A huge actor with an often tragic existence, Jean-Louis Trintignant also benefited from a sacred talent as a pilot. He raced the Monte-Carlo several times but also the 24 Hours of Le Mans, or the 24 Hours of Spa. There, we see it in Peugeot training videos, intended to provide arguments to the commercial on the occasion of the launch of the restyled 505, in the summer of 1985, in order to knock out the competition. This one is rich since in these spots, we see theAlfa Romeo 90 2.0l’Audi 100 CDthe BMW 520ithe Citroën CX 22 TRSthe Ford Scorpio 2.0 GLthe Mercedes 190Cl’Opel Rekord 1.8 GLthe Renault 25 GTXthe Volvo 740 LOOK and to finish, a ride in a Peugeot 505 (click on the name of the cars to access the Youtube video).
Trintingant cheerfully blocking the wheels of the R25 GTX.
That said, even in this context, the actor surprises with his natural and quiet charisma, while delivering very amusing and often piquant comments, revealing his deadpan side. “She vomits on the front wheels”, “There’s only one rear wheel that stays on the road and the other wanders around”, “Ah, she squeals, there you can hear her clearly”, “Oh, the engine, it’s a disaster”, “you have to fight with the weight of the car and the weight of the years”… The most fatal valve will fall on the Volvo, but we’ll let you discover it.
Trintingant doesn’t look totally happy behind the wheel of the Volvo 740 GLE. Watching the video will tell you why…
We also see that Trintignant really pushes the cars to their limits, sometimes beyond, but in complete relaxation, and without fastening the belt. A combination? Jeans and a pink polo shirt will do just fine. It’s another era, more carefree than ours, when you could spin on a circuit of Lédenon devoid or almost of safety elements. Trintignant is interviewed not by a member of Peugeot but by another actor, Jean-Claude Aubé, who we will see in 1988 in “A man and a woman, twenty years already”, by Claude Lelouch, alongside the great Jean -Louis.
Improbable image of Jean-Louis Trintignant driving an Opel Rekord 1.8. He has just swung a valve, hence the grin of Jean-Claude Aubé …
These little training videos, available on Youtube, are each little gems, even if the soundtrack doesn’t always match the image (it’s even downright comical with the BMW).
To wonder if the Audi 100 does not take as much roll as an old R5!
