"If you ask me, the French should only host one event: an invasion." - These words from agent Johnny English, played by Rowan Atkinson, inevitably came to mind, as the number of German and other foreign cars that lined up for the "French Car Meeting" in Kemptthal was very surprising: BMW M3, Audi TT, Lotus Elise, Mazda RX-8, ...
If you had looked at the zwischengas event calendar beforehand, you would have saved yourself a lot of confusion. Because then you would have known that parallel to the Swiss-German French Car Meeting with the English name, there was also the "Swiss Season Opening" on May 3, 2026 at Motorworld Kemptthal, which was independent of country, brand and model year and whose number of participants exceeded that of the "French Car Meeting" by about three times.
The pictures may be a little deceptive here, as the photographer made an effort to really only show French cars - which was not so easy at times, as the two events were not really spatially separated from each other, and Renault 5 and Citroën DS were so happily lined up next to Mercedes-AMG GT and Lamborghini Temerario. Only the first 150 meters after the entrance were really "pure".
On the one hand, this made for a certain intercultural exchange - but on the other hand, it made the announcement of a separate French get-together superfluous when everything that has two, three or four wheels and pays five francs is allowed in anyway. After all, at least three quarters of Francophile car enthusiasts would probably have come to the Swiss season opener even without a special invitation.
And so you never knew whether to be happy or annoyed. It was wonderfully diverse for a car meeting - but rather disappointing for a French car meeting. Typical throwaway cars that nobody really loved and which are therefore the salt in the scene soup today were almost completely absent: no Renault 6, no Citroën Visa, no Peugeot 305. Even the Renault 4 was scarce. You hardly saw any early Simcas, no late Talbot at all.
But that doesn't mean that there were no curiosities to be seen. How often do you come across a Renault Alliance Convertible on this side of the Atlantic? The convertible version of the R9 was once only offered on the North American market. The Namco Pony, a kind of Greek Citroën Méhari on a 2CV chassis, is also rarely seen in our climes. And a Facel Vega Excellence is always something special.
Then there were the cars that only reveal themselves as rarities at second glance. For example, the Citroën Xantia Activa, which could probably still compete with most of the super sports cars present in terms of road holding. Or the Citroën Evasion, which would have been ignored just a few years ago. Slowly, however, it and its Eurovan siblings seem to be old enough to trigger the first feelings of nostalgia. The sentence: "My parents used to have one of these." was uttered at least twice.
The large gray sedan was the only one of the Sevel quadruplets, but not the only one of its kind. The former competitor (strictly speaking, the subsequent model generation) Renault Espace was represented in double the number. The Renault Clio Williams, on the other hand, had no PSA competition to fear. Unfortunately, there was no Peugeot 205 GTI to be seen. But there was a remarkably well-maintained 106, which, together with a 405 Mi16 and a 406 Coupé, represented the nineties under the sign of the lion.
As a result, the "French Car Meeting" still offered plenty for fans of French motoring to enjoy. And yet one had to keep asking oneself how many Citroën, Peugeot and Renault owners were put off by the double occupancy and how much more there might have been to see if the French had been allowed a day just for themselves.
Perhaps next year it will be possible to separate the "Swiss Season Opening" from the "French Car Meeting" and set a separate date (sensibly an earlier one). Then there would be room for everyone who was missing this year: Simca Chambord, Talbot Tagora, Chrysler 180 - and above all: many small cars with diesel engines, perhaps the most French contribution to automobile culture.
