Aston Martins take over La Chartre in June

[annereed]

As part of the Le Mans 24 hrs weekend, the AMOC returns to the Hotel de France at La Chartre sur le Loir on Friday 21st June. This is the hotel that John Wyer used for the Aston Martin team base in the 1950's. Memorabilia from those years is all around the hotel.

You are welcome to come and join us for a Champagne luncheon and view some Le Mans Podium winning historic Astons. David Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin and Prodrive, has very kindly agreed to come along again and give a speech in the companies Centenary year, not only reflecting upon 100 years of AM history, but also what will be in store for the weekend too. We are also hoping that Mike Salmon, Noel Pasteau and several directors of AML will be joining us.

The Town Square will be closed for Aston Martin parking only - see picture.

This event is of course open to all members (£50) and there are a limited number of tickets available to non-members at £59 which can be bought through Anne Wright at HQ on 01865 891 838. The event will be very much along the lines of the one we held in 2009 and 2011, with a Champagne reception and Canapés luncheon in a very relaxed atmosphere, and hopefully some very famous faces too.

[blueg33]

This has ruined La Chartre on the friday for me. It was always so much better to see a range of interesting and historic cars from all manufacturers. Anyone could park in the square, the locals would come down and the kids would often get taken for a quick spin in a range of cars.

Why should other marques have tio hide away out of sight

Thanks Aston for ruining one of the special things about Le Mans for me and my mates who have been going there for years. The Chateau we rent is close by and we loved the atmosphere that has now been lost.

Sorry Aston but I see no reason why you should have exclusivity there and ruin it for everyone else!

Very poor show IMO

[scottkdavid]

Dry your eyes, rent another Chateau or buy an Aston

blueg33 said:

This has ruined La Chartre on the friday for me. It was always so much better to see a range of interesting and historic cars from all manufacturers. Anyone could park in the square, the locals would come down and the kids would often get taken for a quick spin in a range of cars.

Why should other marques have tio hide away out of sight

Thanks Aston for ruining one of the special things about Le Mans for me and my mates who have been going there for years. The Chateau we rent is close by and we loved the atmosphere that has now been lost.

Sorry Aston but I see no reason why you should have exclusivity there and ruin it for everyone else!

Very poor show IMO

[blueg33]

Don't want an Aston way too common And the chateau is great as are its owners so we will continue renting it, they are even happy to have the helicopter land on the front garden.

FFS even Derek Bell can't park his Bentley in the Square and he is pretty much a fixture at Hotel Du France during Le Mans

It just seems a shame that Aston can take over such a historic venue to the detriment of everyone else. Yes they have history there, but exclusivity - nope.

Plus filling the square with Astons just makes them look common, 1 or 5 Astons look lovely especially parked up with other exotica, but make it Aston only and the exclusivity of the marque is gone.

I might take my lads skoda and park it in the square on thursday and just leave it there

Edited by blueg33 on Wednesday 29th May 09:20

[jonby]

I don't really get the complaint

The square only holds c. 20-25 cars max. (btw whilst perhaps pedantic to point out, it's not 'Aston' that take over the square as in Aston Martin the road or Racing firm, it's something done between AMOC and the locals from what I understand)

The roads to and around the square, including those immediately surrounding it, are normally full of plenty of interesting cars both Aston and non, from modern Lambos & Ferraris to vintage varieties whilst the Astons tend to a far more diverse mix including race, vintage & modern than most assemblies of a similar number of Astons tend to be (other events tend to be dominated by modern or vintage rather than a mix of both)

AMOC tend to keep to themselves within the function at the back of the hotel whilst the front of the hotel and the square tends to be a really diverse mix of people, who all seem to be enjoying themselves, in a much more 'civilised' manner than the general shenanigans around the track and the car owners, whether aston or not, tend to be very friendly and accommodating - I made one person's day there last year by letting them start my car

The one yr in the last few that there hasn't been an official amoc do is last yr, when as a result, le charter was much quieter, there were far fewer cars & people and what was there was mostly aston, simply following their tradition despite no formal event being on - the square ended up being mostly Astons anyway despite no restrictions to the contrary

