My Tour Auto 2024 - as told by some favourite cars and pictures

 

The car that I really wanted to see on this year's Tour Auto was this 1971 Ferrari 512M of "Mr John of B" and "Sibel".  Here it is in the pretty village of Floirac.

This blogpost is my story of following the 2024 Tour Auto for 3 days and includes pictures from most places I stopped and those of my favourite cars that didn't make the previous posts as they were not amongst the top ten finishers of their group.   I love the Tour Auto because of the variety of cars from the fifties, sixties and seventies that you get to see - nearly 300 cars in total.

This post really marks the ten years anniversary of this blog as the first event I really covered here was the 2014 Tour Auto.  Click here for that first post on the Tour Auto 2014.

I started following the Tour Auto on Day 2, Wednesday in Gencay.  Here I took pictures of most of the competition cars from different locations around the town.

Not so many Porsche 904s this year.  Here is the 1965 Porsche 904/6 Carrera GTS of "Son of B" and Antoine Gibert in Gencay.

The 1972 Ligier JS2 of Arnaud Haefelin and Pascal Mulet Querner in Gencay.

A Ligier JS2 with a team of drivers that included Gerard Larrousse won the Tour de France Automobile in 1974.

The 1981 Ferrari 308 GrIV Michelotto of Yann and Martin Robin in Gencay.

After Gencay I moved on to the Pont Saint-Syvain between Bourpeuil and l'Isle Jourdain in the Vienne not far from the Circuit Val de Vienne (which I decided to give a miss).

The 1970 BMW 2002 TI of Hugo de Sadeleer and Pascal Gruber on the Pont Saint-Sylvain.

The 1954 Porsche 356 (pre-A) 1500 S Coupé of Gilles and Marielle Couraudon descending through Bourpeuil to the Pont Saint-Sylvain.

The 1971 NSU 1200 TT of Ruggero Brunori and Marco Torlasco descending through Bourpeuil.

The 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL of Pascal and Alex Silio.

The 1978 Ferrari 308 GrIV Facetti of Arnaud Gauduel and Olivier Jollin.

It was now getting late and I still had a distance to go before my night stop in Brive-la-Gaillarde in the Corrèze department which would give me a head start next morning as the Tour Auto cars stopped in Limoges.  During the evening I discovered it was near impossible on my phone to work out where the next day's special stages were and how to access the spectator zones, so I decided to stick to seeing the cars on the road.

The next day I started taking pictures in Martel in the Lot department, my first stop during a long days drive to Carcassonne.

The 1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce of Patrick Veyrat and Jean-Francois Vergeot in Martel.

After Martel I stopped a few time at various points on the road towards Floirac.

The 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 Ti Super of Uwe and Anja Koenzen.

Porsche 904/6 GTS Carrera leads 1963 Lotus Elan 26R and Porsche 906.

Floirac in the Lot department was a very pretty old town and I saw many of the Group GHI competition cars pass through.

The 1966 Porsche 911 2.0L of Pascal Duhamel and Sébastien Crubile in Floirac.

The 1978 Ferrari 308 GrIV Facetti of Arnaud Gauduel and Olivier Jollin in Floirac.

After Floirac I drove a short distance to Carennac, another beautiful old town.

The 1972 Alpine A110 1800 Group 4 of Loïc Duval and Laurent Negrel in Carrenac.

The 1973 Jidé 1600 of Johan Allagnon and Johanna Bouquillon in Carrenac.

The 1970 Alpine A110 1800 Group 4 of Thierry and Tom Rogeon entering Carennac.

The 1975 Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600 of Christian Philippon and Nelly Monteaud in Carrenac.

The 1972 Porsche 910 of "Monfortino" and Mickael Auffrey in Carrenac.

Then i was back on the road for the long drive to Carcassonne, but stopped now and again to take more pictures.  Unfortunately, along with a number of other enthusiasts I stopped at the wrong place for an hour waiting for cars that never arrived!

The 1975 Opel Commodore GSE of Philippe Truffier and Daniel Josse.

The 1972 Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600 of Olivier and Joelle Lopez.

The 1971 Ferrari 512M of "Mr John of B" and "Sibel".

In the 1971 Tour de France Automobile, a Ferrari 512M driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille finished second behind the Matra 650 of Gerard Larrousse. 

The 1963 Jaguar E-Type Roadster 3.8 leads a De Tomaso Pantera and a BMW M1.

The 1971 Porsche 914/6 of Vincent Robin and Valentin Hasse-Clot.

The 1970 Alpine A110 1800 Group 4 of Thierry and Tom Rogeon.

After a night stop in Carcassonne, it was my intention on the Friday to concentrate on the regularity cars as they passed through the Pyrenees.  As I went down to breakfast, I saw they had already started to leave, so I had to take a quicker different route before I caught up with them in Boutx.

The 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB of Timothy and Sarah Ingram Hill exiting Boutx as they descend through the Pyrenees.

The 1965 Ford Cortina GT of Alain and Nicolas Netter in Boutx.

The 1958 Porsche 356 A 1600 Speedster of Régis and Hélène Mathieu in Boutx.

After Boutx, I took a detour to the old French GP circuit at Saint-Gaudens (a future blogpost).   Then it was on to my Friday night stop in Pau, to meet my wife where I took some more pictures from a bar over a glass of wine as the regularity cars arrived.   A very enjoyable 3 days!

