VeloceToday’s Australian Agent
Our latest VeloceToday Select Folio, Montier’s French Racing Fords, was an idea developed by author Chris Martin who became intrigued by this unusual story about a French family who raced their modified Fords at Le Mans and at Spa.
The restored 1923 Montier-Ford at the Le Mans Classic.
Chris contacted VeloceToday with his idea and it was decided that the story deserved to be published in its own right as a booklet or Folio.
Chris lives in Australia, VeloceToday is located on the East Coast U.S.A but the distance did not hinder this union with Chris becoming the contact point in the Asia Pacific region for his new book. In the making of this publication, ideas were collaborated from the very start, proofing the copy, researching the photos and permissions, and working on the design, even sharing the printing costs. From Virginia where it was printed, half of the run was then shipped to Chris.
Montier’s French Racing Fords has three eager audiences; the Ford club historians, fans of historic and vintage racing, and the French car enthusiasts who are fast growing in number. Chris found that sales in Australia were brisk. This run is limited, so order while there are still copies in stock.
In no time at all the comments came back. Here are a few:
“Great book, Chris. Enjoying reading it (the second time). Well Done!!! All speedster owners need one!” – Mark, QLD Australia
“Mine arrived whilst I away. What a great book and well done by Chris.” – David, SA Australia
“J’ai bien reçu votre livre,il est tres precis,je vous remercie,je vais le lire avec grand ineret merci encore.” – Jean-Pierre, France
“My book arrived yesterday. It is very well done and finally documents the story of the Montier Fords in English.” – Larry, OK USA
If you are on that side of the planet, to secure your copy of the VeloceToday Select Folio, ‘Montier’s French Racing Fords’ contact the author direct at cmscarstuff@bigpond.com. If you order through VeloceToday we’ll fill the order and Chris will ship to you. It will most certainly arrive a lot quicker!
Defeating the competition.
On the West Coast USA…
Back in the USA, sales are doing fine. In fact another long time advertiser, Autobooks/Aerobooks in Pasadena California, just ordered up a batch to sell to their walk-in customers. Tina at Autobooks also organizes the Best of France and Italy show every year, and we’ll make sure she has plenty of copies on hand for the event. Don’t forget when you are next in the L.A. area, why not stop by and say “Hi” to Tina and her hard-working crew at the store where you’ll also find all of our VeloceToday Select Folios.
Coincidentally. Dale LaFollette, that superb collector of old racing photographs, sent us a photo of the Montier-Ford we did not have in the book, as shown above. If you would like to purchase a copy of this photo, please contact Dale at Vintage Motorphoto and see all his other items on his ebay website. Dale is one of our long term advertisers so please, give him your support
Research and other mysteries: Can you help?
In producing the Montier folio, the research had started with what has been published in the past which was very little, and that only in French. Chris was careful to investigate what has been posted on various Internet sites where it is fast becoming too common for misinformation, guesswork and plain errors to be accepted as fact once they appear in pixels (as they used to in print). The internet and search engines can be useful for study, but unfortunately these days once something is out there, fact or not, it will be repeated elsewhere often without any attempt to check the source.
Charles Montier’s younger son Georges gave a lengthy interview to a French magazine in the seventies and this was used as a reference source along with official records and race reports from the period.
From that, we can be sure that Montier was French; NOT Belgian as often stated, in fact he was born in Naples, Italy, of an Italian mother, but the family soon returned to his father’s home town of Richelieu in France and he was given French nationality. Further, he did NOT take part in the 1912 French Grand Prix, another oft repeated myth. There was a Ford T entered by Ford’s Paris agent Henri Depasse, but it did not start the race.
The Ford Speedster found in Paraguay.
Chris also hoped this publication might, by spreading awareness of the Montier name at least, result in further discoveries, and he is still trying to ascertain the whereabouts of two survivors both rumored to have recently been sold to the USA. The pretty black ‘Speedster’ was discovered a few years ago in Paraguay, South America, and although the price tag of $80,000 that appeared on an internet advertisement was obviously a tad optimistic, there was a report that it did eventually sell. This car has a well-executed two-seater bodywork, that looks nothing like any other Montier bodied cars on record, but it certainly has the genuine Montier OHV cylinder head. Here is a link to the for sale ad from 2012: http://www.arcar.org/ford-t-montier-special-en49508
Body style may be custom but the head is definitely Montier.
The other car in question has an even more colorful story. When the famous Schlumpf brothers retreated to Switzerland after the French government appropriated their collection which became the National Automobile Museum in Mulhouse, they also left behind another stash of unrestored rarities in a building in Malmerspach.
Fritz Schlumpf, and after his death his widow Arlette, fought and eventually in 1999, won a legal battle to regain these cars. There were another dozen Bugattis among others, and shortly before Arlette’s passing in 2008 she instructed a couple of well-known European vintage car dealers to discreetly dispose of the collection. It is thought the Bugattis went to Peter Mullin’s museum in Oxnard California, but there was also a lone Montier-Ford. Apparently its Weymann type fabric two-seater body was looking rather shabby, but it seems it was mechanically complete, and the only reference found since points to that also going to America. If so, it has not shown on the radar of any of the Model T Ford clubs, so does anyone know any more?
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!
Upon receipt of Martin’s book, I read it through and found it to be very interesting. A bit of Ford racing history not commonly know in the US. When looked at in detail, the Model T Ford will be recognized as a milestone in automotive design for it’s period. It has been the basis for untold numbers of racing cars at all levels in the US. It’s not surprising that the French would recognize this also.