Vintage Revival at the Montlhéry Autodrome: 11th and 12th May 2024

Michael Henderson recommended a visit at the end of his descriptive article in the Newssheet (Summer 2022). 

So last autumn the Motley Crew made a plan for three Ulsters and one Chummy to go to the 100th Anniversary at Montlhéry. 

The Motley Crew being Hugh Kerr, Paul McCulla, Perry McCoy, Tanya Johnston, Marion Erskine, Francie McNally, Mark Kennedy and yours truly.

Several club members had been before and Rex McCandless had demonstrated the merits of the “featherbed” frame to the Norton Motorcycle Company there with Artie Bell on board. 

When we started to investigate accommodation costs, it was decided to make it into a motoring holiday.  Hugh mapped out a route from Google maps, keeping as far as possible from busy modern traffic.  Next was to find a place to park tow cars and trailers, close to the departure port of Rosslare. 

Lo and behold, another chummy owner, Peter Miller, just 12 km up the road from Rosslare, offered his services in this respect and what gems Peter and his wife Hazel turned out to be.  Both very hospitable and Peter was keen to show us his motoring collection including motorbikes, an Austin 7 and some Topolinos.  The Beast of Turin and a red Fiat!.

After a smooth overnight crossing, we landed at Cherbourg mid-afternoon in wall-to-wall sunshine and made our way to the first night’s accommodation just outside St-Lô.  We had decided to break up the journey to Montlhéry, and by Day Three had arrived at Claude’s establishment near Dourdan, and only 30 km from the autodrome at Montlhéry  (all excellent chambres d’hôtes en route).

We had prepaid admission tickets for Saturday and Sunday on the internet and those without an iPhone (or other smart phone) were issued with a printed barcode.

Francie and I had run into trouble with the transmission train in the Chummy due to a coupling slowly disintegrating which set up a vibration. So, we phoned Paul Armstrong in Belfast and he put two couplings on a DHL courier.   

Consequently, we were reluctant to drive the chummy, so Francie and I travelled to Montlhéry by taxi, but sod’s law intervened and we got caught in an horrendous traffic jam on the main road due to a three-car pile-up, proving it was better to travel by Austin 7 on side roads. 

By the time we reached the autodrome, Marion had been scrutinising the autojumble and had picked up a second hand coupling with pitch circle diameter (PCD) only slightly adrift and by luck, Hugh was carrying a round file.  So many hands armed with Hugh’s file set to elongating six holes on the recently acquired coupling.   

For Sunday’s festivities at Montlhéry, the three Ulsters were in the paddock which was very exclusive.

We were parked not far from the “Beast of Turin” (the 28 ½ litre Fiat monster with only rear wheel brakes), along with other Edwardian racers, all of which had been driven off the ferry from the south of England, terrorising the by-roads of France. But the French spectators at Montlhéry loved the whole atmosphere with flames shooting out of the exhaust stubs and a great thundering roar that made the ground shake when first started. 

There was also a plethora of MG C Type Midgets at the 100th anniversary as they adopted the name ‘Montlhéry’ in their model type after they set new speed rethcords at the French autodrome as Rileys had already captured the name ‘Brooklands’ and Austins had ‘Ulster’, later to be copied by other car manufacturers. 

Also present was the record breaking Napier Railton from the Brooklands Museum, tearing round the banked circuit and reliving the glory days of the 1930s.

We left Claude’s establishment the next morning bound for Depanautos, a French auto-barn full of all sorts of motoring treasures.  They had a variety of couplings but none to suit Austin 7 gear box drives so we decided on an alternative plan.  We would leave the Chummy here (as the replacement coupling was already starting to de-laminate) while the Ulsters proceeded to the following two nights’ accommodation at Le Mans, the Chummy pair travelling there by taxi.

Thankfully, our brand new couplings were delivered with speed from Belfast to Le Mans, and our roving mechanics, Perry and Paul were dispatched by taxi to fit the new coupling and then catch up in the repaired Chummy with the rest of the Ulsters on a pre-determined route. They did this by lunch time, meeting us at a French truckers café, with an all-you-can-eat  buffet for 14 euro.

Now we were back to the gang of three Ulsters and a Chummy and bound for St Malo, a place full of tourists and narrow cobblestone streets, made for Austin 7 motoring, and parking was no problem as three Ulsters fitted into one modern parking space. 

Next day was a trip to Mont St Michel.  By this stage Hugh’s spare clothing bag was empty.  He managed negotiations with the receptionist and was pleased to find his laundry all washed, ironed and buttoned up upon his return – all for 15 euro. 

Oh, I nearly forgot to mention, after our final day at Montlhéry we had a very unusual diversion with a visit to the world famous Moulin Rouge in Paris, where the show was a bit of an eye opener in more ways than the obvious one. 

Hugh and Marion managed a quick boogie on the dance floor before the main show started. So Hugh can now officially say he has been a ‘dancer at the Moulin Rouge’. 

Our final night’s accommodation was at a lovely old world castle/hotel in a town called Bricquebec with an entrance through an archway just an inch wider than an Austin 7, which had been occupied by the Americans during D- Day. 

After a visit to the local street market the next morning, we had a short journey of 25 km to Cherbourg for our return crossing home.   

On the Wexford side, four miles from our trailer parking, Marion’s Ulster lost power on two cylinders and after a bit of head scratching.  We decided to fetch the trailer as it had started raining  and our trailer hosts were expecting us for lunch, which was very well received. 

Post holiday investigations revealed a blown head gasket, which has now been remedied. 

After almost 1,000 miles on the trip, and only one torrential rain storm, we had great fun nursing the Austin 7s along with many visits to pâtisseries, sampling the French cuisine and doing our best with language.  Many times we had to fall back on Tanya with complicated requests,  but as always in France, if you make an attempt, the French are more than helpful. 

It was great that at the 100th anniversary the UVCC was well represented by not only ourselves, but also by Dermott Johnson and Joanne Glasgow and Vincent and Angela McSparron, the latter having travelled from Dublin in their Ulster. 

Also, when Paul McCulla  (ex UVCC member) had heard that we were planning this trip in Austin 7s, he travelled half-way round the world to join us and navigate the route in Hugh’s jump seat.  Now there’s enthusiasm for you! 

Basil McCoy