French 480 club meeting
Posted: 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 !
Here is part of the lineup at one of the visits (ours is second from the left)
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
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.
Here is part of the lineup at one of the visits (ours is second from the left)
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
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.
