before blog
the ministerial 3/3

I got The Ministerial by pure luck; it was in the dealer’s showroom when my Turbo 1 started seriously misbehaving. To be honest, I’d normally have spent money getting the The Dragon sorted, but I happily part–exchanged her for the Ministerial.

The last French user (owner?) was apparently a French High Court Judge, who seems to have been an Anglophile, in that he made sure it was sold in England, not France. Apparently, he felt that an English owner would take better care of a older car with history. The chap who brought her off him kept the car for about eighteen months, I think. Its a pity he didn’t feed the leather—I’m going to be lucky to save it.

This car has history. I have a two page fax saying that it was originally commisioned for President Pompidou, was prefered by President Giscard D’Estang, and was even used by Jacques Chirac when he was Mayor of Paris. I’m not absolutely sure about this fax—or my translation of it—it says that the car was used by President Pompidou. He died in office in 1974, and this car is supposed to have been built in 1976. I intend to get the fax properly translated.