Last Buzz to Montauban

La Guepe

This mini-bus is a rolling memory of the region.

The owner/driver was Monsieur Raymond Granier (1899 - 1984). He was also a historian, and we are indebted to him for numerous works about the area (see attached list).

From 1938 to 1972, he provided a service between Laguépie and Montauban 3 days per week. He also provided services to Albi and Carmaux. At week-ends La Guepe transported football teams to their games and young people to local fêtes and dances - a heavy workload, which did not stop during the war.

In fact, Monsieur Granier, in the service of the Resistance, transported British pilots, who had landed on French soil, to hiding places from which they could be smuggled back to Britain via Spain. He received a certificate of recognition from President Eisenhower at the end of the war.

In other circumstances, he would replace the seats of his bus with stretchers to transport the injured or ill to hospital at Albi,.

It is estimated that he and his bus travelled 1,500,000 kilometres.

In 1983, La Guepe was damaged in a flood which came halfway up her bodywork.

After his death, the Tourist Office at Montauban acquired the bus, with the idea of using her as a tourist vehicle. But the flood damage had been disastrous, and La Guepe was parked outside with old fire service vehicles. Fifteen years passed - burning summers, damp autumns, icy winters, foggy springs. One day, the city of Montauban, having decided to make other use of the land, decided to send the bus to the wreckers, but first contacted the Mairie of Laguépie, whose name was on the front of the bus, to see if they wanted it back.

They certainly did, and in order to give La Guepe her identity back an Association was formed - Retro Vehicule de Rouergue, or RVR.

Now, after her long purgatory, a long resurrection is starting and thanks to RVR, she will one day travel her old routes, so full of memories. Her first appointment will be with Tractomania in October at Caussade, where the chassis will be present.

Retro Vehicule de Rouergue, Laguépie - 06 81 12 90 09 or 06 24 25 11 45. 

Works by Monsieur Granier

Roqueréine, Laguépie, 1981

Une agence d'emigration vers I'Espagne en Bas Rouergue au 17° siècle, Paris 1971

La Forêt de la Grésigne des origines au milieu du 17° siècle Paris 1966

Jadis en Bas Rouergue, Montauban 1947

La Baronnie de Laguépie, 1929.

Les Minières de Penne, Puycelsi et les Forges de Bruniquel, Albi, 1978

by Gérard Carboneil