Best of France & Italy
Franco-Italian rolling stock
Car nuts who live in the Los Angeles or its environs are in the right place. At least one car show, auto race, swap meet, or burger joint hootenanny happens every weekend the year round. The self-service junkyards are open everyday. No matter which way one's crankshaft spins, there's always a social gathering based around the automobile. For those who enjoy French and Italian automobiles, there is no better get-together than the Best of France and Italy in Van Nuys, California.
Concours for the Masses
Enthusiasm for these unsung heroes of the North American automotive enthusiast world must be monitored carefully while attending the event, as most all of the vehicles on display at the show are also for sale. Driving home in a 1986 Citroen DX might be the result of excessive hydro-pneumatic excitement. Striped turtlenecks and berets and making like Marcel Marceau could not be that much further behind. Trading in the family runabout for a Fiat 500 and buzzing up a mountain road wearing wraparound sunglasses is also a concern.
Started as a car show for those who didn't have a car show, the annual event welcomes cars of French and Italian manufacture along with those vehicles from other countries designed by denizens of either country. If none of that really makes much sense then the best thing to do is just enjoy a few of the cars and contraptions that made help make the show a good time for all. For more information, head on over to France or Italy at http://franceanditaly.com/.
This 1973 Austin Innocenti Mini Bertone model M120 is the end result of a collaborative manufacturing effort between the English and Italian companies. Innocenti was established by Ferdinando Innocenti himself, and is also famous for making Lambretta motor scooters. Bertone designed the body, which sits atop an Austin Mini chassis.
No this Citroen 2CV doesn't really take to the heavens, but it does have wings. The "flying" 2CV was built for the 1999 Paris Air Show as an exhibition plane, uh, car.
Owner Paul Greenstien shown here leaning drove this 1935 Peugeot 302 model. Paul says the car does get cleaned, but only when washed.
The Renault R5 in its front-wheel-drive stock form was known in the U.S. as Le Car. The homologated rear-wheel-drive turbocharged mid-engine homologated for rally racing version Renault R5 is the ultimate hot hatch. This one hails from 1982 in white.
For comparison purposes is an actual 1982 Renault Le Car in faded silver and front-wheel drive.
Taking Italian design back to the home country is this 1972 Junior Zagato. The original 1600cc engine in this case was upgraded to a 2000cc unit to add some more speed to style.
A fine example of France and Italy coming together is the legendary Citroen DS. This one is a 1975 DS23 Pallas. Supreme luxury and futuristic design is rides atop a hydro-pneumatic suspension for glass smooth self-leveling executive level motoring. Italian designer and sculptor Flaminio Bertoni designed the DS, as well as the more utilitarian Citroen 2CV.
Racecar manufacturer Abarth sometimes worked over otherwise sedate runabouts. Case in point is this 1964 Fiat Abarth 850 TC. The owner of this one has taken things a bit further. The Fiat packs an air-cooled engine driving the back wheels. This may explain the permanently mounted open for aero and engine cooling rear decklid.
In its grocery getting form the Fiat 850 is slightly more sedate, but features a pair of headlamps that look toward its French cousin, the Renault Dauphine.
Goofy-eyed econoboxes and hopped up hatchbacks were not the only cars on the lawn. When it comes to slopey and sexy mid-engine exotic Italian sports cars, the Lamborghini Miura has no equal.
Back to France in a Matra Djet! The little fiberglass-bodied sports car was manufactured from 1962-1967 and housed a 1.1 Liter Renault powerplant mounted amidships. Djet is pronounced jet.
No Italian car show would be complete without at least one Cinquecento, or Fiat 500. The Fiat 500 was manufactured from 1957-1975. This 1970 500F had been worked over for runs up the mountain with an Abarth 695cc powerplant, all two cylinders of which live out back and drive the rear wheels.
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