stars of closed street circuit racing and parades

French rarities shine at 22nd annual celebration of pre-war classics

Benjamin type B

Only a handful of Benjamins still exist, and the Puy event was this field-find’s first sortie on track.

‘Maybe ownership of this car is a reward for my efforts,’ said owner Bernard Faure. ‘I’ve owned it for eight years but known of it for much longer. It belonged to my neighbour, who was a serious vintage car collector and former president of the Club de Véhicules d’epoque in Saintes. He found it abandoned in a field in 1980.

‘We rebuilt it together. It was a major project because we wanted it entirely original. It took over a year and involved a complete chassis rebuild and fabrication of a new open boat tail body, although its original 750cc Le Maître et Gérard four-cylinder engine, three-speed gearbox and mechanics were still usable. Benjamin was a small company manufacturing only from 1921 to 1927. Mine, as a 1922 example, is one of the earliest.’

1925 mathis mr

This ex-works racing Mathis, one of three survivors, was making its Puy debut. The car was developed from the RRB, which won the voiturette classes at the 1923 Tours and 1924 Lyon GPS.

Driver Nicolas Geslot said, ‘The RRB had a 1495cc Mathis engine whereas the MR has an 1099cc SCAP. The MR was only produced in 1925, and develops 24bhp. With a weight of less than 400kg, it can achieve 100kph. I’m still trying to trace its pre-1988 history.’