The Tour had started earlier that week, with 22 cars setting out on a trip from chateau to chateau, in stunning French countryside and on incomparable RN roads of the type used as a route by the original Tour de France Automobile.
After many days of stormy weather, the normally immaculate cars looked as if they’d come straight from the race track or a rally stage in the early 1960s.
The GT cars – in many experts’ opinion among the most valuable in the world – had been shipped in from North America, the Far East and locations across Europe.
Three body types were present: the original cars; the rarer ‘1964’, more aerodynamic design; and the only one bodied with coachwork of the type used in the Ferrari 330 LMB, chassis 4713 GT. The latter was one of many with original Le Mans 24 Hours racing history (6th overall in 1963) and was joined by Nick Mason’s 3757 GT (3rd overall in 1962) and Sir Anthony Bamford’s 4399 GT (6th overall in 1964).
The field also included the winning car of the 1964 Tour de France Automobile, chassis 4153 GT, and the famous pale green, ex-UDT Laystall GTO - 3505 GT - which Innes Ireland shared with Graham Hill at the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hours (retired) and then, driving solo, in which he won the 1962 Royal Automobile Trophy at Goodwood later that year.
Photos: Classic Driver
