It started in 1986 when, with uncertainty of continued employment, and feeling the need to have something material to look forward to, the decision was taken that the long dreamed of trip to the 24 Heures du Mans would happen the following year, come hell, high water, redundancy or unemployment, Having made the decision it wasn’t until the date approached that we thought about the how - we were the archetypal Le Mans Virgins! Knowing where Le Mans was (somewhere in France) we looked for a French connection. As all the pioneers had strong connections with the transport industry, the obvious route was to make contact with Renault Trucks. This led to a few years of “Corporate Hospitality” trips until the truck sales in Europe took a dive and Renault had to knock it on the head.

Having tasted the atmosphere and learnt a few of the ropes, the group that became the “Crew” decided that they would make their own way. A year of paying through the nose through a well-known ticket agency soon concentrated the minds and we made contact with the circuit and now get our tickets through the A.C.O. direct. It was about this time that the wife of one of the Crew mentioned the annual trip to a friend who expressed an interest in buying tickets for her husband as a surprise Christmas present. Rather than just send them in an envelope the idea of an official sounding organisation came to mind. As everyone knows, the name would be all-important, had to be memorable and must be relevant to the occasion. Thus French Automobile Race Travel was born - the acronym was of course a complete co-incidence!

In the mid-nineties we approached Kronenbourg and offered them an exclusive partnership on the basis that apart from the race tickets and ferry costs they were the recipients of the largest chunk of our expenditure. Understandably, they were eager to accept this offer and supplied the entire party with good quality polo shirts, some of which are still being worn today!

Apart from the Renault corporate Hospitality, we also enjoyed in 1991 a superb weekend courtesy of Mercedes Benz. It comprised silver service lunch and tea on Saturday, breakfast and lunch on Sunday, meet the drivers (including one M Schumacher and Jonathan Palmer), TWO free bars from midday Saturday to after the end of the race on Sunday, access to the roof of the A.C.O. tower which was at the far end of the old pit lane and all the goodies you could imagine. Shame about the result though!! We could hardly stop crying!!!

The trip has grown over the years and now the only limiting factor is the supply of camping tickets. Each year we refine the event and we are in danger of requiring a truck to take all the kit. Team casual wear with the logo is always popular and caps, polo shirts and sweatshirts are produced to order each year. The website will allow us to open this to a wider discerning market.

2001 saw a major milestone as for the first time we made a token gesture towards being European when we welcomed Dutch, Belgians and even a Sheepish Welshman to the party. Over the years there have been well over 100 individuals who have benefited from the FART experience

Over the years there have been many changes to ‘The Crew’, only Nick C. (the Fartmeister) has been every year since ’87 and Dave M. (the Chef) has missed only one. The rules for membership of the Crew are simple, if you were Crew last year you have first right of refusal for next. Miss it and you have to bribe your way back in! Any spare places are by invitation only and the first year is an apprenticeship.

Crew Members over the years

Nick C.    Dave M.    Phil (Kermit) H.    Bob P.

†Archie G.    Malcolm W.    John S.    Steve M.

Keith (Ali) P.    Dave P.    Phil W.    Dave H.

† Stuart I.    Derek D.    Claire C.    Zulq A.

Harry A.    Mike E.   Heather C.  Jonno W.