Baguettes? No bread and butter for these Frenchies. Mais non: BaRQuettes! Or containers. Or, probably more accurate, small boats. And yes: the Italians call these ‘Barchettas’! With body work making it hard to tell what’s the front or what’s the rear-end.
Both these ‘Barquettes’ are based on the Renault 4CV. The first one, with number 56, is a BMS ‘Guy Michel’. The second one, with the looks of a bath-tub, is a Vernet-Pairard ‘record car’. Nicknamed the ‘Tank’.
I’ve said it before: the Renault 4CV often was used as a base to create awesome ‘sportscars’. The ‘Tank’ for instance. Back then good for 8 world records with it’s aerodynamic body. Created by Just-Emile Vernet, mechanic, and Jean Pairard, industrialist. Those 1952 records probably had to do with high average speeds because they were set on Monthléry.
And Monthléry was a high speed ring, a banked circuit which makes high averages possible, even with this tiny 750cc engine. Tuned by Renault’s competition department it got enough power to create a top-speed of 175 km/h. And with all this glory and power, in 1955, it was sent to... Le Mans.
But Vernet et Pairard tried to win Le Mans with other cars first, unsuccessful though (they once finished last!) and this one wasn’t a success either. But that’s for another time because we’ve got that other Barquette to talk about as well.
The 4CV ‘Bosvin-Michel-Special’, or BMS, was a co-development of Camille Bosvin and Guy Michel. And although the 4CV had the engine in it’s back, Camille Bosvin turned the BMS into a mid-engined MR-layout. For the creation of it’s body BMS turned to specialist ‘Chappe et Gessalin’.
The engine got tweaked of course, the real old-school method of tuning. ‘Sharpened’ camshaft. Bigger/more carburetors (on same side of the engine as it’s exhaust!). Also decreased capacity to get it in the 750cc class. It didn’t even weigh 500kgs!!!!
It didn’t win Le Mans but was quite successful in another epic but historic French race: the Bol d’Or. The Bol d’Or was actually a motorcycle race but cars with engines smaller than 1100cc (later on somewhat bigger engines were allowed) were also allowed to compete. But most amazing fact about this Bol d’Or was the fact that the amount of drivers was limited to 1 for the entire race. ‘So what?’ you ask? Well, it’s a 24 hours endurance race...
So it won it’s class several times in that race (with Guy Michel himself behind the wheel), even getting the overall win in 1952. Officially that one is stated for Michel driving a Renault 4CV but as the Bol d’Or was meant for ‘slightly altered production cars’ maybe this was ‘BMS’’s way of making sure they could enter.
In 1955 Camille Bosvin died, making it the end of BMS. Last tuesday I said I thought I didn’t own anything much older than the Monza’s 1955 but these clearly are. I had a new ‘track diorama’ (more on that in a later post) so I opened my box of ‘track’ 1/43s and boy was I glad I found them, I simply had forgotten about these two (I’ve got a race and a rally-4CV to join as well)!
They’re both 1/43s from Eligor. And I love their details. Alright, the leather straps on the BMS are just painted bumps on the casting itself. But Eligor never was a real expensive brand, if I paid over 8 euros for these I would be surprised. The look of the BMS appeals to me better personally.
So that’s it for this week’s French Friday, c’est ca. And I promise (probably again but this time I’m certain!) to ‘fast forward’ to somewhat more modern cars next week. It’s about time to let go of those 50’s. Au revoir!