The 1952 Jaguar C-Type of Hans-Martin and Shirin Schneeberger in Pau.

The 1954 Fiat 8V Zagato Coupé of Nicolas D'Ieteren and Frédéric de Vuyst in Pau.

The 1962 Vauxhall VX 4/90 of François Boudin and Jean-Pascal Marie in Pau.

The 1936 Bugatti T57 S of René Caron and Dominique Rossi in Pau.

The 1970 BSH Berlinette of Philippe Champeroux and Sébastien Adam in Pau.

The BSH Berlinette was a French kit car used in competitions and one was entered in the 1970 Tour de France Automobile but retired.  I believe it used Renault mechanicals mounted on  an artisan made chassis and bodywork.

The Parc Fermé in Pau.  It is the same place that they use as the paddock for the Pau GP.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

French Targa Florio!

Tour Auto 2022, Compétition Group H-I (1972 - 1981)

The winning 1975 Ligier JS2 of Mr John of B / Le Commandeur on the EC8 Special Stage near Puisseguin.

My favourite group of cars on this year's Tour Auto was those of Groups H-I which are cars built from 1972 to 1981.   Forty one Group H-I cars started the rally and 24 of them finished.  Many different manufacturers were represented including Ferrari, Ligier, Alpine, Lancia, De Tomaso, Jidé, BMW, Ford and of course Porsche.   Seventeen of these cars are featured below in photos I took at the Circuit Val de Vienne and on a special stage at Puisseguin near Bordeaux.

The Tour Auto is a rally for cars of the type that competed in the original Tour de France Automobile between 1951 and 1981.  This year it started in Rambouillet and went down the western side of France to finish in Andorra.  It took five days and included special stages and circuit races.

1st.  Mr John of B / Le Commandeur, Ligier JS2 1975 (251)

Seen here at Val de Vienne, the Ligier JS2 dominated on the circuits and won at the Bugatti, Val de Vienne and Nogaro circuits.  With others suffering misfortunes, this was enough to ensure a win in Group H-I despite being slower than the faster GT and Touring Cars on the special stages.

Another view of the Ligier JS2.  This is a Cosworth DFV engined car such as raced at Le Mans in 1975.

2nd.  Florent JEAN / Yves JEAN, Porsche 911 SC Gr.IV 1981 (253)

One of the later cars in the event, this Porsche in seen here on EC8, one of the many stages where it was fastest.

The Jeans' Porsche at Val de Vienne where it finished third.

3rd.  Emmanuel BRIGAND / Yann ALBERT, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 1974 (262)

The Porsche on special stage EC8 near Ouisseguin.

Here the Porsche challenges the Ligier at Circuit Val de Vienne.

4th.  Grégory DRIOT / Quentin VALENTE-DELPLACE, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 1977 (Replica) (281)

A beautiful car even if a replica.

The Porsche at Val de Vienne.

5th.  Rémi GUILLOT / Matthieu IZIDI, Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 1973 (292)

Kicking up the dirt on EC8.

6th. Nicolas LEROY-FLEURIOT / Adrien AUDIBERT, BMW M1 Procar 1979 (272)

The impressive looking BMW M1 near Puisseguin on EC8.

At the circuit Val de Vienne.

7th.  Christian CHAMBORD / Stéphane BASCHIERA, Alpine A110 1800 Gr.V 1972 (260)

Difficult to imagine a Tour Auto without an Alpine Renault.

The Alpine on EC8.

8th.  Norbert FRADIN / Claire FRADIN, De Tomaso Pantera Gr. IV 1972 (265)

One of Two Panteras on the Tour Auto this year.

Here the Pantera is the meat in a sandwich between an Alpine A310 and a Ferrari Daytona.

9th.  Florent POIRIER / Sébastien VILLEROY, Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.0 1975 (Replica) (267)

Another Porsche replica.

Here the Porsche replica is chasing down the second of the Panteras.

10th.  Martin MOURIES / Yves MOURIES, Ford Escort I RS 2000 1973 (238)

The Escorts were  real challengers but this was the only one to finish in the top ten.

The Escort at Val de Vienne.

Other notable competitors:

Johan ALLAGNON / Joanna BOUQUILLON in their 1973 Jidé 1600 come over the hump but understeered off the corner and through the ditch.  They continued on and finished fourteenth.

Philippe LEFAURE / Jean CHENEBEAU in their 1973 Volkswagen 1303 S "Beetle" finished thirteenth beating all the Ferraris in the group!

First of the Ferraris, in sixteenth place was that of Yann ROBIN / Vincent ROBIN. It is a 1981 Ferrari 308 Gr.IV Michelotto.

My favourite Ferrari on the Tour Auto was this 1975 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Competizione of Alexander RITTWEGER / Sam HANCOCK.   It finished 23rd.

A real contender on the first two days was this 1975 Ford Escort I RS 1600 of Emile BREITTMAYER / Alexis THOMAS.

Seeing a 1975 Lancia Stratos Gr. IV always makes my day but this one retired on day 3.

Special mention:

The team that really challenged for the win this group but who retired on the last day were Kevin JONES / Lee JONES in their 1972 Ford Escort I RS 1600.  A fantastic performance!

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.

The Ligier leads a group at Val de Vienne on the warm-up lap.