Surpassing oneself is the great business of humanity.
This year, the Rétromobile show is, among other things, shining the spotlight on these challenges by taking us in the footsteps of automobile, motorcycle and aerial records, which fueled the 20th century.
In the spotlight, the Linas-Montlhéry autodrome is celebrating its centenary.
This circuit has long been the scene of numerous speed and distance records.
In 1925, Renault achieved a series of exploits with a 40 HP 9-liter engine, traveling around the ring at 178.475 km/h and running for 24 hours at an average speed of 141.031 km/h.
The following decade, the 8-cylinder Panhard broke the world hour record at 214.064 km/h and the Citroën Rosalie ran for 3,000 km at 160 km/h.
Georges Monneret and his son Philippe.
Monneret
Rétromobile also reminds us that the Ile-de-France circuit was one of the highlights of the Monneret family's exploits.
In 1951, riding a Puch 125 TS, Georges completed a 40,000 km world tour in Montlhéry with his son Pierre in 24 days, 21 hours and 43 minutes.
Twenty years later, Georges sets the table again with his last son.
For his 12th birthday, Philippe rides for 24 hours with his father on a Peugeot 104 moped (2).
A diehard, Georges spent his life going where no one dares to venture.
His obsession with records led him to travel from Paris to Alpe-d'Huez in a Vespa, then with the same machine to cross the Sahara, and finally to complete a Paris-London trip in barely 5.5 hours by crossing the Channel on his Italian scooter transformed into a pedal boat-catamaran.
At Renault, a Rafale C460 plane
1953 MG TD Midget. Heritage Motor Center
Another centenary also celebrated, that of the MG brand, which has a rich history on record tracks.
From the 1930s, she performed internationally.
His race for exploits changed terrain after the war.
In October 1946, on the Belgian Jabbeke highway, driver Goldie Gardner shattered the record at 256.13 km/h.
Renault's Shooting Star.
sdp
Records set on Utah's salt lake
Ten years later, it is the turn of Renault's Shooting Star, a prototype powered by a turbine engine, to achieve unrivaled performance at 308.85 km/h on the salt lake of Bonneville, in Utah.
Also on display at Renault is a Rafale C460 plane, a single-seat monoplane designed by aerodynamicist Marcel Riffard and which was the first to exceed 500 km/h.
The opportunity to remember that Louis Renault had acquired the Caudron brand in the early 1930s.
The Caudron Rafale with a Renault engine.
Renault Communication - All rights reserved/sdp
Returning to the footsteps of the Dakar Rally...
The 2024 edition has barely ended, the Dakar rally is setting up its bivouac at Rétromobile for a fascinating retrospective.
Around fifteen vehicles, including five motorcycles, tell the story of this competition which forever changed the face of motorsport.
At the initiative of Thierry Sabine, the first Dakar started from Paris on December 26, 1978, taking 200 competitors, mainly bikers, across Africa.
The combined car-motorcycle classification rewards Cyril Neveu, riding a Yamaha XT 500.
Porsche
The adventure is underway.
This rally-raid will nourish some of the most beautiful pages of human and sporting challenges.
Jacky Ickx but also Cyril Neveu, Stéphane Peterhansel, André Dessoude and Thierry de Montcorgé will be present at the show to share their stories with the public.
Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Paris 15th, from January 31 to February 4. Late nights until 10 p.m. on January 31 and February 2. Web price: €19, free for children under 12 (Retromobile.fr).