Saturday, February 24, 2007

Old cars show


Today I went the the Retromobile exhibition, a show dedicated to old cars, at Porte de Versailles (15th arrondissement). I saw the first motorbike in the world - which happens to be French! - and many other antique vehicles, including cars that I perfectly recall from my youth!! Many more photos here.

31 comments:

  1. These pictures will surely amuse the boys!
    My favourite is the Citroen Van, so unique!

    I'd like to know what car company makes the Smartcar?

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  2. Oh i love classic cars. My first car was an A35 which i bought for £5! I loved it.

    Your post of yesterday has inspired more short fiction from me Eric so thank you! (Things UK).

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  3. Oh gosh, I'm such a sucker for a 'retro' car. They are so beautifully designed, and soooo romantic and elegant, like this Peugeot. Thanks for all the photos! Must've been a great show.

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  4. Bet you're glad you motorbike doesn't look like that one Eric !!!
    My first car was an Autin A40 15 Pounds, then an A50, then a Renault 12. (The Benaut Renault).
    Love old cars.

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  5. Trop cool! The old Renaulds are absolutely priceless!!! The cartoons characters in Triplets de Belleville had one just like it. And the van... wow, takes me way back!

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  6. The photo is a work of art. It displays well Eric's eye for beauty. PdP always has such interesting photos. I love PdP!

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  7. It's funny how many countries claim "first" status. This is what I found about the first Cycle Museum.

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  8. Oooh Eric, you made me drool! Haven't got too much time to ramble on, thank your lucky stars, but I could go on for hours about how much I want each of the vehicles you pictured!

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  9. I love PDP too JOhnny! What a great shot as you say, others would have taken in the whole car but Eric's selective eye shows us so much more.

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  10. Yeah, it is so wonderful to see those old beauties cheering the nostalgia...I also did Spotted on in Bangalore recently...

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  11. I wonder if there is anywhere you can rent antique cars, say for a vacation, wedding, or something. They were all made out of steel, chrome, and iron...now cars all seem to be made out of plastic parts.

    Love the headpiece (not sure what the term is for the emblem on the front of cars). You can even see the screws that were used to put it in place which are hardly evident on cars today.

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  12. Michael, for classical car fan like you (and me!) you can fulfill your dream and rent almost any Classic/Antique car type for any occasion in France, +2000 cars on line at www.classic-rent.fr.
    I was surprised I couldnt find any similar company in the US? Driving a 50's American convertible is definitely a part of the legend.
    Eric you're doing an amazing work with your Blog!
    I am getting addicted!

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  13. Nice photos!
    It would be interesting to know how many peugeot and citroën that's been made and sold in France. They are everywhere!
    Guess it's the same kind of patriotism here, but we drive Volvo and Saab.

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  14. wow what an exibition Eric, photos are exquisite.
    have a great weekend.

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  15. Interesting Lionel. I don't have any idea if there are similar companies in the U.S.

    By the way everyone, not sure if you saw that Olivier from the photo at "O Chateau" left a comment below. Very funny!

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  16. I just saw Oliver's comment.
    He seems a very funny and very nice guy, bad hair or not!

    Did you see, they do rent the place for groups... ooh my, if when commenting about the wine tasting we already sound like a bunch of drunks, imagine actually attending the wine tasting! I'm afraid we would embarrass Eric :-))

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  17. Love retro cars!
    My first car was a Renault, don't remember the model, only that it was boxy, powder blue with lots of "make love, not war" stickers covering the many rust spots, had a push-button transmission and no working breakes! I used to slow down at traffic lights, stick out my foot and stop the car...manually. Aaaa, good times ;-)))

    Eric, will you be stopping by my 100th party today? It wouldn't be possible without you!

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  18. Michael and Lionel: Yes, there are companies that rent antique/classic cars out in the States. Here's one. Pretty cool, eh?

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  19. hi there
    i visit your blog almost every day, because i love Paris a lot, although the pics here have changed recently...they are still very good, but not really related to Paris. i enjoyed the interesting comments of Haxo! Does anybody know why he disappeared?

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  20. Anonymous: Is that you, haxo, stirring up trouble? j/k of course. I can't quite remember as my brain is only half functioning right now, but isn't he ill or had surgery recently or something? I do hope he's doing alright!

    I must ask, though, how could pictures that are taken in Paris by a Parisian not be related to Paris? I don't care what Eric takes a picture of, if it's in Paris then he's showing us something different from life in his city ever day, which I believe is the aim of this blog, no matter how "Paris-ie" the photo is.

    Of course I know anon said he/she still likes the photos, though, and so do I!

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  21. Thanks Steph! Unbelievable the number of cars.

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  22. Where is Haxo? He knows so much and expresses it so well. Gotta find him!

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  23. Soosha: Here, here - I couldn't agree more with your second post. No matter the photo, it makes me feel like I'm in Paris.

    Michael: Thanks for the heads up on the Olivier post. I was going to post much earlier about the thingee on the hood of the car aussi, but I also couldn't think of what it is called. I phoned my Dad, and he says it's a "hood ornament" - that sounds right.

    Anyway... I was watching Oprah's pre-Oscar special the other night, and George Clooney (sigh) was teasing Julia Roberts that she had installed her Oscar on the hood of her car. The "hood ornament" on the Rolls Royce reminded me of it. Happy Samedi, tout le monde!

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  24. Love the Dollar bike: now THAT'S classic design. The cars are beautiful as well.

    By the way, the earthquake noted by some commenters yesterday does indeed show up on the USGS site at:
    http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/nc40193847.php
    It's a cool site, check it out you San Franciscoans, it may be useful in the future.

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  25. Thanks Pont Girl and Pont Girl's dad! That was exactly the word I was looking for. I just couldn't think of it. Here's an interesting site, although I believe they are only American examples.

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  26. Michael in the UK, we refer to these pieces of bonnet (UK word for hood) furniture as mascots if they are animals or people, such as the Jag's jaguar. Otherwise, like Eric's here, i'm not sure if we have another word other than 'furniture'.

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  27. Hmmm...never heard them called Mascots before. I'm well aware of the "bonnet" and "boot", but what's the name for the windshield again?

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  28. Ah Peugeot, souvenirs souvenirs...

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  29. skype phone




    Hi, great blog by the way - didn't think you'd mind me posting this anonymously - as you do allow anonymous posts ;-).

    Anyone tried this Skype program yet for free telephone calls over the internet? A guy at work uses it all the time and because he signed all his friends and relatives up he saves a fortune on his calls. Might be worth a go.

    Good luck with the blog






    .

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