Thomas Morales is a writer and columnist at Causeur. Latest work published:
Monsieur Nostalgie
(ed. Héliopoles, 2023).
Historically, we are witnessing an ideological shift, timid for the moment, but very much alive throughout the country.
Something that comes from the depths of the provinces and not the territories as it is customary to call them out of pure technocratic irony.
A breath from within, the words finally come out, the anger that has been suppressed for too long tries to make its way through sclerotic information, a form of pride in professions, traditions, landscapes, poetics without petition and popular culture assumed;
shame changes sides, little by little.
It was time.
Rétromobile, which opens its doors on Wednesday, is the place where the “banished of the Rolling Republic”, those who bring the heritage of locomotion in the broad sense and confess their immoderate love, meet at the start of each year in Paris. without false modesty, for the automobile thing.
People who resist the virtuality of relationships who prefer to meet all year round, in the shadow of Les Invalides or in a parking lot in a commercial area of Bourges, Plougastel-Daoulas or Avignon, one Sunday a month, and chat around their cars, in a spirit of harmony and mutual aid, without social resentment or class contempt.
This is the greatness of this environment, one of the last communities where owners with diametrically opposed incomes, divergent opinions and beliefs, coming from chic suburbs or mountain villages, retirees or young professionals, lovers of " Youngtimers” or “pre-War”, put their particularism in the garage and speak freely.
No sectarianism, no jealousy, no fear that usually plagues French society is expressed in these gatherings.
The owner of an Aston Martin DB5 rubs shoulders with the VéloSoleX enthusiast, the owner of a Ferrari 250 GT is moved by an Ondine, we exchange for the first time and this famous “living together” takes shape.
It is not an artificial invention of those in power to ease identity tensions, it is there, very real.
With a vaguely compassionate look, we judge it to be old-fashioned, outdated and useless;
under the carpet of Europe and globalization, we must quickly sweep away these traces of “polluting” humanities, these old-fashioned pleasures as Aznavour sang.
Tom Morales
This other France is discreet by nature, it does not campaign, moreover it does not have any powerful associative relay to carry its cause, it respects the law, it pays its taxes, it does not make the headlines of the burning news and she knows she is assigned a folkloric role in the media field.
She's not fooled.
With a vaguely compassionate look, we judge it to be old-fashioned, outdated and useless;
under the carpet of Europe and globalization, we must quickly sweep away these traces of “polluting” humanities, these old-fashioned pleasures as Aznavour sang.
In fact, we barely tolerate her; some activists would still like to settle her score and put an end to these old days of the Trente Glorieuses.
To be interested in "cars", to hear this hint of anger in their intonation, is to be reactionary, low-minded and certainly carrying the first signs of senile dementia.
Without complaining or crying victimization, collectors roll with the punches and continue to share their passion.
They make fun of this unfair treatment, they are used to sarcasm and defamatory campaigns.
And above all, they know that their action, the policy of small steps, is beginning to bear fruit, that the world of the old has today become a solid economic sector, a long chain which goes from clubs to hoteliers, to coachbuilders to auctioneers, from mechanics to art galleries, from training schools to crafts, from industry to tourism.
This virtuous ecosystem which recycles and does not push for overproduction has prospered in virtual general indifference.
At the very moment when the authorities wanted to subdue the motorist, peaceful resistance was being organized which attracted new generations.
The old automobile is not stale, it is proof that a brilliant civilization existed and irrigated all the arts.
Tom Morales
Rétromobile is the showcase of the sector, it shows its diversity and abundance.
Where is it possible to see under the same roof and inside the ring road, the adventurers of the first Paris-Dakar, a Centurion heavy tank from the Armored Museum of Saumur, a Peugeot 403 station wagon from the National Gendarmerie Museum, celebrate the centenary of Linas-Montlhéry, this autodrome with the leaning bend or to remember the Monneret family, this school of champions, to meet Sébastien Loeb and attend an auction, to hunt for books, spare parts , enameled plaques and miniatures or to glean expert advice for a future purchase?
No, the old automobile is not rancid, it is proof that a brilliant civilization existed and irrigated all the arts.
It's Morand at the wheel of his Bugatti, Sagan in a Lotus Super Seven on the lawn of his mansion in Normandy, Gill Jourdan in his yellow Dauphine, Jean-Paul Belmondo and the 404 of "Pierrot le fou" at Godard, James Bond in 2CV riddled with bullets, François Nourissier and Roland Barthes, or Claude Lelouch, in the early morning, in “It was a meeting”, between Place Dauphine and Montmartre.
Style and memory, a beautiful program.