Wings, wheels and wine: the extraordinary secrets of Château Savigny

We all know the story: it started with our first car; we lacked storage space but we managed to rent a garage. Then we found a second car that we couldn't resist, and we needed more storage and, luckily, we found another garage. Eventually, we found affordable storage with room for one or two more cars. And, without really looking for them, we stumbled upon a few cars which really needed to be saved and we even managed to convince our better half of the need to give them a home.

That's how it started for the Pont family of France, although they didn't stop at half a dozen. When Pont père found a suitably romantic château from which to manage his wine business, he found he had not only more space for growing vines, but more space in which to indulge his collecting habit, too. The château had many rooms, which was convenient because, if you have enough of them, model vehicles also take up a lot of space. That wasn't all: the grand maison also had a network of clandestine vaults, perfect for housing his collection of beautiful Abarths, although the space would become a bit tight later on when M. Pont continued to acquire yet more special cars. The cars, however, were only occupying space on the floor, leaving a substantial volume of

unused space above them. Fortunately, M. Pont had started to become interested in bicycles and motorcycles. Why not hang them above the cars? A very efficient solution, indeed. However, the space above the cars was also limited. Thankfully, the ceiling above the miniature collection provided some more much-needed space.

 

The fire engines, however, didn't fit into the château. That was unforeseen, but not a reason to get rid of them; after all, you can always build another shed.

 

When you're busy collecting, it takes up a lot of time, so one doesn't want to become too preoccupied with wine production—better to leave some land fallow and keep some time and space to one side for collecting aeroplanes instead. And when you collect aeroplanes, you invariably cross items with other objects of fascination, like three-foot-tall reproductions of Ariane rockets—a wonderful opportunity for starting a new collection.

 

So began the many wonderful collections which await the participants of the Via Gallica pre-war car rally, which will transport participants from the Champagne region to the celebrated Circuit des Remparts event in Angoulême.

 

If you're worried your collection might be getting out of hand, or if you need to convince your partner that, despite their protests, you actually are very sensible, then be sure to visit Château Savigny. Why not visit it with us? One extra space has just been made available on the Via Gallica rally. Visit www.via-flaminia.com for more information.