This couldn`t be true. Well, let me tell you it was true!

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I can without a doubt say, that what I have seen this last weekend (the 2nd and 3rd of June) is one of the craziest but fun events I have ever been to (in my short life). We were one of the lucky ones to be invited to Festival of Slowth (FOS). This year the 2nd edition in France. Last week we already published a feature about this exclusive event, in which Kate told us about previous years “it is the best fun I have ever had with my clothes on”. She was ever so enthusiastic.

So we set off on Friday morning for a long drive to Burgundy, an east-central region in France. Unfortunately, we do not have a vehicle to participate ourselves so we took our modern (promotion) PreWarCar.com mobile. We had absolutely no idea what to expect, after seeing the list of participants and their (pre-war) motorcycles and (cycle) cars with some makes we had never heard of… (and we have seen quite some things passing on PreWarCar.com). They say that "a photograph says more than a thousand words", but this time we still did not have a clue.

When we almost reached our destination, we already passed some of the participating vehicles. First, we had a laugh, middle-aged man and women in small, for like 1 ½ person, in a sort of funny looking go-karts, making a lot of noise, but skilful manoeuvring through the French country sides. It looked really good fun, but was this serious? This were only two cars, but would we find more of them in a different embodiment when we finally reached our destination? This couldn`t be true. Well, let me tell you it was true!

On Saturday morning we arrived early at Camping Etang du Merle, in Crux la Ville to see all the vehicles before they set off. Between the campervans and tents, we found the trailers with the cycle-cars, ones that looked more like cars and some motorcycles. The participants were just having breakfast and some of them needed to make the last alterations. Like with every rally really.

More than one hour later than planned, the starting short was literally given by a man with a shotgun. Some of them needed a push start, were towed, or of course, started their engines and were off! It was really good to see, that it really did not matter with what kind of vehicle you participated, the state of the vehicle and the value of the vehicle. Every single participant was passionate about his/her (cycle) car and eccentric (in a good way). One of the key things you need to be here, I personally think.

The surrounding was absolutely stunning. The (cycle) cars drove through old villages where they stopped at one of the townhalls (Mairie) for a drink. After a visit to the church, they continued their way to Chateau de Mongazon in Saint Frachy. After a real French Lunch with baguettes, pate and wine there was more than enough time to walk around the estate and have a closer look at all the pre-wars. A race and autotest were held where every individual could show his or her skills in these small (and most of them ever so fast) and nimble cars. After arriving back at the camping a total of approximately 20 miles was completed by the cars. You probably think 20 miles on a whole day?! Yes, that is what I first thought I must admit. But let me tell you, this is enough for most of the vehicles that participated, as they are so fragile.

In the evening a dinner was served at St Saulge Village Hall. Some participants voluntarily performed as musicians and cabaret were staged. But as it was in the French language, it was not as funny for the Brits as the French, and had absolutely no idea where it was about… The prices were awarded, and as PreWarCar.com is one of the Partners and Sponsors of the event, Laurens awarded the one and only PreWarCar.com “Best of Slowth” award to the 1922 De Marçay. Which was a lovely end to a very successful day!

Sunday a small lap of approximately 10 miles was made and the event was ended with a tasty joined lunch.

We would really like to thank the organization of FOS, the participants, and the marshals for the wonderful weekend. We would also like to thank the owners of Chateau de Mongazon for their hospitality. We absolutely had a great time! In the first instance we had no idea what to expect, but if you are (a little bit) crazy, do not take yourself too seriously, don't expect any luxurious hotels or restaurants and would like a lot of fun, this is definitely the event to go to!

Words and photographs by Morris Klein.

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