Luxembourg Figaro Rally – Sunday 21st / Wednesday 24th May 24th 2023

Words and Pictures Kevin Fagan
Like many of our members, we set off a few days before the rally started making our way to Folkstone on Friday and staying overnight to catch the morning shuttle tunnel. We had pre-arranged to meet Peter and Gillian Warnell in the car park so we could set off together but noticed another Figaro parked up which belonged to Steven and Gillian Nevin, so we now had three figs travelling together (safety in numbers!).

After the 35-minute train trip which is so relaxing, we all made our way in convoy to our next overnight stop, a pretty Chateau located in Marche-en-Famenne. Belgium. The 3 ½ hour drive went surprisingly quickly arriving mid-afternoon. The Chateau was just like we had imaged and hoped for as we made our way down the long drive. We had arranged to meet other members here too and before long the venue’s small courtyard car park was full of Figs.

Before long, the owner Alexander Rodrigues became the centre of attention as he was just like TV’S Basil Fawlty! As an example, when he showed Anne and Stuart Wrigley to their room he said, “Now there will be no partying in this room” and Stuart was thinking, ‘Do we look the type and age to be having an overnight rave in here’ lol.

“Now there will be no partying in this room” and Stuart was thinking, ‘Do we look the type and age to be having an overnight rave in here’ lol.

The next day, we set off in our ever-growing figgy convoy of six to the lunch meeting place which was in the town of Houffallise, Belgium. The weather was again superb and those who didn’t have their top boot full of luggage enjoyed a roof-down drive, in wall-to-wall sunshine. Arriving at lunchtime the place was buzzing with people and motorbikes and everyone it seems had turned up the have lunch in the stunning place. Cars parked, we made our way to the restaurant, and we were all soon embracing friends we hadn’t seen for years. The food was superb but there was no time to rest as soon we had to make tracks to our main venue hotel, an hour away and situated in Vianden Luxembourg. The town is on the Our River, in the Ardennes region. It’s known for the centuries-old hilltop Vianden Castle which Sue and I visited on the last day on the chairlift.

Now this is when Figaro rallies get so exciting as more and more cars that all look identical start to get the public’s attention. No sooner had we parked up than people started asking the usual questions about make, age etc. The evening kicked off with a meal and speeches from myself and member/organiser Dennis Case. He outlined that a briefing would take place in the morning at 9 o’clock sharp. The morning was again warm and sunny as we made our way to the terrace to hear the ‘do’s and don’ts’ and most importantly, “keep the car behind you in view at all times”. Dennis then gave out all the rally packs which consisted of the flag, window sticker, rally plate, water bottles, lots of goodies and even a couple of apples.

The routes were led by Adrie de Groot. Adrie runs ‘Tour Des Ardennes’ a tour company that specialises in these types of rallies and has local knowledge of the area.

This day’s tour was named ‘Wines and Castles’ and within a very short time, we had already arrived at our first castle in Beaufort. A beautiful 17th-century medieval building with an idyllic pond to the rear. The weather was again fantastic and if anything, was getting hotter and hotter. We had the roof down and at some points along the journey the aircon too! The Chateau Lorochette was the next castle on the route and like the last one, it was viewed from a distance as there was simply not enough time to get out of the car, although we were told that anyone could if they told Dennis, so he didn’t end up looking for a missing fig in action. Soon enough it was time for the scheduled lunch stop which was a pretty café named Auberge du Lac located by a river. To help the owner, the food had already been selected by us a week earlier and as all the food so far on this rally, it was top quality. Lunch over, and back to the car, we all made our way in convoy, slowly climbing higher and higher with countless hairpin bends and scary sheer drops over the Vineyards below and breathtaking views of the Morsel River. This is when it pays to have a rally organiser like Adrie as there was no way you would attempt such a road with 20 cars behind you unless you knew there would be no one coming the other way! This is where we took the traditional ‘group shot’. A staircase up to the summit seemed the ideal place too and with the Luxembourg flag at the top and in the shot it was perfect.

This is where we took the traditional ‘group shot’. A staircase up to the summit seemed the ideal place too and with the Luxembourg flag at the top and in the shot it was perfect.

From there we made our way down and started the long drive back to the hotel. The roads continued to be very quiet, and this really helps when you’re all in a convoy, keeping an eye on the car behind. It was around this time that Adrie decided to cut the route short but unfortunately, no one knew this at the time so those following the rally book routes became somewhat confused, to say the least, and we lost some Figs. It is a tradition that this normally happens, and it wouldn’t be a Figaro rally unless someone goes missing but it was not helpful, and we understand that words were had between Dennis and Adrie afterwards which went something like this “If you’re going to change the route then please let everyone know before and not during it”. These things happen and it was all quickly forgotten.

Back at the hotel, it was time to help Dennis organise the evening’s raffle & auction. This was to raise monies for the Beatson Cancer Charity which helped to take care of Sandra Graham the wife of Ken during her illness last year. Tragically, Sandra lost her battle, but this charity did an amazing job of looking after her and supporting her family and it was the club’s way of giving something back. Before the event, Dennis emailed all the participants and asked them to bring a donation that could be raffled (thanks to Pat Light for this idea as this is what he did on last year’s Cornwall rally). I contacted some of the club’s suppliers and asked them if they could kindly donate something that could be auctioned on the night. We were blown away by their generosity, especially in these tough times for business and would like to thank Maz from The Figaro Shop, Dan at Garage FK10, Nic at Figaro Doctor, Roy at Destination mosaic Design, Andrew from Autolink and Adam from Facebooks Figaro Smiles. Items brought along by our members were amazing, ranging from a Figaro tote bag, and bottles of wine. car polish and the usual booby prizes that remain until the end. My favourite was the pink fly swotter!

