The ACO tells the story of its 110-year history at Retromobile

The founders of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. From left to right: Georges Durand, Rene Pellier, Georges Carel, Gustave Singher

archives/ACO

2016 is an anniversary year for the Automobile Club de l'Ouest as the club is celebrating its 110 years of existence. To mark this occasion a 1300m2 exhibition will be put on at the Retromobile Show in Paris. Between 3-7 February, thanks to a well-designed, fully-researched setting, which will delight the fans, the ACO will retrace the 110 years it has devoted to the service of the motor car and motorists in general.

Retromobile is a first-class, must-visit show and a Mecca for enthusiasts, the curious and lovers of historic cars in France. The 41st exhibition will provide them with an opportunity to discover – or rediscover – artists, clubs, Federations, rally organizers, spare part dealers, manufacturers, restaurants, auctions, and above all models and collections of exceptional vehicles.

Thanks to this unique innovative exhibition the ACO will be at the heart of Retromobile on the footbridge that leads from Hall 1 to Hall 2.2. The club will showcase its illustrious past with four major exhibits and present the diversity of its activities over the years.

• The ACO, an adventure that began in 1906

Thanks to the recreation of the ACO office in 1906 the first space will take the visitor back to what was a visionary idea for the era. It was the brainchild of Georges Durand, Rene Pellier, Georges Carel and Gustave Singher who, on 24th January 1906, founded the Automobile Club de la Sarthe, the original name of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest. The aim was to unite motor car enthusiasts in what was a revolutionary new means of transport for the era. After that came the birth of the ACO with the creation and organisation of the first French Grand Prix for cars on 26-27 June 1906, which attracted a huge crowd. It was followed by the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1923, which has enjoyed increasing success ever since. The visitors will also discover a lesser-known aspect of the ACO's past, in the field of aviation in particular. The exhibition will look back at the flights carried out in 1908 on the Mulsanne straight by American inventor Wilbur Wright's planes with the backing of the ACO. The town of Le Mans became a pioneer in aviation for six months as the plane was improved and it culminated in the first flight to exceed two hours!

• The ACO for its members

Visitors will then learn that thanks to generations of motorists that have put their trust in the club from 1910 onwards, the ACO has invested all its energy in serving its members who are all road users. It has participated in the battle against the dangers inherent in traffic in the improvements in roads and road signals as well as the creation of infrastructures. The club also represented its members with the public authorities, trained, informed and advised via its mobile road safety centers, which traveled all over the west of France. These have now become offices in the departments and still fulfill the same missions.
It is worth remembering that the ACO was behind the creation of "40 Million d'Automobilistes," an association of general interest which, since 2005, has been the privileged spokesman with the public authorities on the major questions concerning road safety, mobility and sustainable development.

• The ACO encourages vocations

In addition to its activities as an association the ACO's aim is to encourage vocations. Learning how to drive and the training of future talents are among its priorities. The "criterium du jeune pilote" created in 1957 provides youngsters with their first taste of driving, heightens the awareness of future drivers and educating them at the same time. The Le Mans Driver driving school provides track baptisms and various training courses for debutants or experienced drivers who are fans of two wheels or four. Finally, the ACO helps drivers move up to the top level with its endurance drivers' nursery, which enables them to hone their skills to meet the specific requirements of long-distance racing. Thus, from karts, a hotbed for future champions in motor sport, to the Le Mans 24 Hours, the ACO helps drivers to climb the steps leading to the upper echelons of endurance.

• The ACO and the Le Mans 24 Hours

The last space of this exhibition will plunge the public into the universe of the Le Mans 24 Hours of which the ACO is the creator and organizer since 1923. The Le Mans 24-Hours race is one those rare legendary events that drivers dream not only of taking part in, but above all of winning. It is quite simply the greatest endurance race in the world marked by sporting values and the quest to achieve memorable feats; and it tells the story of a heroic chapter in the history of the motor car. Over the years, the Sarthe classic has become a technological laboratory for manufacturers who test their safety innovations as well as engines in it before adapting them to series production. The greatest makes as well as the greatest drivers have, at one time or another, started this blue-riband motor sport event in which, unlike any other, competition, human adventure, and technological challenge are combined, all of which have helped write the legend of one of the oldest and most prestigious sporting events in the world.

From the Bollee three-wheeler to the no. 76 IMSA Matmut Porsche GT3 RSR victorious in 2013 in the LM GTE Am category, the Ferrari 330 P from the "criterium du jeune pilote" designed by Keith Haring in 1984, the Dino Berlinetta Speciale Pininfarina unveiled at the 1965 Paris Motor Show, the Porsche 904 GTS used by Michelin for testing, Jacques Seguela's Citroën 2 CV, the 1937 Chenard et Walcker tank and the Matra 670 B victorious in 1974, the ACO is displaying many exceptional vehicles from its collection and will also show unique previously-unseen period photographs.

A second 50m2 stand in Hall 1 will be devoted to the sale of both modern and historic collectors' items from the ACO (post cards, discs, official Le Mans 24-Hours programs of past events, photographs, etc.). As a reminder of Ford's return to Le Mans in 2016, a replica of the victorious Ford GT40 MkII in 1968 and 1969 will be on display.

Place: Exhibition Park Porte de Versailles – Halls: 1 and 2.2

Open to the public

• Wednesday 3rd February 2016: 10H00-22h00
• Thursday 4th February 2016: 10h00-19h00
• Friday 5th February 2016: 10h00-22h00
• Saturday 6th February 2016: 10h00-19h00
• Sunday 7th February 2016: 10h00-19h00 Tickets: on sale on www.retromobile.com or on the spot

Tickets: on sale on www.retromobile.com or on the spot
Full price: 16 euros on internet or 18 euros on the spot
Free for under 12 year olds.