In September 2010, GTOUK received an email from Yves-Andre Peignon of www.3si-fr.net, a 3000GT forum in France, asking if we would be interested in arranging a European meet of our cars.
http://www.gtouk.org.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=49574
8 months later and it’s all finished, but what a meet it was!! AllenPS, Chooch and me (unfortunately Rossi’s car died just before we left so he had to bow out) all headed to the south of France for a meet of 4 countries; France, Spain, Italy and UK. I couldn’t have wanted for better company and the meet itself although was not as well attended as we would have hoped for, in my opinion was a roaring success!!
Day 1
We all meet at Medway M2 services in Kent and head to Dover ferry terminal to begin our journey south.
Excellent!! We’re now in France. So let’s start our 5 hour journey through France to our midway rest point in Bourges. Allen had the smart idea of bringing some radios with him so we could all talk to each other while driving and not run up a stupid mobile bill. Time for some action photos….
An hour or so in and Grace (our 7 year old) already needs to pee so we stop at the first of what we thought would be many service areas. As it turns out, Grace was an absolute angel for the whole trip and there wasn’t a single extra added stop other than for fuel. It’s at this point we realise how much the locals appreciate our cars. We come out from the services to find people stopping and taking pictures of the three of us parked up outside. So we joined in with the appreciation……
We set off again and get some more action shots along the way.
A few hours later and we arrive at our hotel in Bourges and after a small hiccup with the booking, we manage to get some well needed sleep.
Day 2
The following morning, we set off around 11 after some pain au chocolate and wicked strength coffee. Loads more shots of the cars and a few shots from the Millau viaduct too.
This was the only rain we saw for the entire journey!!
Eventually, we arrive in Cap D’Agde and we’re greeted by signs directing us to the event from all the surrounding routes
At this time, we meet with Yves and hand over the banner I made for the event so he can hang it up bright and early the following morning.
Day 3
It’s the morning of the meet. I arrive around 9:15 and I’m the first of the UK team to arrive as we’re all staying in different places around Agde and the 4th car over all. We stand around and wait for all the different cars from different countries to arrive and chat about all things GTO/3000GT.
Car of the show for me had to be this one. It was simply immaculate in every way!!
At 11:00ish, the photographer arrives and positions us in a more photographic way and takes some snaps to try and sell us later on
Once the photographer had finished, the 13 car convoy begins. The police escort is certainly no slouch and takes us on a route of the surrounding areas, including dual carriageways where we can put our foot down a bit, town centres, the harbour, the beach….
Videos:
These were filmed out the window or sunroof so there is a lot of wind noise but you get the idea.
Listen out for Ewan’s brakes in this one:
http://s733.photobucket.com/albums/ww331/staffordcox/Europe%20meet%202011/?action=view¤t=-Convoy4.mp4http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/ww331/staffordcox/Europe%20meet%202011/th_-Convoy4.jpg
After a cracking tour of Agde, we’ve build up quite an appetite so it’s off to the beach restaurant for a bite to eat. A local security company had been arranged to look after our cars while we eat, which turns out to be a 3 hour affair with a stunning view of the Cap D’Agde beach and Mediteranean sea.
Once we finished dinner, we waddle back to the cars and say our farewells in the 30 degree heat and all go our separate ways.
This has been an amazing event and one that we will definitely be arranging again. In total, we covered 1,556 miles, spent €373(£323) on fuel and €120(£105) on tolls. At a UK average of £1.36 per litre for fuel, I calculate that I was getting approximately 29mpg which I’m not too upset about. It is possible however that I’ve missed a fill up, but I’m going to ignore that and remain quite chuffed.
The discussions on how, when and where the next one will be held will begin in September and will be posted up as soon as something definite is decided. Until then, big thanks go to Carlos (Spain), Cristian (www.3000gt.it, Italy) and especially Yves (www.3si-fr.net, France) for putting this all together. And of course to Ewan and to Allen and Gemma for making the UK portion of the trip so enjoyable. I look forward to seeing some of your photos on here too guys………
Staff
Links to other sites and photos:
http://www.3si-fr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5473&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
brings a tear to my eye!! glad yous had a good time guys!!