During dinner, Sue, Angelique, and Tracy went around the tables selling tickets. Again, our members stepped up the mark and a mind-blowing 900 Euros was taken! After another tasty dinner, it was time for the fun to start, Ken joined me and Dennis as we called the raffle. After this, it was time for the auction. I oversaw this as I tried to ‘work the room’ and get as much as I could for each item. Highlights include €700 for the four allow wheel hubs and €155 for the grill badge. The total amount raised on the night was £2,000.

Tuesday morning, we awoke to yet another bright and sunny day. Today was going to be less taxing as it was titled “Follow the leader”. The route was taking us in a clockwise direction, the first stopping point was a coffee stop at Esch. Again, this was like many of our stopping places, very pretty and next to a river. Parked up, we enjoyed coffee and a comfort break. Soon we were on our way to Kautenback where we parked in a circle in the main square. I got out my GoPro and shot an unusual clip, standing in the centre of the car park I rotated the camera around whilst everyone cheered. From here we made our way to the Brasserie “la Sapiniere” for lunch. Another very pretty drive through amazing roads which were sprinkled with wind turbines. Lunch was next up and consisted of the traditional ‘Luxembourg platter’ of thinly sliced ham, chips, and salad.

After lunch, I asked everyone to stand by their car so I could take their picture before we moved on, but this meant we were delayed so had to play ‘catch that convoy’. As we were descending downhill just after another tight hairpin bend, we came across a broken-down Figgy. It was Alan & Sue. They already had Toni & Paul with them, but we thought we would pull up and see if we could help, safety in numbers as they say. Alan knows his way around the Figaro and soon enough, multimeter in hand it appeared the alternator was not working as the battery voltage appeared to be just 7 volts! This also meant the car would not start, so I offered to try and jump-start it, which got it going but when we removed the leads the voltage was dying again so the car would just end up stopping. It’s times like this that it can become very scary that you’re miles away from home and in the hands of your insurance company. Alan had the overseas number of Classicline and soon enough things started to happen. However, on each call to him, he had to repeat on more than one occasion his policy number, reg, location etc. After an hour or so we decided that he was going to be rescued so we left them both and made our way back to the hotel. Later that evening they did get collected but it took around 4/5 hours from the first call. When the issue was diagnosed as a faulty Alternator, Alan made a call to Maz from The Figaro Shop who came to the rescue with an overnight delivery to the garage saving him time and money. The item was installed and we’re delighted to report that Alan & Sue got home safely, but it was two days later.

The last evening was Dress to Impress, awards and toy car racing (more about this later). Meeting on the terrace for drinks, before the fun starts, Ken Graham had organised a video call with Veronica Young. Veronica (known as Vron) was calling from the hospital where she had been for several months following a decline in her health. Vron had undergone a number of chemotherapy treatments but unfortunately, they had not been successful, the result of which her cancer was terminal. Words cannot do justice to just how brave this lady is as she wished she was with us and told us to have a great evening. Bang on queue and time to bring the mood back we were confronted with the music and four characters from The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy (Anne Wrigley), Tin Man (Stuart Wrigley) Scarecrow (Dennis Case) and Lion (Angelique Case) entered the terrace, singing and dancing their way in.

It’s times like this that you reflect on just what this amazing little car has done, in bringing all these wonderful people together to form such strong and caring lifelong friendships.

Dinner over it was time for the awards. Dennis stood up and made everyone aware of the quality and weight of these small plastic awards lol. Travelling all the way from Glasgow, Scotland, Ken Graham was always going to be a shoo-in for this award and having driven 1,207 Km (750 miles). Next up was best dressed and this went to Johan Beque & Maureen Welzijn with their German outfits of leather trousers (Lederhosen) and apron (Dirndl). The best aftermarket Figaro part went to Ruud Buwalda for an impressive gearstick adapter. A special award went to Adrie de Groot for delivering such an awesome rally and putting up with us all. Lastly, it was a best-dressed car and this went to Eilish Dempsey for her fig which consisted of lots of two umbrellas and lots of flowers.

Awards over with it was time for the run to start. To raise yet more money for the charity, Stephen Nevin purchased several balloon-powered plastic toy cars that worked by blowing up a balloon that was connected to the car, holding it to stop it from going down, placing the car on the floor, and letting go! Soon enough dining chairs and tables were moved, a racetrack was created and the ‘Figaro Balloon Powered Knockout Racing Series’ commenced, administrated by Stuart Wrigley. Racing three at a time, members blew up the balloons and placed their cars (named after their Figaro) on the start line. Mine seemed to have the tendency of either spinning in a circle or going back behind the starting line lol. It was such a laugh and very competitive, the final race was won by Mark Hill who received a bottle of sparkling wine for his efforts. We may have to build this into all future rallies as it just seemed the perfect icing on the cake.

Thanks again to Dennis and Angelique Case for creating and managing the whole event for us, Adrie de Groot for his organisation and our fantastic 41 members (and now extended family), for attending and making it such a fun and happy time.

FACTS AT A GLANCE