“It will run much less well!”: From the 2 CV of “Corniaud” to the Méhari of “Gendarme” via the DS of “Fantomas”, the cars of Louis de Funès’ films are on display from Wednesday at the Mulhouse Automobile Museum (Haut-Rhin).
Visible until November 5, “Out and about with Louis de Funès – The actor and his legendary cars” is a form of tribute to one of the “most popular” French actors, who died “40 years ago. “, January 27, 1983, explains to AFP Guillaume Gasser, director general of the National Museum of the automobile-Schlumpf Collection.
In partnership with the Louis de Funès Museum in Saint Raphaël (Var), the Alsatian museum offers a dive into the filmography of the actor by exhibiting on 1200 m2 18 cars seen in films such as the cult “Fantomas”, the series of “Gendarmes” , “The Great Vacations” or even “The Adventures of Rabbi Jacob”.
If most of the pieces come from the rich funds of the Mulhouse site, four, on the other hand, are original models.
Explosive Bolts
In addition to the gleaming red Ford Mustang and the Oldsmobile seen in a “Gendarme”, fans of the “Corniaud” will be able to admire the Cadillac and, above all, the famous 2 CV driven by Bourvil and transformed into spare parts after being stamped by Louis de Funès driving a Rolls.
In Mulhouse, it is offered in a condition close to that of the film: door on the ground, windscreen on the bonnet and front wheels unbolted.
“Bah now, she will walk much less well, inevitably!”: the replica of Bourvil, the steering wheel in his hands in front of his car in spare parts, remained famous. The remote control used to activate the explosive bolts responsible for breaking up the vehicle is also on display.
This 2CV, already shown at the Louis de Funès museum in Saint-Raphaël (Var), is in a way the origin of this event, relates Nora Ferreira, director of the Var museum and curator of the Mulhouse exhibition.
Contacted by the Automobile Museum, which wanted to know if this exhibition was “travelling”, Ms. Ferreira then suggested organizing a larger event around the car in the films of Louis de Funès based on “the potential from the impressive Mulhouse collection, she explains.
The Alsatian museum indeed claims the most important collection of cars in the world: in addition to the 400 models of exhibitions, some of which are extremely prestigious (such as a Bugatti Royale 1930), it has a reserve of 200 other vehicles, according to Mr. Gasser.
Also on display: the emblematic Citroën Méhari (indissociable from the “Gendarmes”) and DS (present in several films by Louis de Funès, it will grow wings in “Fantomas unleashed”).
The stroll among the vehicles is done in chronological order, from the 1960s to the following decade, embellished with contextual posters or even screens broadcasting cult scenes.
Fruits, vegetables and R6
The actor’s personal items, such as a notebook or the registration certificate for one of his Renaults, are also visible, as is Rabbi Jacob’s hat worn by Louis de Funès on the set of Gérard Oury’s film. .
Thematic spaces are also devoted to the stuntman Rémy Julienne, who collaborated on several occasions with Louis de Funès, or even to the relationship that the actor had with his own cars.
“He had several vehicles, including luxury vehicles”, a Jaguar for example, explains Nora Ferreira. But he had a “classic” relationship with them, “like everyone else (…) He loved his R6”, of which a non-original model is on display, “he found it practical in his daily life”, she continues.
Louis de Funès was “passionate about his garden”, slips Ms. Ferreira. And “carrying fruit and vegetables in a Jaguar is less practical than in an R6…”