A visit to the Bourges father and son: from Avignon to Montlhéry

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A large gate slides open, revealing an energetic father and son waiting to welcome us. We meet Camille and Florent Bourges at their premises in the south of France. Two men with an unmistakable passion for old cars, but perhaps an even greater enthusiasm for actually using them.

Our attention is immediately drawn to the Salmson San Sebastian parked in front of the workshop. Inside are several other cars. This is no static museum, but a place where cars are worked on and regularly driven. Exactly as we like to see them.
We are here to speak with Camille and Florent about Montlhéry Motor Heritage, the event they will organise in 2027 at what is surely one of France's most evocative historic circuits. More on that later.
Before we head to Montlhéry, however, we first want to learn more about the two men behind the event.

Avignon

For Camille, the father, that history goes back several decades. He was involved with the Circuit d'Avignon-Vaucluse and with the creation of the Avignon Motor Festival in 2003. The event grew to become one of France's leading meeting places for enthusiasts of historic vehicles.
Talk to Camille, however, and it soon becomes clear that his interests extend far beyond organising a major exhibition. It is the earliest and most sporting motor cars that truly capture his imagination. Cyclecars, Bugattis, Salmsons and other machines from an era when driving remained a distinctly physical pursuit: that is his world.

Florent grew up more or less surrounded by it all. For many children, an old car was something they might occasionally encounter at an event; for him, it was part of everyday life. In time, he also made it his profession. He worked for the renowned Carrosserie Lecoq and later at the Musée National de l'Automobile in Mulhouse. Today, he runs CAM'S Organisation alongside his father.

It is a combination that appears to work particularly well. Camille brings decades of experience, an intimate knowledge of the cars and the people who keep them alive, and an enormous network of contacts. Florent belongs to a younger generation, but shares the same interests and has already accumulated considerable organisational experience of his own.
This can be seen, for example, at Avignon Motor Passion. The present event is organised in partnership with Avignon Tourisme, with Camille and Florent providing the driving force behind its content. According to the organisers, the 2025 edition attracted around 400 exhibitors, including approximately one hundred clubs; a year earlier, some 34,000 visitors attended.

More than simply looking

A smaller event may, however, reveal even more about the two men. Camille and Florent have organised the Trophée Jacques Potherat since 2024, when Jean-Pierre and Nadine Palun handed over the reins after fourteen editions.
It is almost the complete opposite of a large indoor exhibition: cyclecars and pre-1940 sports and racing cars, three days of driving along French country roads and, above all, owners using their old cars for the purpose for which they were originally built.
The Bourges family also organises the Farandole des Ancêtres for even earlier machinery. Together, these events encompass a substantial part of the historic motoring world, from the very earliest automobiles to the thousands of vehicles that gather in Avignon for Motor Passion.
Which brings us naturally to Montlhéry.

Back to the banking

When it became clear that there was an appetite for a successor to the final Vintage Revival Montlhéry, Camille and Florent conceived the idea of Montlhéry Motor Heritage. In 2027, the famous banked circuit is once again set to be filled with cars and motorcycles from the first decades of motoring history.

It will not be a modern race meeting, but a programme of demonstration runs for various groups of historic sports and racing cars and motorcycles. Around them will be clubs, specialists, artists, an autojumble and dedicated parking for historic vehicles.
For PreWarCar.com, this philosophy feels familiar. We have come to know Camille and Florent through several events and, above all, share the same conviction: an old car is not merely something to look at. Engineering remains alive through use, stories survive by being told, and events are where new generations first encounter them.
That is also why we are pleased to work with them on Montlhéry Motor Heritage. Not only to introduce the event to our international audience, but also to help bring the right cars and, above all, the right people to France.

As we stand among the cars talking, it becomes clear that Montlhéry represents far more to Camille and Florent Bourges than simply another event on the calendar. It brings together everything they have done over the past decades: historic engineering, competition cars, organising events and, most importantly, bringing people together.

In 2027, all of this is set to come together at a location that could scarcely be more fitting.
On the banking at Montlhéry.

Words: Laurens Klein

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