Good old times!

Created in 1905, the ‘Hôtel de France’ is located in the centre of France and, to be precise, in a charming little rural village named ‘La-Chartre-sur-le-Loir’ which has a population of 1,425. Although the hotel appears to be beautiful with a typical ‘Art déco’ façade, it is nothing really special…

However, this hotel was famous for almost 30 years, from the 50’s to the 70’s, for being the base camp for some of the top 24h-Le Mans car racing teams.

Located 26 miles from the Bugatti circuit, the hotel was fully booked by pilots and their teams who found it to be a peaceful ‘retreat’ where they could prepare their cars before the race. Would it be possible or should I say ‘melody’ in this case?

From Aston Martin to TVR, Ferrari, Ford, Porsche or Triumph racing teams, and from Derek Bell to Jackie Stewart, Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx or Caroll Shelby, all these guys fine-tuned their cars in the hotel’s backyard. Would today’s ‘poshest’ pilots or team managers put up with accommodation in a non-luxurious hotel with no Jacuzzi, king size bed nor gastronomic restaurant? 

During the week preceding the race and on D-day, cars were taken to the Circuit and back to the hotel via - the ‘Départementale 304’ – a secondary road which remained fully open to usual traffic. Could we imagine such a scene today? Certainly not. Traffic restrictions for ‘emitting’ vehicles, speed bumps and cameras would have definitely been impossible or obliged pilots to take a very long detour.

In the middle of the 60’s, a Renault standalone repairer set up in a former stable which was used when the hotel was still a post house.  The repairer was sharing the hotel backyard and he kindly gave access to his facilities for any job needed on racing the cars that required a ramp or a special tooling. An old-fashioned way to initiate somehow the ‘co-opetion’ concept we are currently discussing within the ICDP research programme! 

Would it be possible for a 2020’s little boy to pose for a similar picture with 2 Mirage M I Ford in front of his father’s workshop entrance? Certainly not and it is a shame. Today, he would need an expensive VIP-pass to visit team pits and with steam on his glasses created by his ‘FFP2’ medical face mask, he would not be able to take a picture at all!

Because of its glorious past, the hotel is still highly frequented by 'petrol-head' guys, classic car associations coming from all over Europe and even by car manufacturers for their internal meeting or to host special events. If you want to get a room at the ‘Hôtel de France’ you need to book a long time in advance… but the place is really nice, emotionally foremost and not far from many beautiful cultural or historic spots.

Maybe one day, e-car racing teams will come back to their roots and will book this hotel for their base camps… In this case, given that the Renault standalone repairer has definitely closed his doors (as many of his counterparts have also done, whatever the brand on their façade was), should the hotel owner plan on installing charging stations?

See you there!