Automobile Club de France, private club on the Concorde since 1895

The Automobile Club de France, the private club on the place de la Concorde, was founded on 12 November 1895 at a lunch given by Count Jules-Albert de Dion on the quai d’Orsay, with Baron Étienne van Zuylen, Edmond Récopé and the journalist Paul Meyan. It is the oldest automobile club in the world.

From 1895 to 1903 it organised the first eight ACF Grands Prix, run from town to town. In 1898 it devised the first motor show, in the Tuileries gardens, and in 1899 launched the Tour de France automobile. Gustave Eiffel was among its members.

For decades its presidents also led the international association that became the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile. Owner of the Hôtel du Plessis-Bellière and the Hôtel Cartier, joined behind a listed colonnaded façade, the club keeps the customs of English-style clubs: sponsorship, dress and courtesy. In 2018 it created the Grand Prix ACF Autotech.

At 6-8 place de la Concorde, in the 8th arrondissement, the club gathers some 2,200 members, all men. It has a library of more than 51,000 volumes, archives on the early days of the motor car, a swimming pool designed by Gustave Eiffel, a restaurant and a terrace.