Rassemblement de véhicules anciens au Donjon de Pons

Saturday morning in Pons by the Donjon and a Chevrolet Corvette and other old vehicles are gathered.

 On each first Saturday morning of the month there is a gathering of classic vehicles in the pretty French town of Pons, situated in the Charente Maritime department.  In December 2021, I decided to go along on a damp morning that was threatening rain.  A small but nice gathering of cars welcomed me as you can see below.  A picturesque spot to have such a meeting.

A rather nice Ford Taunus GXL from the seventies.

The gathering in Pons with the Hotel de Ville in the background.

Peugeot 404 Pininfarina.

A Citroen 2CV based Burton kit car on the left and a Renault 8 on the right.

Chevrolet Corvette.

Abarth 124 Spider with the Donjon in the background.  A rather nice, more modern, car. I think they are made by Mazda and then assembled in Turin. 

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.

Renault Fuego, Ford Taunus and Mercedes.

2ème Course de Côte VHRS du Mont-Dore / Chambon-sur-Lac, 2021

 

The winner in VHRS at Mont Dore was Jean-Paul Hugon in this BMW 325i.  Here he is early on Saturday morning.

The VHRS runners were making their second appearance at Mont Dore.  Judged by their closeness to a set time rather than outright speed, they are a welcome addition by providing yet more variety of cars.   I was there on early Saturday to see them, when the conditions were rather wet and they worsened just after lunch with more mist obscuring the view.  

Coming through the mist early on Saturday afternoon is second placed Jean-Luc Baudin in his Porsche 911S.

Coming down the hill earlier in the day we can see the mist rising behind the Renault 8 of Denis Eyriac.

The Peugeot 205 Rallye of Sébastien Ganhito driving through the treacherous conditions.

Alain Delort and his Ford Sierre.

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 final VHRS runner was this Porsche of Francis Verbigue.

2020 Course de Côte du Mont Dore - VHRS

Christophe Millet in his Alpine A110 1300S climbing the hill.  Beautiful!

For its sixtieth anniversary the Course de Côte du Mont Dore had a category for VHRS runners for the first time.  VHRS stands for Vehicules Historiques de Régularité Sportive and thus these are historic rally cars that run in regularity events.  The crowd obviously appreciated the Alpine A110 but which is your favourite?

The VHRS cars provided a nice bit of extra spectacle after the VHC runs and gave seven more drivers the chance to try this mythical five kilometre climb.

All seven VHRS cars that ran on Saturday are shown below:

The Peugeot 205 Rallye 20CM22 of Nicolas Buisson.

Didier Gheza in his Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV Bertone.

The lovely Renault 8 of Denis Eyriac.

Sébastien Mercier in his nice looking Peugeot 309 Turbo Cup.

The Peugeot 205 T16 of Aristide Mercier.

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. 

Hervé Sardenne and his Peugeot 205 Gti 1.6