“La vie en Bleu”,

a celebration of the French automobile, was held on the 24 & 25th May at Prescott Hill Climb near Cheltenham.

It was Organised by the Bugatti Owners Club, whose aim was to showcase the largest group of Classic and Vintage French cars ever gathered together at one event.

The Bugatti comes in several sizes –

Big,

Medium,

and this is the small version for those on a tight budget

The Citroen area was shared between The Citroen Car Club, The Traction Owners Club and 2CVGB with the hospitality unit being kindly loaned by Citroen UK for the weekend ………………… Nice!

The stand had a thoroughly varied range of cars displayed.  It was very popular with visitors, probably due to Its prominent position - facing the track.  It also meant that we could watch the action on the track from the comfort of the Hospitality Suite which was extremely …………….. Hospitable – Thank you Citroen UK!!

Here the cavalcade assembles for the assault on the hill. The traditional racing blue of the Bugatti being suitably contrasted by the now legendary red, green, yellow with purple handprints and stripy roof of the 2CV.

No 61, the shiny red vehicle, can be seen with lights on- a shameless attempt to attract attention to the chemically enhanced deep glaze of the bodywork.

One of the highlights on Sunday was the cavalcade of French “voitures” taking to the hill climb for a dignified and sedate ascent.

There were several 2CV’s, including John Sobeys AK400 van “Hugo”. John did later admit that without the SATNAV he very nearly lost his way, despite losing it on the hairpin and going off the track onto the gravel. Thankfully, he made it down in one piece.  Much to our chagrin, the track record remains safe for another year.

The event kicked off on Friday when a small contingent of the faithful assembled in a field, which was opposite the Hill climb venue for the purposes of camping…unsurprisingly, it rained.

Saturday dawned much brighter. With the arrival of the Hospitality Unit, the site gradually reached (and perhaps even surpassed) capacity by Citroen cars, which arrived from all points of the compass.

We had visits from many well known luminaries of the 2CV firmament, but alas no new members appeared. (They must have forgotten their chequebooks). Leaflets for the National at Duncombe Park were handed out with gay abandon.

On Sunday the rain persisted, but the elements didn’t stop the fun and sense of occasion, indeed, the heady mixture of octane fuelled machismo was quite intoxicating, what with the competition proper beginning in earnest.  A whole manner of cars, from classic Bugatti Type 52s (of which there seem to be an awful lot), to Lotus Cortinas had a bash at getting up the hill as quickly as is possible. What fuel crisis?.

The Veyron also returned, and continued to lay down considerable amounts of the very best rubber on the track.
It was calculated that the cost of said rubber could equate to the purchase of quite a respectable low mileage Deuche off eBay…oh, how we laughed! It continued to rain; the cars continued to rust quietly.

The 4x4 in the capable hands of Mark Lewis descends the Hill after completing the climb followed by a sublime SM at a respectful distance

A vintage Amilcar, which would later prove to have a life of its own

A study in poise sophistication and cutting edge engineering – together with a Veyron in foreground
(Irony Alert)

It is probable that many 2CVers were put off and perhaps even intimated by the perceived poshness of the event.  But, any feelings of inadequacy would have evaporated after seeing some of the fine examples on display. Though the

Though it is yet unclear what the cult status of the Renault Megane may turn out to be, time will surely tell that the first French car that comes to mind is the ‘upturned pram’ that we all know and love.  No, the 2CV presence is more than justified at such an event.

Some other snippets: Nick Mason, Pink Floyd’s drummer, was there along with his Bugatti. Rumour has it that he gave an encouraging wave and thumbs up to our Mr Robson who is now claiming endorsement from a major rock ensemble on his paint job.

It was nice to see the Amilcar (featured above) roll forward on its own when the handbrake failed, coming into contact with a brand new Peugeot – the starting handle made a right old mess of the drivers door. Good to see that this sort of every day disaster can also happen to old school “Fangios” – SODS law indeed

Many thanks must go to the Bugatti Owners Club for inviting us. Maybe one day when 2CVGB has purchased its very own hill climb venue, we can return the favour -tickets from £12 in advance.
LJK Startrite

The highlight of the event for some, and probably the main draw for many, was the presence of  the Bugatti Veyron. Well, okay, five Veyrons - all on public display (under the watchful eye of bouncers in hi-viz jackets), and later put through their paces on the hill.

Considering that each car costs a million Euros (that’s £880,000 to us), the insurance bill for the weekend probably equated to something approaching the GDP of Equador.

A few lucky “sods” had the chance to ride as passengers in the works Veyron as it was put to
“Running up that hill” (Credited to K Bush).

It has to be said that in action the Veyron is absolutely awesome. It’s no exaggeration to say that the earth moved for some when it took off from the line, then it would with 1000bhp behind the seats AND four wheel drive.

Mr Clarkson was probably correct when he said that the Veyron represents the absolute pinnacle of automotive design, indeed, of human engineering endeavour per se. It can be placed alongside Concorde, the Space Shuttle and the Angel of the North. If you should see a Veyron, be sure to make the most of it, for it is very probably the best car that exists or ever will exist. Etoire Bugatti would be proud and NO mistake. You may well prefer a 2CV, what with petrol costing £6 a gallon. Each to his own!