40th anniversary - Arnhem 2001: photos part 3: Saturday tour of the region

On the Saturday morning, all the R4s set off in their own time to complete a tour of the area, following printed instructions, and completing some sixty miles by the end of the day. This first picture was taken at the first stop, on the top of a hill in the National Park. A splendid picture of the view would have followed, but seconds after taking this photo and walking to the viewpoint it started tipping down heavy rain, so we all leapt back in our cars and drove off. Pictured below is my sister (centre), and Will (left) acting as navigator in their red GTL, plus my brother (right); he accompanied me in my own car.

This next one was a stroke of luck. Having reached the foot of the hills, we followed some quiet country roads in the driving rain. At this point, I stuck my camera out the window and hoped for the best, and you can see my sister's car behind, trailed by several more R4s in the background.

Next stop on the tour was the town of Doesburg, where we were greeted by the beautiful chimes emanating from the church opposite (audible on the Arnhem video). The instructions suggested a visit to a local mustard factory, but as we'd set off a little later than most of the other cars, we didn't stop too long and headed off to catch up with the others. Walking around this town was like living in some kind of fairyland. Around each corner, in many cobbled streets, you could spot R4s everywhere. The town was taken over by them. If a town like that really existed I'd be living there.

A rather unusually styled Renault 4 leads a small convoy through the town streets, on their way to the next destination. This car was a vivid tangerine colour, possibly the only orange one seen throughout the weekend.

Hmm, this car seems familiar. Why, it's Peter Pigmans and his green R4! He sent pictures of his car to this website only a couple of months' previous. You can find his pictures on both the Star Car (#SC9) and People's Pics (#PP37) pages of the Gallery. He made the trip from Rotterdam for the weekend.

Next, a JP4 soft top conversion, which I believe has a Norwegian flag flying on it. There were two or three that made the trek from Scandinavia, making our 800-mile round trip seem like a mere shopping expedition in comparison.

More pictures and information on this wonderful camper van special edition can be found later on, as I took more photos at the Concours d'Élégance the following day.

This, I believe, was another of the Norwegian brigade, coming all the way from Oslo, and was in splendid condition.