Roses Restored
rare French delicacies return for the 2018 rallye des six roses
Le Teuf Teuf Douessin attracted a 34-car field of veteran, vintage and classic cars to its 2018 Rallye des Six Roses, a challenging 110km route through the Layon Valley of Doué-la-fontaine. Participants included the owners of some very rare French cars that had endured unusually protracted restorations.
Amilcar CGSS
This rare 1930 sports car emerged from a restoration that took almost a decade to bring together. Says owner François Etienvre, ‘It all began when I bought a pair of Amilcar headlamps at a collector’s market in 1999. But when in 2004 I found a CGSS rolling chassis in Blaye, the project really started. I spent more than eight years searching France and Britain for the parts to complete the car – and this dictated the progress of restoration.
‘The 1074cc engine and gearbox came from Jarnac; the grille from a Pyrenean village; the windscreen I found in the Massif Centrale; the bulkhead and petrol tank were located in Britain; the transmission in Rouen; the radiator in Tours; and the brake system was found in an attic in Normandy! Finally I bought two sacks of miscellaneous parts from a former Amilcar mechanic near Lyon.’
Rosengart
Martial Besnier’s 1939 Adler-engined Rosengart Super Traction was another recent restoration. ‘Even the late Johnny Hallyday remarked on the quality of the work when he was my passenger,’ said Martial proudly. ‘But he should have seen it when I found it 15 years ago, near Caen. The front of the chassis was completely rusted and full of mouse nests!
‘I replaced all the front left side of the chassis. The mechanicals were not a problem – they’re Citroën Traction-derived and so widely available. Sourcing the body panels was difficult though. The chromework would have been almost impossible without the Club L.rosengart. I made it more difficult still by using only original parts; it was two to three years’ work, occupying most of my spare time. But I’m used to major restorations – so far I’ve restored 12 pre-war Citroëns which I still own, and I have another one, plus two Talbots, still to restore’.