REVIVING THE RACE OF THE CENTURY
99 years, 11 months ago, the Grand Prix of France was held at Lyon. The centenary of the event was held from May 2-4 and our young man in France, Tom Bromehead, gives us a brief of the original event and details of the Revival. [Ed.]
A cow taking risks and overtaking us in a blind corner. No animals were harmed in the maneuver.
Story and event color images by Thomas Bromehead
July 4th 1914: WWI still hadn’t erupted and a lovely sun cast its light on the roads of Lyon and the Rhône “department” on a Saturday morning. Lyon was about to host the Grand Prix of France, the most prestigious and important racing event in Europe. The event is often hailed as one of the greatest races of automotive history; as many as 300,000 spectators flocked to the event to watch fourteen manufacturers from six different countries with 36 cars compete for the prize. It was also notable for the use of the 4.5 Liter capacity limit, which favored the existing French cars, particularly the Peugeot.
The track consisting mainly of long straights running alongside the Gier River connected by very tight hairpins (among which the “Death Corner” in Brignais”) of which 20 laps (each 36 km long) were to be completed for a total of 752 kilometers.
Boillot changes a very skinny tire on his Peugeot during the race. He was plagued with tire problems.
Georges Boillot and his blue Peugeot (equipped with front brakes for the first time) was the national hero after his wins in 1912 and 1913, but the other main contender was none other than Mercedes (still without the Benz) who brought six special cars designated the 118/100. According to Karl Ludvigsen, these were SOHC four cylinder 4.5 liter engines with four valves and three spark plugs per cylinder. The engine produced about 105 hp at 3100 rpm and testing proved that the engine was good for 5000 rpm before self-destructing. Paul Daimler and Otto Schilling used their aeronautical experience for this engine, which lived long into the 1920s in supercharged form. Five of the six were entered in the event.
Läutenschlager’s Mercedes enroute to victory.
The Mercedes was fast, but was it fast enough? During the race Boillot’s Peugeot took the lead, but had to stop 8 times because of tire problems. Amazingly, after 6 hours, only 14 seconds separated him from Läutenschlager’s Mercedes. The Mercedes was faster (they could manage 120 mph) and on the 18th lap Christian Läutenschlager took the lead and suddenly Boillot’s car failed him, leaving victory to the Germans with three Mercedes on the podium while Jules Goux placed 4th in his Peugeot. Also driving for Mercedes was Theodore Pilette, whose son and grandson both raced.
Spectators get a close look at the winning Mercedes from 100 years ago.
A century passes…
2014: Mercedes-Benz brought one car to the revival for all those present to enjoy and Jochen Mass was chosen to pilot it (the choice of words here being fully intended).
Jochen Mass’s ear-to-ear grin says a lot about how much fun he had behind the wheel!
Brass and grass, ricin oil and budding trees, Sunbeams, Amilcars, Rileys, Bugattis, you name it, they were there.
Limonest-Mont Verdun hillclimb
When I was a boy, my father would regularly take my brother and me to the Limonest-Mont Verdun hillclimb in the nearby Monts d’Or. This year, the organizers of the Lyon Centenary event were allowed to close this 3 kilometer long snaking ribbon of blacktop for the participants, which rekindled some fond memories for me. But I will no doubt remember Friday the 2nd of May, 2014 as well! All those who wanted could go up the hill as many as three times. This gave us ample opportunity to feast our eyes on these veteran, vintage and post-vintage illustrious beasts in all their glory. We enjoyed watching the ex-Louis Rozier Talbot T26 GP 1950 Le Mans-winner which was taken out of the Rochetaillée museum along with the ex-Jean Behra Gordini. It was simply exceptional to see both of these cars in action.
Museum tour
This is the home of the Malartre Museum with a wonderful view of the Saône river.(Internet sourced image)
After the action-packed hillclimb, we all joined up about 20 minutes away at the famous Malartre (Henri Malartre) museum in Rochetaillée sur Saône. Opened in 1959, this is one of the oldest French car museums and is now the property of the city of Lyon. The museum is split into two distinct areas, the first part of the collection being housed inside the castle and the second in a big hall aptly named “The Gordini Hall”. The museum is noted for housing Adolf Hitler’s leviathan-armored parade Mercedes.
Rally and dinner
1913 Nazzaro Tipo 3 4.5L racer owned by happy-go-lucky David Biggins.
A very nice dinner was then held at the Casino of the Lyon Vert in the plush suburb of Charbonnières-les-Bains.
On Saturday participants embarked on a 160 kilometer rally to Saint-Galmier and Saint-Etienne in the nearby “département” of la Loire. Following David Biggins’ Nazzaro in our rental Fiat 500 was good fun and at no point did we feel like we were crawling behind him; the pace he kept was simply remarkable!
A fuel stop was an occasion for me to ask a very affable Frenchman if he’d take me along in his Talbot T14 Berlinetta with BMW V8 engine. He kindly accepted and we quickly hit it off as he talked me through some of the details of this super-rare beauty bodied by Pichon-Parat of Sens, France.
Backing the Talbot into position. The local Mercedes-Benz dealership welcomed us on its parking lot; savvy marketing!
Priceless convoy with a T26C upfront and an Allard J2 in French countryside.
An “aperitif” welcomed us in Saint-Galmier after which we had lunch, the hot topic being European elections…and of course, cars! The rally was very nice but pre-war drivers arrived very cold from the chilly air up in the plateau of “the Forez.” The last leg was back to the grounds of Lacroix-Laval where cars were hoisted onto their trailers and everyone went back to their respective hotels to prepare for the evening gala held in Paul Bocuse’s Abbaye de Collonges.
The Abbaye’s rococo dining hall is quite something and while not to everyone’s taste; it all makes sense when the organ starts playing, the animated characters come alive, miniature merry-go-rounds start swiveling and the staff runs down the stairs with the desserts in their hands. (Internet sourced image)
It was a terrific end to three wonderful days. The organization was top-notch, the 120 cars were sensational, and everyone was in high spirits and happy to be there, which made this revival one of the best events I’ve attended.
Be sure to click here to see a photo gallery of the cars at this year’s event by Nicolas Villion.
Don’t hesitate to visit the organizers’ website as they should be uploading pictures fairly soon now, and here’s a few more great links:
http://www.grandprixdelyon.com/
Click here for a fantastic account of the race (albeit in French) and an 8 minute long video with fantastic images.
http://amis-du-vieux-brignais.org/grand-prix.html
Thanks to my friend Nicolas Villion for his wonderful photos.
https://www.facebook.com/AlleycatPhotograph
Great event. Many thanks to all the organisers and to those who brought pre First war racers. Fabulous sounds from them and the numberous Bugattis. My Nash met a DB Renault which it raced against in the 1954 Le Mans. Drive home was over 500 miles in the day which is a light exercise for a 1950s Le Mans car.
Hello Robert,
We spoke together at the Mercedes dealership.
Didn’t remember your Nash had raced at Le Mans, wonderful!
Thomas