French Cars

Classic Citroen
(photo: Telegraph)

Today's online editions ofThe New York Times included a feature piece about classic French cars. The article reports on the 38th annual Retromobile show, an event that showcases Gallic automotive ingenuity. Americans don't associate the land of Chanel and haute cuisine with engineering excellence. Yet, French firms have created some memorable, even wacky machines.

Among them are Citroens, Peugeots, and Renaults whose shapes would never have passed a Detroit Big Three review committee. During various visits to France, I've seen some of these vehicles. They often seemed held together with something other than sturdy bolts and suspensions. My favorite was M. Hulot's jalopy, which I saw courtesy of the funny Jacques Tati movie M. Hulot's Holiday. That film was as quirky as the car shown in it. There's something about the French sense of invention that remains appealing, even today, and it's on display now at Retromobile in Paris.