I first discovered the name Montier when reading about the Le Mans 24-hour race I noticed someone had finished 14th in the first – 1923 – event, and then tried again in '24 and '25. Whoever this Montier was, he was driving a Ford !!! We all know, Ford only made one model back then, the Model T, and yet this one had raced and was cl***ified in a respectable finish. I had to find out more about the mysterious C. Montier. I found a bit more on the French Model T group website, and that in turn pointed me toward a book, ‘Et Vint la Ford T’ by Fabien Sabates. That told me more and from there I persevered in my research as I realised here was quite a story that had never been told in English. I wrote a few short reports for various club magazines and then contacted Peter Vack at the VeloceToday.com website. He was interested to use it on his weekly updates but he also suggested we publish it in booklet form which was useful in that it flushed out some more contacts and info which led to the new much bigger book. One contact in France, Pierre, who was restoring his own Montier-Ford was very helpful with putting me in touch with others and suggested I write the book in French too (languages were the only thing I was good at in school) as there was so little known even in his home country. I agreed as long as he would proof read my text. Meanwhile some locals in Richelieu who had helped with tracing some family records (births, deaths, marriages etc) were working with the FFVE ( Fédération Française des Véhicules d'Époque ) to arrange the erection of a ‘blue plaque’ at the site of the old Montier family forge on the edge of town. Last year, it was then suggested publication was timed to coincide with their plans in Richelieu. A date for the unveiling of the plaque was set to coincide with the biennial vintage car rally that takes place in the grounds of the old chateau on the first weekend in September and they invited a few Montier-Ford owners to join in the celebrations. So, I was invited to attend to launch the book at this special event and although it is a long way to go from Australia just for a weekend it was too good an opportunity to p*** up. I duly made arrangements to fly to Paris and take a fast TGV train south to Chatellerault where I was picked up by a friend of Pierre’s ( in a Cadillac ! ) and taken to Richelieu and put up in a charming old 17th century hotel in the centre of this historic town. Ignoring any jetlag, I was driven around the town in various noisy ‘speedsters’ wined and dined and generally given the VIP treatment by a group of friendly locals. Saturday morning started in the old market hall in the town square with a presentation of four Montier-Fords, accompanied by a nicely restored Model T and a pair of wild Speedsters. There were speeches from the Mayor and various locals who shared an interest, even I braved a speech in French to the ***embled crowd. This group then moved on to the edge of town to unveil the plaque and in the afternoon adjourned noisily to the nearby park, part of the estate of Cardinal Richelieu’s old chateau, to join the rest of the rally. Sunday continued the party in the park and many vintage and veterans convoyed, along with tractors and motorbikes, on a drive through some scenic countryside returning for yet more impressive catering. In between all of this partying I sold all fifty copies of the French version of the book that I had taken along for the occasion and half a dozen in English. After a couple of days playing ‘tourist’ in Paris I returned home, tired but much impressed with the French hospitality and their enthusiasm for a small part of their motoring heritage. For anyone interested the English book is ***led ‘Charles Montier and his French Racing Fords’ available for AU$45, about US$30, from Amazon (the French version is sub-***led ‘Sorcier de la Model T’, make sure you order the right one!) remember if you order from your local Amazon depending on which country you are in, to keep postage costs down.
The Jalopy Journal
