It's not often a few of us get to go abroad anymore. Maybe it's simply too many family activities, work overtaking your life, or having a few too many projects on the go, be it the wheeled or the more static kind.
This was certainly the case for the 3 of us which went down this time to Picardy, France, where in a small town called Laon (pronounced "Lon"), there is what is allegedly the largest gathering of classic cars across Europe. This year, the number would be around 600 cars entered, with around another 70 bikes officially entered, and some not so officially!
It's essentially a road rally, along with a parade around Laon, as well as seeing alot of old cars:
But, I digress. Last time, there was a theme with the cars I took. 2018 had me taking the Merc W124 250D:
While this car fell comfortably within the Laon and 'retro' guidelines, it did cause a bit of a stir. It was jokingly called a Taxi by quite a few TVR boys, and my mate wasn't convinced by it either, mainly since because it was a diesel!
That said, it was a great car to do the trip in, and it only took 2 tanks of fuel there and back, which can't sniffed at. The result was a lighter wallet and quicker journeys ironically!
2019 had me step it up a bit!
I took my Mercedes W108 4.5. It was a lovely thing. A quintessential classic, with the ride and looks to match. It was a glorious car! It's fuel consumption was also glorious! Warwickshire to Wellesborne had us use around £65 of fuel! I recall it wasn't far off £800 for the fuel bill alone, which was what the entry and hotels cost. But who cared? With some Roxy music, and the toll roads, it was a lovely place to cruise.
This left a choice of what car I should take this year. Originally it was going to be the M3. I've never consdired this a 'retro' retro, until I owned the E91, and saw it a few times. It has aged quite well. It's gone from looking dated to retro for sure. It's also the kind of car which can hold its own, and has done over there. You could argue it blends the above two cars aspects well, but in a different way. But there were problems:
-It can be a little cramped for 3 people, but it's not too bad
-The driveshaft is poorly on the car, but it has been for 2 years
-It was still stuff full of RRW gear. Since I do what a friend calls 'Chas' luxury camping adventures, it was pretty full!
I knew I could empty it (and I did), but a friend would offer another car to go in. Some will already know what I went in. For the others, I'll say more later. But here's a taster of what it was like before:
Chimay Circuit:
A lap of Chimay in the 250D, and the rally to it:
A lap of Laon behind a 288GTO (may have been a convincing fake!):
If those two videos weren't enough, here's the W108 doing the Laon Historique, with everything wrapped up in one video:
This was certainly the case for the 3 of us which went down this time to Picardy, France, where in a small town called Laon (pronounced "Lon"), there is what is allegedly the largest gathering of classic cars across Europe. This year, the number would be around 600 cars entered, with around another 70 bikes officially entered, and some not so officially!
It's essentially a road rally, along with a parade around Laon, as well as seeing alot of old cars:
But, I digress. Last time, there was a theme with the cars I took. 2018 had me taking the Merc W124 250D:
While this car fell comfortably within the Laon and 'retro' guidelines, it did cause a bit of a stir. It was jokingly called a Taxi by quite a few TVR boys, and my mate wasn't convinced by it either, mainly since because it was a diesel!
That said, it was a great car to do the trip in, and it only took 2 tanks of fuel there and back, which can't sniffed at. The result was a lighter wallet and quicker journeys ironically!
2019 had me step it up a bit!
I took my Mercedes W108 4.5. It was a lovely thing. A quintessential classic, with the ride and looks to match. It was a glorious car! It's fuel consumption was also glorious! Warwickshire to Wellesborne had us use around £65 of fuel! I recall it wasn't far off £800 for the fuel bill alone, which was what the entry and hotels cost. But who cared? With some Roxy music, and the toll roads, it was a lovely place to cruise.
This left a choice of what car I should take this year. Originally it was going to be the M3. I've never consdired this a 'retro' retro, until I owned the E91, and saw it a few times. It has aged quite well. It's gone from looking dated to retro for sure. It's also the kind of car which can hold its own, and has done over there. You could argue it blends the above two cars aspects well, but in a different way. But there were problems:
-It can be a little cramped for 3 people, but it's not too bad
-The driveshaft is poorly on the car, but it has been for 2 years
-It was still stuff full of RRW gear. Since I do what a friend calls 'Chas' luxury camping adventures, it was pretty full!
I knew I could empty it (and I did), but a friend would offer another car to go in. Some will already know what I went in. For the others, I'll say more later. But here's a taster of what it was like before:
Chimay Circuit:
A lap of Chimay in the 250D, and the rally to it:
A lap of Laon behind a 288GTO (may have been a convincing fake!):
If those two videos weren't enough, here's the W108 doing the Laon Historique, with everything wrapped up in one video:
.
