Michel Petit closes the door on 70 years of Montpellier automobile mechanics

Michel Petit in this former turner's workshop which in turn became a garage soon transformed by the City. Free Midi – GIACOMO ITALIANO

George Petit, here creating a hull on a Bugatti 57 base. A work of goldsmith. Mr. LITTLE

Pierre, the father, here preparing an engine. Mr. LITTLE

The coupe imagined and manufactured by Michel Petit's grandfather on a Bugatti 57 base.

Les années 80, l'âge d'or du rallye sur asphalte dans l'Hexagone. Michel Petit, ici dans ses oeuvres au volant d'une Samba Rallye.

Ouvert par son grand-père paternel, le garage qui avait pignon sur la rue Enclos-Fermaud a, définitivement, baissé le rideau. Retour sur l’un des derniers ateliers de quartier.

Certainly he is still everything Michel Petit. When, from the doorway of number 2 rue Enclos-Fermaux, he looks back on the seventy years of this car garage. A business founded in 1951 by his paternal grandfather, taken over by his father then by him, "in 1994 after working with my father after the army, in 1981".

Until mid-October. When he finally decided to stop getting his hands dirty. Definitely. He says it, calmly, with his chosen words. "I am leaving without regrets. It’s a relief even. With the arrival of the tram, I wasn't sure I would go all the way. They barricaded my street several times without telling me. Fortunately, somehow, I had a loyal clientele. I limited the case."

"The mechanics were palpable, obvious…"

And then, there is also this upheaval linked to evolution. "Without wanting to play the old things, I knew another era… The mechanics were palpable and obvious. Electronics never really interested me, it’s too abstract. And I don’t like planned obsolescence. The activity will become less and less profitable for a mechanic…"

You only have to drag your gaiters for a few seconds under the high, solidly-framed roof to be convinced. Where the exhalations of oil, high octane index of nostalgia, metal, grease and rubber mingle. A subtle olfactory bariolis smelling of the glorious sixties of the internal combustion engine. Then face this harsh evidence. Like the grinders, boot shiners, milkmen, porters or wheelwrights before her, the local auto mechanic is a species whose extinction has already been confirmed.

But the life of the Petit family is also closely linked to auto racing. In rallying, then the queen discipline because it was popular and still accessible between the 1960s and 1990s. The first to be stuck there was Georges, the grandfather. Having notably worked in aeronautical construction, he created a coupe based on a Bugatti type 57. With which he and his son, Pierre (Michel's father, you are following ?) took the start of an event as unique as it is exclusive, leaving the road required.

Later, it was Michel, also agent for the Talbot brand (Simca and Chrysler before that) and then owned by Peugeot, who took over. Notably via the democratic Simca Mille simmered with all the mechanical sauces. He was also one of the two hundred lucky owners of a Samba rallye whose key was given to him "by Jean Todt in Paris".

Fenouillèdes, Cévennes, Rouergue, Montagne Noire, Garrigues… In the 80s, the Clapas mechanic went on a series of races and scratch times. "I’had good results", he confines himself to saying. A certain golden age. Because the family address was also renowned for its preparation work on competition cars.

Some big names in rallying passed there more or less regularly. Like Philippe Touren or other pilots, more anonymous but who also swore by the quality of the preparations developed by the mages of the Petit family.

When Brassens and Cabrel stopped

In addition to certain rally figures, the Petit garage also knows more media appearances, although discreet and little known. Like "In the 1950s, when a black Citroën DS parks on the sidewalk and its driver gets out to ask if he was in the way. His name was Georges Brassens and he was beginning to be known. I was quite impressed. This DS can be found on an album by the singer,” says Georges Petit.

Who also remembers the arrival of Francis Cabrel, one day in 2004, "at the wheel of a New Beetle. He had to go to Corum and was lost. There was no GPS yet. He spoke with my employee. But I was furious with him because I couldn't speak with him even though he loved the Simca Mille. If he had seen the one at the back of the garage, it might have interested him and it would have been a pleasure to discuss it with him,” continues Michel Petit.

An impeccable car in its beige gold dress and still there for a few more days. Appraised and judged in competition condition, this example of the Poissy firm's chip was my grandfather's last and my wife's first car. It has 50,000 km and was on the cover of Rétro Collection magazine. And which is also for sale…

"There was a turning point. I ran again
two years then arrested. The spring was broken…"

Until the day when Michel Petit hung up his helmet and gloves, victim of a bad move from the Sochaux manufacturer, wishing to oust the Samba from the race with the planned killing of the Talbot brand, in favor of of the all-new Peugeot 205 GTI. "There was a turning point. I ran for two more years then stopped. The spring was broken…".

Back to the sole life of a mechanic. Which has just ended. The end of a now impossible family adventure. Could her son, Ludovic, have continued her ? "I never motivated him, even though he worked with me."

L’after ? "The town hall pre-empted the building, perhaps to turn it into housing."

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