Le Mans, 1923: Ford's first attempt to conquer the 24 hour race.
VeloceToday’s latest Select Folio is hot off the press. Because the subject matter is relatively unknown, immensely interesting and concerns both the U.S., France, Le Mans, and Grand Prix racing, the story of the Montier Fords was clearly a great topic for a Select Folio. Below, Chris Martin tells us a little about the Montiers, but to get the rest of the story, you’ll have to read the Folio; unlike our earlier Select series, this one is not in the electronic VeloceToday.
By Chris Martin
First Fords at Le Mans
Most of us tend to think that Fords did not play much of a part at Le Mans until the early 1960s. But that does not appear to be the case. Charles Montier, a French Ford dealer, (called “Le Sorcier” by the locals long before Gordini) entered the famous endurance race in 1923, 1924 and 1925. Few people even realize that a Model T Ford not only raced in that grueling event (won by a Chenard Walcker) but finished in 14th place in the first ever 24 hours of Le Mans. But the Montier-Fords were just getting a start; amazingly, by the 1930s Montier-Fords would participate in a number of Grand Prix events, racing against Alfa Romeo, Mercedes Benz and Bugatti.
Montier readies his Model T based racer for a race in 1926.
Charles Montier was the son of a blacksmith in rural France. While still in his teens, he helped his father build a steam powered wagon that scared the locals. From there he moved to Paris and on to a varied career in the burgeoning French motor car world including a spell building racers for Darracq, ultimately setting up his own business based around selling, modifying and racing Fords.
The Grand Prix Montier-Fords
Encouraged by his efforts at Le Mans, Montier kept up the development of his Ford based racers and appeared at many events throughout France and Belgium and even made occasional forays to Grands Prix as far away as Spain and Morocco. Joined later by his son Ferdinand, the Montier team often fielded two cars and even sold a few to amateur racer customers.
Ad depicting the Montier's successes on September 14th 1930, when Charles came 2nd overall and 1st in class for racing cars up to 4 litres in his Ford-based Grand Prix car.
Montier’s career had many ups and downs and side projects that all serve to show the combination of determination and engineering skill that possibly deserve more recognition than he currently enjoys. He raced against some of the greats of the day, often gaining class victories, and such names as Tazio Nuvolari, amd Albert Divo, while Giovanni Agnelli, and the King of Spain all are part of the Montier’s story.
The restored Le Mans Montier-Ford at a recent Le Mans Classic.
The car that ran at the first Le Mans 24 has been restored in France and has made appearances in recent years at the Le Mans Classic event surprising all who had thought that Ford’s participation in the famous ‘Vingt-Quatre Heures du Mans’ had started with the legendary GT40!
Parts of this story have been told in French publications over the years but little was ever written about his exploits in English. In addition, this VeloceToday Select Folio includes period photos and a complete listing of all races, hillclimbs, and Grands Prix entered by the Montier-Fords from 1921-1934.
About the Author
Chris Martin was born and raised in Arkley, just north of London, England. In his teens he had an after school job cleaning sports cars at local MG racer John Britten’s garage, which in a roundabout way, led to a career in building race cars including F3, F3000 and IndyCars, before twelve years in F1 working with the Stewart, Jaguar, and Arrows Grand Prix teams.
Retiring in 2003, he moved to Australia where he contributes to various car related publications and acts as editor of The Bent Wire, the magazine of the Australian Ford Model T Club, and edits the Motorlife News for the Australian Motorlife Museum. When he first discovered mention of Charles Montier and his exploits in the book ‘Et Vint La Ford T’ by Fabien Sabetes, he became interested in the history of the man and the cars. Chris soon realized this tale had never been told in any depth in English, and resolved to spread the word.
VeloceToday Select Number Three: Montier’s French Racing Fords
by Chris Martin
Price: $20.00
Pages: 32
Dimensions: 8.5″ x 5.5″
Description: Shipping and handling is FREE!
A year or two ago Tony Dron wrote a story in one of the vintage racing magazines about driving one of Montier’s cars at the Le Mans classic. He referenced doing the Mulsanne at 73 miles an hour (or similar velocity). Montier was a prolific mechanic producing “specials” and high performance parts (such as his own higher compression flat head) and selling through his own Ford dealership. He didn’t quite raise to the level of Rajo, Frontenac et al, but he entered many races of various types and did meet with some success. His story is as interesting as it is arcane. I’ll definitely order this little folio.
mi tio y mi padre tenian y competian en Argentina en fuerza limitada en al decada del cuarenta con un coche de pista con motor FORD T con tapa de cilindros Montier con valvulas a la cabeza y lograban un rendimiento muy bueno , me gustaria conseguir imagenes de esos elementos especiales o graficos planos ,etc . gracias