Every spring Carlisle hosts an impressive variety of French machinery, and this year was no exception with the best selection of French cars on the east coast. The Renault club once again put on an impressive show, displaying a ridiculously awesome group of automobiles in its indoor pavilion, like a minty Renault Fuego and a Matra Bonnet Djet. And the Citroen contingent didn’t disappoint either, having everything from a 2CV to a Citroen CX on the field.

About the only French marque that was underrepresented was Peugeot, with just a handful of cars. But the sheer variety of other French automobiles at Carlisle more than made up for this sparse showing, and showgoers were treated to such rarities like a pair of Peugeot 403s and a pair of Renault 5s. Not Le Cars, but specifically 5s. Let’s take a look at what French automobiles made the trip to Carlisle this year.

This particular 1985 example is owned by Stephane Larivee, who drove it all the way down from Quebec. Le Cars have appeared at Carlisle before, but this may be the first year that an actual Renault 5 did.

A nice Traction Avant, this was one of two representatives of this model at Carlisle this year. These aren’t quick cars, and there are relatively few of them in the mid-Atlantic states, so it was no surprise that there are only a couple Traction Avants that make it out to Carlisle every year. Not particularly awesome interstate cruisers, these things. But then again, neither are 2CVs.

A nicely kept Peugeot 403B owned by Jim Schlick, who is perhaps the best known Peugeots collector in the country. He bought this particular example from Dave Hackett in Westport, Connecticut, who was a Peugeot dealer till the late 1980s. This is a very nicely kept example with an original interior and just one respray, and it’s got only 61K on the clock. Jim put only 10 thousand miles or so on this lovely 403B in the fifteen years that he’s owned it. Not a lot of mileage you would say, until you hear that Jim owns a total of twelve Peugeots. So exercising any one car too much is a time-consuming thing.

A nice Renault 16 brought by Matt Cotton. There were only a couple Renault 16s at Carlisle this year, including a rough green example. This example, however, was very nicely kept and appeared to be in solid driver condition.

A nice little 2CV in a noticeable color. There were only a couple 2CVs at Carlisle this year, and I don’t believe I have seen this particular example at this show before.

One of a couple Citroen CXs that appeared this year at Carlisle. There are usually five to ten of these at this annual show, but this year the field seemed to be somewhat short on this model of Citroen. You will note that this one has its European-spec headlights, as opposed to quad sealed-beams that were installed by CXA Automotive when they were importing these.

A nice Citroen 2CV Fourgonette, this one is here almost every year. This is of course the little van based on the 2CV, which has become exceedingly popular in California wine country. You hear that? You could be living in northern California and driving cars like this to and from work, instead of putting up with your insane rush-hour traffic and cubicle job.

Just how many Peugeot 403 can there possibly be in the US? Just a couple dozen, apparently. This was one of two 403 present at Carlisle this weekend, the first 403s that I’ve actually seen in the states as this model is quite rare even in Peugeot circles. Which kind of makes it sound like there’s actually a lot of these Peugeot circles. In reality there aren’t, it’s a very small community.

Another nice Traction Avant, this one looked pretty sharp and managed to turn quite a few heads. The matched wheel covers here are a nice touch, provided you like the two-tone color scheme.

Another solid CX, this time the long-wheelbase Prestige model. This one seems to have led a hard life, with a ding or two on the body. And this is once again a car fitted with European-spec healights. Having spoken at length to a number of Citroen CX owners, these are not the maintenance nightmare that one imagines these to be, but they are nevertheless quite complex cars, and being buy them as such – for their engineering, rather than for something simple.

A recently restored 1985 Peugeot 505 GL estate, this car was given in non-working order to Steffen Moller just under a year ago when his 505 Turbodiesel wagon was totaled in an accident. Steffen has since put this example is working order, replacing pretty much the entire interior, and has repainted the car. We look forward to seeing what be brings to Citroen Rendezvous in June.

A nice DS in a very light green color, this one obviously has some panel fit issues that appear to have developed.

This was a really nicely repainted Citroen SM with the US-spec front fascia. Swapping out the fascia is not quite a plug-and-play operation that one would expect, but it can be done. Sourcing that front fascia, however, is another matter entirely, and typically costs north of a grand. I’ve been trying to talk a couple of my friends into swapping out the US-spec front fascia on the their SMs for a Euro-spec setup, and they’ve all pretty much conceded that it’s in their long term plans for their cars.

One of about ten Renault Alliances that appeared at Carlisle this year was this GTA hardtop example. Despite the relatively small production figures for the top of the line GTA model, it is this version that seems to have had the best survival rate. Actually, it is the GTA cabrio that seems to have the best survival rate of Kenosha-made Renaults.

This was pretty much the sole 505 sedan at Carlisle this year, and it was the rare 1989 model, distinguishable by the European-spec taillights and bumpers. This particular example had great paint, and appeared to be extremely well kept. I am not sure if this example has been repainted though, as I do not remember a single 505 trunklid that only has the 505 badging on it. There were only two 505s at Carlisle this year, a number that was equaled by the 505s that I saw on the way to Pennsylvania and back, which in itself was quite improbable statistically. I saw a 505 sedan on just outside of Boston on the Mass turnpike in traffic, and another 505 just outside of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, sitting abandoned on shoulder of Interstate 81.

Another sharp Citroen DS, this was the US-spec model with windowless quad headlights. This one was in good enough shape, and appeared to be a solid driver.

This was one of a about ten Renault Alliances at Carlisle this year. The Kenosha-made Alliance was named for the match made in heaven that was the merger of AMC and Renault in the early 1980s, and for a time our roads (mostly in the upper midwest) were filled with Kenosha-made Renaults, as well as cars like the Fuego. And as soon as AMC fell apart and its pieces were absorbed by Chrysler, the Alliances disappeared from our roads as quickly as they appeared. It’s hard to believe now, but more than 623,000 Alliances were made in the US during the 1980s, a staggering number given just  how many of these you’re likely to encounter on our roads now.

This sharp GTA convertible is perhaps representative of the Renault Alliances that are left, in that they tend to be the top of the line GTA models, and that they tend to be convertibles. I’d like to think that it was the fact that they were fair weather cars that saved most of the convertibles from the crusher, after grandma drove it for the few years and the left it parked in the garage out back. Perhaps it was the price as well, as these tended to go for a premium over the other Kenosha-made Renault models.

That’s it for French cars this year. Well, not quite, as we’re going to see one up close pretty soon. In about a week to be precise.

See the full gallery from Carlisle Import Nationals 2013 below:

[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Jay Ramey]