Grand European Cadillac Meet - Richelieu, France

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Some souvenir photos.
This is a custom job by the Swiss coachbuilders, Reinbold & Christe on a 1938 Cadillac chassis.

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This one is not to everyone's liking (it started its life as a 1959 Fleetwood 75 limousine), but you have to admire the work that went into this "transformation" by a Dutch artisan.  The rear lines are inspired by a mid-thirties German Horch!

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Two lovely entries from the Cadillac-LaSalle Club of Spain:  a 1915 tourer and a 1929 LaSalle phaeton.

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Another Spanish entry: 1930-31 V-16, Fleetwood style 4335. I first encountered this beauty in Zeebrugge, Belgium, about 4 years ago.

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Cadillacs gathered on the square, in Chinon, around the equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, who delivered France from the English ... and was buned at the stake for her efforts!

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A beautifully restored 1947, Series 62 convertible coupe from Belgium.
Narrow streets of the medieval city of Chinon. No way could you drive a procession of old Cadillacs there.

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A visit to the Vineyards in Ligré, near Chinon.

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Gala dinner in the Painctes wine cellars of Chinon. Many participants were inducted into the "Chinon's Brotherhood of Fine, Rabelaisian Cask Fillers" (my own translation of the French "Confrérie des bons entonneurs rabelaisiens de Chinon").

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Our CLC friends, Dirk Van Dorst (left) and Joe Gildea (right) were duly inducted into the brotherhood of "fine cask fillers," as was also Peter Griffith, President of the Cadillac & LaSalle Club of Great Britain.  All the inductees swore, inter alia, to never add water to their wine!

Retired Swiss engineer, Roger Zimmermann was there with Christine and their well-behaved dog, Yuma.  Roger has helped many on this forum with restoration questions; he restored, all (or mostly) by himself, every nut and bolt on a 1956 Sedan de Ville, a 1956 Eldorado Biarritz and a 1957 Eldorado Brougham).

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Some 20s and 30s entrants, a 1954 Eldorado from Germany (?) and a 1957 Eldorado Biarritz all the way from Norway.

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The 1956 Eldorado Biarritz belonging to my long-time Swiss friends, Heinz and Jojo Hediger.
Some late 60s and early 70s models in the shade of the trees in the vast, sunny Richelieu park.
1959 Eldorado Broughams Nos. 42 and 43 from Germany and England, respectively (how often do you see TWO of these together?)

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This charming Dutch couple brought their immaculate 1952 sedan from Holland ... and dressed in period attire for the occasion, perhaps a new trend for future such Cadillac meets !

The 1960 Eldorado Biarritz got first prize in the category, "Cadillacs of the Sixties".  Gita and I had one of those, many years ago.

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This is the best I can do in the way of an English translation of the "Diploma" awarded to Peter Griffith and others.

DIPLOMA

The Grand Master and Grand Council of the Brotherhood of Rabelaisian Cask Fillers
Do hereby attest that

Sire Peter GRIFFITH

Honorable disciple of François Rabelais and ardent ambassador of the wines of Chinon,
has duly demonstrated, in both deed and word, the right to the title of

KNIGHT
By the grace of God this diploma is granted unto him, that shall perpetuate his prowess

Chinon, September 3, 2010

The Grand Chanchellor (signed)         The Grand Master (signed)

[Otto Skorzeny]

That '38 is magnificent. In fact it's much nicer than the standard American version. Very Horsch or 500K-ish looking.

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"D'Artagnan" (aka Pierre Gravel, President of the Cadillac-LaSalle Club de France) was busy running around, pouring wine for the assembled guests, when this picture of "The Three Musketeers" was taken.  Left, yours truly; center, European CLC coordinator Dirk Van Dorst and, right, John Foust our friendly parts guy from Texas, wearing Dutch clogs, a gift from the (large) Dutch contingent at the Meet.

Tage Jingnert, 81, President of Scandinavia's Cadillac-LaSalle Club was unable to attend the Grand National in Kansas City to receive the 2010 "International Activities" award, so I took it to France, hoping to reward Tage during the Grand European Meet.  There again, Tage, missed the meet but sent us his representative, Anders Wald, to accept the plaque in his stead. Unfortunately, Anders had been suffering from a painful gum infection that kept him bedridden all day Saturday and so his lovely wife was kind enough to stand in for him. 

[Fred Zwicker #23106]

Nice cars and nice pictures - where and when will this meet be held in 2011?   Some CLC members may want to attend, but plenty of advance notice is always helpful.

Thanks,  Fred

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I believe the next one won't be held until 2013. Holland and Switzerland are good prospective locations.  Start saving now; it won't be a "cheap weekend" ... especially if you have to add one or two airtickets from the USA to a European capital.

[Jay Friedman]

Yann, It must have been a great meet.  Were there any '49s there?

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Come to think of it, I believe there were none. There were a couple of '47 convertibles (one mint, restored, the other an original "in the raw") then there was a chronological leap to 1951. I guess the list of participants and their cars will be published in a coming Self Starter. Yesterday we saw your old buddy, John, from Nanaimo who was asking after you.  Where has time gone?

[Roger Zimmermann]

It was with pleasure that I met again Gita and Yann. The last time was...too long ago! there were interesting people and cars at this event. Unfortunately, this GE did not met my expectations, especially with the food and beverage (except at the gala dinner for the food).

Roger