(en Francais au-dessous)
our translation from an article which has been published in “Le Courrier Des Yvelines” on 16. Aug. 2017, and which we discovered recently:
The Association “L’Aventure Peugeot Citroën DS” wants to boost the local automotive heritage
The association, whose mission is to promote the heritage of the three automobile brands, will set up by September 22nd, 2017 in PSA’s premises in Carrières-sous-Poissy, in conjunction with the Poissy tertiary sector.
Relatively little-known, the association “l’ Aventure Automobile in Poissy” (CAAPY) exists in Camères-sous-Poissy since 1984. Volunteers share a common interest in their passion for these vehicles that marked the history of the site of Poissy’s production since 1938. They are in charge of the maintenance of a collection with a hundred vehicles “made in Poissy”, brand names as different as Peugeot, Ford, Mathis, Matford, Donnet, Zedel, Clément or Darracq. These cars will be visible in particular for the public during the weekend of September 16th and 17th 2017 on the occasion of the European Heritage Days.
Even less known is that this association is linked to another, “L’Aventure Peugeot Citroen DS”, chaired by Xavier Peugeot. Its headquarters are in Sochaux, and for a few more days, an office located at PSA headquarters, Avenue de la Grande-Armée, at Paris.
In the context of the grand moving out of automotive group in Poissy and Rueil-Malmaison, this office will be transferred by September 22nd, at the CAAPY facility in Carnères-sous-Poissy.
Free visits with digital tablets
“We are not transferring the association’s headquarters to Carrières-sous-Poissy,”says Xavier Crespin, Executive Director of “L’Aventure Peugeot Citroen DS”. Only the Parisian office with its three employees and his volunteers, moves out.
“The association counts 40 employees, and most of them are located in Sochaux at the Museum Peugeot” he says. This move is accompanied by a desire to capitalize on the work of CAAPY, as part of the priority activities within the framework of entities of L’Aventure Peugeot Citroen DS.
Among these activities the intention is to “make more visible the total number of 1400 vehicles aggregated in the collections from the Peugeot Museum in Sochaux, from the “Conservatoire Citroën” in Aulnay-sous-Bois and and those in Carrières-sous-Poissy… In the museum of Peugeot, we are working on a system of free visits with digital tablets, and we intend to enable the same thing as part of the CAAPY collection.”
According to the director, this solution would relieve the tens of active volunteers from CAAPY and limit costs by hiring of people to work on site.
One consideration currently being investigated into is to propose a a wider range and rearrangement of infrastructure and facilities, including the three existing lifts and the workshop that can accommodate simultaneously four to five vintage vehicles which may require technical maintenance or restoration.
“The goal is not to be able to do all the necessary types of work ourselves”, says Xavier Crespin. “We are rather escorting others, and our intention is to provide support to collectors to connect them to the right type craftsmen (body repairers, painters etc.) as part of our network.”
A Platform for Commercialization and Spare Parts
The CAAPY site could also be be rented for private events of individuals, associations or companies, party night type, seminar, etc.
“We have not certainly not the capacity to welcome 250 people, but about 40: yes.” says Crespin.
The other purpose of these actions is to generate revenue for the Association so that it can ensure a certain degree of independence from the PSA group.
“7.5 Million Euro are needed per year to operate all entities. So we have to find all the possible economic potential offerings to decrease the burden we represent for the PSA Group.”
Campaigns for e.g. crowdfunding restoration projects of a vehicle or a collection of documents, obtaining a formal status of public interest, and the organization of auctions are amongst the options which are being explored.
Within the next three years, “L’Aventure Peugeot Citroen DS” intends to put in place, probably in Poissy, an international platform for historic spare parts provisioning, including remanufacturing of pieces by utilizing some of the PSA Group’s own facilities in Aulnay-sous-Bois and Limoges.
“Our transfer to Careers-sous-Poissy is going to be accompanied by several events” finally promises Xavier Crespin. This will include an annual event, similar to the classic car event for enthusiasts like the one in Sochaux with Peugeot Adventure.”
So far our translation of the article.
It should be annotated that the crowdfunded restoration project had been a proposal by ACI already 10 years ago, in November 2007, towards the Conservatoire. We are happy to see this materialize now and hope that this initiative can be successful.
See also / la version francaise en original:
https://www.pressreader.com/france/le-courrier-des-yvelines-poissy/20170816/281921658154447
Nice
But : lessen the burden we represent for PSA says enough doesn’t it?
Hello Tom,
first – this is a translation of a press article about L’Aventure. From an ACI perspective, we value the engagement to separate the heritage of the PSA Group from the every day business within the group, and also understand that L’Aventure has an interest to become a profitable (or at least, cost covering) Association.
The ACI resp. the clubs and members behind do have a different situation. First of all, the clubs are financially not depending on PSA but rather contribute with their assets to the positive brand perception of Citroën and DS. Vehicles such as 2CV, DS, CX, but also “modern classics” such as the C6 and actual models such as the DS3 do not only attract enthusiasts – the fans actively contribute as “brand ambassadors” to the image of the brands, every day. Their engagement, their expertise about the vehicle, its history and also technology innovations greatly support Citroën and DS in their ambition to strengthen a reputation. What the manufacturer’s hotlines can not offer, is most often found in enthusiast web forums, newsletters, journals and other channels.
For Citroën and DS, thus we have established national partnerships amongst the clubs (represented by ACI) and the company, to create tangible win-win scenarios in various areas. We are sure that this partnership will continue to exist and grow also in those countries where they are formally not established yet.
Please do not forget – the biggest growth in engaging with the brand is not happening on vintage cars, but along so-called “Youngtimers” (aged 20-30 years) and vehicles sold today.
L’Aventure, preserving the heritage of the Group, is another party now, adding to our long-year bilateral cooperation. We will not be of “burden” for neither L’Aventure nor the PSA Group, but rather strive to create a cooperation between all the parties, for the benefits of the clubs and their members.
We shall keep you updated about proceedings on our website over time – so stay tuned!
You say “vehicles “made in Poissy”, brand names as different as Peugeot, Ford, Mathis, Matford, Donnet, Zedel, Clément or Darracq.”
You forget to mention that the most important number of cars made in Poissy are the SIMCA before the Peugeot take over !
And none of the Mathis, Matford, Donnet, Zedel, Clément or Darracq were made there !
Bonjour Gilles – don’t shoot the messenger! We recommend you to comment on the website of the journal directly.
SIMCA was the precurseur. SIMCA stands for Societe Industrielle de Mechaniuq et de Carrosserie Automobile. It was dirceted by M. Henri Piggozi to whom is attributed the followxcpting replique: At the end of a meeting with the directors, he is said to have said: Vous etes tous des cons, excepte un. he never mentionned which one was the exception. He left abruptly.
Bonjour Michel, thank you for this anecdote – stories like this “from first hand” are very inspiring to many of us! Maybe you find some time to record your story about Simca in Canada in one way or another? The Simca enthusiasts worldwide certainly would love to hear from you…
I saw the Talbot Samba Cabriolet in your museum and was wondering what the history is behind it how many miles/km has it done.
Thanks.