This car is equipped with a radiator grill built by Emile Tonneline, a small coachbuilder from Courbevoie. After WWII, it was fashionable to give an American look to your car and Tonneline sold many of these radiator grills. But what kind of car has been given this treatment?
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
If the French city of Reims is known worldwide for hosting many of the largest champagne-producing houses, the City of Kings is also famous among the motorsport enthusiasts for being the setting for fourteen French Grand Prix.
The 12 hours of Reims was also an important event of the endurance calendar and being held usually one month after the Le Mans 24 hours, it was often considered as an antidote to the Le Mans classic.
Although the old pits buildings have been recently restored, this is a bygone era as the fast Reims circuit ceased its activities in 1969.
The old pits building and the grandstands along the finish straight which is a national road between the villages of Thillois and Gueux.
Nevertheless, Reims is still attracting automotive enthusiasts from France and the neighboring countries. Every March the “Salon Champenois du Véhicule de Collection” is held. It is a big gathering of brand clubs and sellers of everything relevant of the vintage car passion. With hundreds of stands and stalls, you can be sure to find the parts you need to start your restoration project, to complete your miniature car collection or to find the old book you have been searching for.
Many of our heroes raced neck and neck down this straight...
…And many more fans cheered from these bleachers.
The theme for the decoration of the stands of the brand clubs was ‘Travel into the 7th art’, illustrated here by a Renault 4 CV.
A 1924 Citroën 5 HP.
James Bond drove a Citroën 2 CV in the movie “For Your Eyes Only” in 1981.
The movie, “Roman Holiday” with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was illustrated by the Fiat 600 Multipla.
Back to French cars with the 1935 Peugeot 401 D cabriolet. Produced for only one year, the 401 gave room to the 402 with a completely new aerodynamic shape.
At the Monte-Carlo rally, Reims was one of the departure cities as well as London, Stockholm or Barcelona. This tradition was abandoned by the modern rally but is still in use for the Monte Carlo historic rally in which this Peugeot 504 took part last January with Carlo Tavares at the wheel, the actual CEO of PSA Peugeot Citroën.
The Alpines were also strong competitors in the Monte Carlo. Here a A310 and a A110 GT4 from 1966.
Some rare cars were on show like this 1936 Georges Irat roadster with a Ruby engine.
A 1948 Delahaye 135 M cabriolet nicely bodied by Chapron.
This 1958 Renault Fregate Transfluide has a kind of American style …
…as does this Simca Presidence.
The club of the Matra 530s.
Marcadier was a small constructor from Lyon who built many racing cars but also some coupés with gullwing doors called Barzoi.
René Berte was a French craftsman who built these two single seaters that he raced at Montlhéry, Angoulême or in the ‘Bol d’Or’ enduro.
Truck or mopeds, there is something for every taste in Reims!
To be restored! The Le Zèbre was a small economy car very popular in France before 1914.
If you need to restore a Citroën DS or SM, here may be what you are looking for.
You can also start your restoration project with a small scale DS.
And this is the final result.
Parking lots also worth a visit. Here is a Simca Aronde which was the best-selling car in France in 1956.
The Panhard PL 17 was produced between 1959 and 1965.
The Renault 5 Turbo will be preferred by the fans of the Group B era.
Even in Reims, you can find a rare Italian classic like this Alfa Romeo Giulia GTC.
The nose job on the first picture was on a Citroen Traction Avant convertible. Looks like a Legere model of the 11 convertible. I prefer the original with the chevrons!