Or at least that's what I thought. Going to the scrutineering for the 4th Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique, I was stunned at the amount of shiny metal on display. These cars are far too pretty to take part in a gruelling, dangerous rally. Still, the scrutineering was a petrolhead's delight - parking's free, in the well sign-posted Parc des Expositions in Reims, and you can wander around the cars and chat to their owners as they wait their turn to be inspected. I talk to the British owner of a Triumph 2000; it's the only vehicle I've seen which is not perfectly gleaming, and he says, "This is a real old car." Still, the rusty doors don't bode badly for the rally; the chassis has been restored and there's a new engine under the bonnet.
There's a fantastic amount of expensive metal here - a couple of Porsche 356s, BMW 2002s, some (mainly British) Lotus Cortinas, Triumph TR3s and a lot of Renault Alpines and the ubiquituous MGBs. Also some rarer entrants - a Datsun Fairlady, with Belgian numberplates, and a couple of NSU TTs. The most modern car I see is a Renault 5 Turbo from 1977, the oldest probably the 356s or the TR3. There are surprising amount of Volvo Amazons - or perhaps it's not so surprising to choose such a tough car, they just look odd next to all those little sports cars! I watch in some disbelief as an Austin 1800 manoeuvres into its space in the car park. Some of the cars are little highly-strung for this manoeuvring - a Lotus Cortina stalls twice as it tries to edge into a parking slot.
Fun as it was to see all these lovely old cars, I was a little surprised that there was nothing else; no trade or club stands, not even a bloke selling dodgy hamburgers. Perhaps it was nice that it was so non-commercial though - at least it was free to go in. As I left the scrutineering to wait for the rally start, my Rover 2000 was in convoy with an orange NSU TT for a while; they don't half shift!
The atmosphere at the scrutineering had been quite relaxed, drivers just chatting, waiting for their turn to be inspected, and lazily doing last minute preparations. At the start, things were more exciting. Spectators were turning up a good forty minutes before the rally was due to start; a commentator kept them entertained by interviewing various people who had had something to do with the organisation of the rally. Mainly, it was people talking about how wonderful Reims was and how happy they were to be starting the rally from there!
By the time the rally started at seven o'clock, crowds were six deep at the podium, and along the first stretch of road as far as the eye could see. The first car off the podium, to enormous cheers, was the red 1965 MGB of Gammon and Easter. Cars started off every minute after that, with the drivers saying a few words to the crowd if they spoke French. The Champagne-Ardennes Renault Alpine club was out in force, and every Alpine received an enormous cheer as they drove off at full throttle in flamboyant style. The Porsche 911s were equally popular, and equally fast - drivers of other cars seemed a little more restrained.
After fifteen minutes or so, I walked to the other end of the podium, to see the cars before they started. Great fun watching them line up; a Citroen DS with its rear wheel spats cut out, a ridiculously shiny BMW 2002... I saw the Austin 1800 and called out what a fantastic choice of car I thought it was; the driver replied that he could carry all his own spares, and that the car slept two in comfort!
All in all, a great day out for fans of historic motorsport. It's completely free, and access is great; Reims puts on a good show for the public.
The Irish team of Philip Armstrong and Frank Hussey won the rally in their Mercedes 220SEB. 255 cars started in total, from Oslo, Barcelona, Bad Homburg and Turin as well as Reims, and 215 crossed the crossed the finishing line.