without replacement bumper bars front and back. Their test is only once every 2 years so he has until then to try to sort it, so we've told him we'll buy it if he decides to sell.

We met a man who has recently moved from Paris to Nice, leaving his 480 in a classic car store in Paris. He came to the meet in a C70 convertable which he drove to Nice and he has yet to go back for the 480, but he kindly sent me photos

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The interesting thing about this one is that is was registered in July 1986 as a dealer demonstrator, and has chassis no. 500597 (sorry James!) It made me wonder if the French launch cars were all black.

The French meets are organised by a different member each year, in the area where they live. Next year it will be in Clermont Ferrand which is almost as far as this year's meet, but they have asked to have it advertised through other clubs. As time goes on, members drop out due to the expense of keeping the cars on the road, so the meetings tend to shrink in numbers over time. If anyone else would like to go they will be very welcome as our guests, and then if they want to join future meets they will need to join the club. The meets are for the weekend, but people can go for as much or as little as suits them. There is a charge as accomodation is organised as well as meals in restaurants and visits. There is also an annual charge to be a club member which they use to fund the purchase of dead and dying 480s which they break for spares to sell to members at very modest prices - strikes me as a cracking good idea.
Sylvia

Snazzy - 1993 Paris Blue ES red dipstick 2.0i bought 2001
Lethal Lily - 1991 White Turbo
Paris the Unicorn - 1991 Paris Edition
hubby has
Sven - 1994 Racing Green GT
Evil Eva - 1992 Paris Blue Turbo

no previous 480s - can't bear to sell any

Rachel
480 Is my middle name
Posts: 1567
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 2:21 pm
Location: Bucks

Re: French 480 club meeting

Post by Rachel » Thu Sep 20, 2018 5:16 pm

Oh awesome, and a great looking trophy! Looks like you both had a great time. Look forward to hearing more about it during the Hampshire meet! Looked to be a great line up! :hopping:
'95 Storm Grey 323 Manual Turbo, Richmod
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'95 Flame Red Celeb, Nos.191, 2 litre, LPG, used to be Adams ;) SOLD
'95 Vase Green Turbo~ Vanessa~ 'Serendipity' manual, Richmod. RIP
'90 Light Blue 480 Turbo auto....RIP
'68 VW Type 3 1.6 auto Lotus White,Swedish import. SOLD
Audi 80 coupe Gold...pimp my ride! RIP
'76 Bug, Ocean Blue, lowered, Empi wheels.RIP
'72 Bay window VW Camper 1600 twinport. Sold

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