The success of the Return to Billancourt encouraged the Renault management to stage continental runs again, albeit on a smaller scale. Over the next twelve years Alan Dakers and Tony Ronald promoted runs to Normandy, Holland, Brittany and, of course, the Paris to Vienna.

The spirit of the events was always the same and Tony Ronald’s introduction to the 1975 "Rallye des Amateurs d’Anciennes Renault" trip to Caen summed it up. In it he said that: "incidentally there are no points or awards for completing the course for this is not a rally in the true sense of a competitive event. We use the word in its other meaning, that is to say ‘a getting together’".

I did not take part in the Billancourt run but was fortunate to participate in all the others. I always took the 1901 4.5hp car accompanying my mentor in old cars, Phillip Fotheringham-Parker in his 1902 car. The first was a trip to Rouen in April when it snowed and as the slowest car we always seemed to arrive at the lunch stops last with a patient Bill Willis keeping us company as tail end Charlie! As with the Billancourt run we had a gendarme escort who seemed to consume the same amount of alcohol as we did.

In 1972 we went to Holland. As with all these events the organisation and the route was prepared by Renault’s travel agents, Page and Moy, and one outstanding memory of this trip was the errors in the route notes. Still with the slowest car I would start off first and soon everyone would roar past only to find at a later junction several Renaults coming in from all possible directions. There was one flyover we went over where you could look at the roads below and see Renaults scattered all over the country.

Most of the time the entrants were the same. Apart from myself the 1975 entry list of just twenty-two cars included Messrs Base, Collinson, Dorrington, Harvey, Hamish Wilson, Mills, Ronald, Sharpe, Taverner, Thompson and Young. All of these were strong supporters of the new venture though sadly several have died since.

I remember the trip to Caen in 1975 well because having got off the night boat at le Havre we drove around to Honfleur for lunch. On the way my top gear, which is the direct drive, started slipping and we had to complete the drive in second, even slower than usual. We would have struggled to reach Caen that day so Alan Dakers suggested towing me. I duly removed the propshaft to avoid any further damage and my navigator, Tony Keller, opted for the tow car with Alan. We started out sedately to begin with until their discussion became more voluble, (you could tell by the arms waving) and I was forgotten. I have never been so fast in that car and no amount of waving on my part could remind Alan of my presence.

Thankfully the wheels stayed on and we reached the hotel in Caen in one piece. Tony and I took the gearbox out and the usual car park mechanics helped out with advice and tools. A spring had broken that held the drive in place so a nifty repair and we were back in business in time for lunch at Bayeux the next day.

The other memory from that trip was the visit to the Saviem factory on the outskirts of Caen. Here we were entertained to a tour of the factory and another liquid lunch. They gave us also a t-shirt each in bright yellow with the words ‘je suis un routier muscle’ on it. It was an interesting site to see one lady member of the party attempting to put these on as a form of shorts whilst standing on a table!