Motul: Classic Oil Analysis Laboratory

There are some big events coming up in the classic racing calendar with Silverstone Festival and Goodwood Revival...

Motul will not just be attending both of these events but will also be taking a mobile oil analysis laboratory in the form of a classic Renault. This oil analysis lab will be testing engine oil from motorists that have sent in their own samples as well as samples from race teams during the events. The oil analysis service will be able to tell you crucial information about the health of your car, as oil is often denoted 'the lifeblood' of the engine- as everything would come to a noisy halt without it. This isn’t just any old Renault though; this Renault has a story to tell.

The Bus...

It’s a 1958 Renault Galion bus, coachbuilt by legendary coachbuilders Heuliez. It was built as Charles De Gaulle led the French people into the Fifth Republic which split the Fourth Republic system into a dual-executive with President as head of state and Prime Minister as Head of Government and remains the political system up to today. During the restoration process, engravings were found in the dashboard which are familiar with French military vehicles, “This will soon be over”.

After ferrying the French military around, the bus was painted yellow and was used as a school bus throughout the 1960s as a response to the baby boom after WWII. But the 1970s held a different fate for the Galion. From school bus to tour bus, French rock band “The Mariner’s” painted the bus blue and white to give a nautical theme to their transit as well as their namesake.

A band member and the bus caught an admirer. One young fan sent a postcard with the bus on the front and the contents of the postcard contained an expression of love for one of the band members. Following the tour, the bus took refuge in a barn and remained there for the next two decades. A couple had grand plans for the bus and wanted to convert it into a campervan. Alas, the plans never quite materialized.

Fast-forward to 2010 and a restoration job lay ahead for the current owner, Benoit Legeret. The restoration brought the bus back to the 70s with the blue and white colour scheme and in 2012 it took up active duty once again. The bus was commissioned for use as one of the only classics authorized to transport the public in Paris- 54 years after the bus was built.

Club Motul

Motul recognizes the importance of the stories that vehicles like the Galion hold maintaining these classics with quality lubricants that have been designed with the hindsight of the present day to support the needs of classic mechanicals.

Working with Benoit and taking the bus to events like Silverstone Festival and Goodwood Revival as a location for the oil analysis laboratory is in the spirit of the hardworking bus and the next chapter of the Galion’s life.

You can get your oil analysis kit here. We hope to see you at both events and that you get to see the bus!