14. François ALLAIN - The MyLittleRedCar column in AUTOHEROES #025

The remains of François Allain's Circuit 24 Jaguar E-Type. William Lyons's masterpiece, designed by aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer (who also designed the C and D-Types), remains an emblem of the sixties...

Barely three feet tall, I remember repainting the miniature cars that had belonged to my father or my brother. I customized them according to my more or less fanciful desires.
As soon as I was old enough to drive on the legendary Circuit 24, I took the wheel of those little electric racing cars. I've just rediscovered a prized relic: a mythical Jaguar E-Type. The very one in which I used to battle my brother in endless, circular duels. For me, it already represented one of the most beautiful cars designed in the 20th century! And of course, it's because we were both born in the same decade that this Jaguar is particularly dear to me! In this photo taken by Julien for My Little Red Car, you'll notice that the driver has been removed. Clearly, it was a Freudian slip! Indeed, from the late 70s onward, I passionately dreamed of taking the place of the drivers leaving the Trocadero for Dakar. Believe me, watching them depart sealed the deal for me, forever changing my taste for rallying!

Other memories flood back when I think of my childhood joys related to cars. There's my father's Peugeot 404, in which we regularly went on family picnics to the Parc de Saint-Cloud. There's that Christmas Eve in 1973 when my father totaled the family car in his haste to buy a present for my mother! We had to change cars for a smaller one, as the old one was becoming too big for us city dwellers. I can still see myself hoping he would pick me up from school in a 304 S Coupé, but it ended up being a sedan, in which I would learn to drive a few years later. There's the treasure trove of Roger Brioult's collection, a cousin retired in Normandy who had founded the Revue Technique Automobile (Technical Automotive Review). There are the holidays in Brittany where our neighbor would arrive every weekend in a Datsun and then a Nissan Z, because he worked for Jean-Pierre Richard, the importer himself! There was also an Isetta Velam sitting in the garage, and if my memory serves me right, a Fiat 500 Jardinière. Above all, there's a good dose of nostalgia enveloping all these reminiscences, and I remain certain that these slices of life, these little nothings, these tiny pleasures have seeped into me and shaped the contours of my passion for automobiles.

Believe me, before I turned 18, I was counting down the days until I got my driver's license, that coveted prize! A Peugeot 204 was my first car. I couldn't afford a 205 GTI, so I opted for a "youngtimer" of the era. My collecting adventure was just beginning. Very quickly, Fiats, Autobianchis, Citroëns, and Porsches entered my life. Thirty-five years later, my collection is quite eclectic, ranging from a tiny Vespa 400 to a monumental English taxi! Looking closely, it's the cars from the sixties, born in my decade, that make up the bulk of it. Collectors seem to be influenced by the cars they saw in their childhood, and I'm a perfect example!

I rediscovered the little Jaguar E-Type in a box of toys my mother had kept for over half a century! It's a real treasure for me, now proudly displayed in my cabinets, where memories evoke that kind of joyful melancholy that so often accompanies enthusiasm in the souls of collectors!

François Allain for MyLittleRedCar