[dencamera]

Dear Nick,

I've been staying at the Hotel de France for nearly 20 years, and you're right the Friday was always a fantastic day there............. Unfortunately I felt sometime ago that as each year came by, fewer and fewer people bothered to come down to La Chartre from the Circuit, and it was somehow loosing some of it's atmosphere. Therefore in 2009 I decided that perhaps an event to celebrate 50 years since Aston's '59 win would boost the numbers, after all it was John Wyer that found the Hotel in the winter of '52, when he was the team manager of David Brown's Aston team.

We (that is the AMOC, as I'm a member, and persuaded them to get involved) managed to get Sir Stirling Moss, Jean Claude Plassart, Noel Pasteau and Jacky Ickx all to come along, as well as DBR1/2 .... the very car that had won the 24Hrs in 1959. The idea to close the Square to Aston only parking was not mine or the Club's ...... but Sylvia et Francis, who as I'm sure you know own the Hotel now. The Mayor was delighted and came along too............ and then just to prove it's not just an Aston venue in 2011 I organised a John Wyer Tribute........ inviting the 3 cars that he took to Victory with his 4 wins at the Sarthe... in other words the GT40, a Mirage, as well as DBR1/2. The only owner that showed any interest was of course DBR1/2's.......... so I'm sorry if I've ruined it for you..... but there is absolutely nothing to stop you contacting the Hotel and the Mayor and putting an event on.....which is why I left the venue free last year.... but no one came along to organise anything!!

As for Derek's Bentley......... it was parked around the back where it is often found, along with a Vintage Bentley that had come along to the AMOC's event....and I know he didn't mind as he was the Patron of the event for me, and did a fabulous job of hosting it, in recognition of his debt to JW who gave him his first Le Mans Victory!!

So perhaps you'd like to join us this year as there are still a few tickets left which can be bought through the Club??

[blueg33]

Thanks very much for your reply and invitation. You have swung me by posting a pic of the most beautiful car ever made At doesn't it look great in the hotel's car park.

If you are always there, then I reckon we must have bumped into each other.

I would have accepted your invitation, but this year on Friday along with the race days I am a guest of Alpine (they invited me on saturday this week) who are running a car in LMP2. Judging by its pace at Silverstone a few weeks ago, it has a good chance of a class win.

Since my post I have been giving the issue a bit more thought, and next year if AMOC are there taking over the square I will try a different approach. Taxi from the Chateau (rather than drive), drink plenty of decent wine and enjoy the Astons. If the Aston event is mainly lunch time, then there may be space for me to park in the square in the evening, in which case I will have less wine at lunch.

I do agree La Chartre has been much quieter since the start of the recession, so maybe the Astons are not bad thing, and I do recognise the history, indeed the black and white photo of the two DB1R's (I think thats the right designation) parked up outside the hotel is something I enjoy looking at every year.

I'm sure Derek's car is better round the back (doesn't look so bad for Bentley when it gets dragged onto breakdown truck due to seized diff or some such)

Edited by blueg33 on Tuesday 4th June 20:22

[dencamera]

Dear Nick,

Thanks for getting back so quickly and I'm really sorry you can't make it....... but of course I completely understand, as that's quite an offer from Alpine.

I don't think I'll do anything in 2014..... but 2015 will be 50 years since GULF went back to sponsoring Motor racing, so I'm hoping that something special may happen at La Chartre then, so please watch this space!!

In the meantime I hope you like the attached photo and if you're around over the Le Mans w/e at La Chartre, do look me up and we can have a drink........ my car is the Blue V8 reg VMF 36.

All the best,

David

[annereed]

There are just under 20 tickets left for this event, so if you were thinking of going, now might be a good time to contact [e-mail] to book your place.

David Richards and Dr Bez have confirmed that they will both be attending and the new CC100 will almost certainly be joining us too ..........along with a V12 Vantage S and some other cars that are ‘hot of the press’ from Gaydon.

Anne