Auto Moto Retro – The Unifying Power of Classics

The best classic car shows are often those you simply chance upon. The regional, local assemblages of real enthusiasts who bring out their cars for the pure and simple pleasure of showing them off and meeting like-minded enthusiasts. It’s a theme that transcends geographical boundaries, as I discovered on a trip to the beautiful Aveyron region in France recently when I stumbled, almost literally, on Auto Moto Retro 12. Now it does help that this particular show is located in Najac, a picture-perfect hilltop fortress town which is unsurprisingly rated as one of France’s Plus Beaux Villages. It’s also been named as a ‘Welcoming Village for Vintage Vehicles’ by the French Federation of Vintage Vehicles. So pretty legit then.

And it wasn’t long before I discovered why. The Auto Moto Retro is held at the end of September each year, which may not seem important, but it’s after the end of the holiday season so the event is aimed squarely at locals. I tend to holiday out of season so was a lucky interloper as I didn’t visit Najac for the show. I had no idea it was a ‘thing.’ That made its discovery, one autumnal Sunday, all the more exciting.

And what an event it is. The classics take over the village, congregating in the main car park and along the wide central square. Every inch of available space is occupied by a cavalcade of mouth-watering – mainly French – classics.

For visiting British classic enthusiasts – i.e. me – Auto Moto is like entering a dreamscape. In place of an overcast, muddy field of neatly parked MGs, Triumphs, Morris Minors and Minis there’s a sunny medieval square in a beautiful French hilltop village. Under the shadow of timber-framed buildings and amidst the trees lining the streets all sorts of everyday exotica that are common in France but rarely seen on Blighty’s shores (and in her fields) were proudly lined up.

Alpines – lots of them, of all ages. Renault Gordinis of 8, 5 and other eras. 2CVs, of course, Renault 4s – many, many Renault 4s – and exquisite rarities like Panhards, a Ford Comete and a Matra Simca Bagheera.

The joy of the Auto Moto is that sheer variety. French classic enthusiasts seem to love everything. And equally. It seems that the more humdrum the motor – like those 2CVs and R4s – the more revered it is. Where British enthusiasts clamour for the stylish drop top cars that our weather rarely allows us to drive, French fans seem to favour the everyday, utilitarian motors that were perhaps intrinsic parts of family life. There is no sense of hierarchy – all are welcome, equally.

That sense of everyday nostalgia perhaps explains the many sporting versions of those family cars that were built by French car makers and now cherished by enthusiasts. Like the R8 Gordini, R5 Turbo, even the Simca 1100TI. There were plenty in evidence at Najac, ultra rare spicy variants of those daily runabouts. Automotive bridges, perhaps, between nostalgia for the everyday motors of their owners’ youth, and more evocative sporting territory, just as events like this bridge the gap between enthusiasts. Whether that be by geography, class or language.

At Najac this theme extended to tractors. This is a rural community and local farmers had brought along a huge number of field and plough-oriented automobilia. Most were unrestored, working models that, like the humdrum saloons, were cherished family heirlooms. It was clear that Najac’s enthusiasts valued the stories and associations their machines evoked as much as the machines themselves.

What was interesting though, was that this theme simply hung in the air. In Britain I’ve got used to being nobbled by owners hanging around their cars ready to pounce on unsuspecting people looking at their cars. Usually a deck chair will be involved so they can rest between pounces. This unsettles me – I enjoy meeting and talking to enthusiasts, but I’m less keen on feeling like prey.

That didn’t happen when I got to Najac. None of the owners were hanging around their cars. There are no deckchairs, no tables, no flasks of tea. No seated rings of classic custodians sitting around looking like they’ve run out of conversation about the date when the factory switched the chrome trim surrounds to a bevelled design on their cherished British classics – was it the 3rd of June 1963 or the 6th? And that’s good news for me – I can inspect the cars without waiting for the inevitable ambush.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a complete social introvert and I do like to get involved, but at my own pace. I do get into conversation with a couple of Alpine owners, one of whom is thankfully happy to speak English. He is animated about his Alpine and his enthusiasm is infectious. I come away wanting an Alpine A310. Specifically his Alpine A310. It isn’t for sale. Boooo.

It wouldn’t be possible to leave Auto Moto Retro without highlighting those Alpines. Alpine may be a motoring footnote to British enthusiasts, but for the French it’s their Porsche. There were a lot of Alpine Blue Alpines of various ages and models, many of them seemingly owned by the local Gendarmerie who had an obvious penchant and long association with France’s rear-engined rocket ship.

As the day drew to a close I was struck by one thought: we may be divided by language, our assessment of molluscs and the legs of short-bodied, tailless amphibians as foodstuffs, even our approach to ‘the European project’, but classic car enthusiasts share something fundamental: the joy of four wheels in all its varieties. The style, the stories and the culture around internal combustion, whether built for transporting eggs across fields, traversing A to B at maximum speed or ploughing stuff.

It also impressed on me how my love of cars goes with me everywhere. And is the key to new conversations. It’s a connection, a communication with strangers. We all need that, more now than ever.

Is there anything more idyllic for a motoring enthusiast than slowly meandering around some rare classics, shaded by plane trees, in a big French square lined with medieval buildings, the opportunity for a strong coffee or cheeky Pastis waiting on the peripheries? For me, no. I loved Najac’s Auto Moto Retro. I loved the cars and the relaxed vibe, so the next time you’re off on your hols, keep your eyes peeled. You just may stumble across something equally as appealing.