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Rétromobile Exhibition Paris 2016

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 2016 has just started and we already have a favorite for Old-timer Show of the year! The 41st edition surpassed expectations. Because of the limited surface. The exhibition is forced to select only the absolute best and rarest cars. This results in the presence of the elite dealers of Europe: Fiskens, JD Classics, Axel Scheutte, Lukas Hüni and others. Even some of the world’s best dealers were present: Ferrari Specialist Steve Tillack flew in from Redondo Beach California.

Retromobile isn’t just for independent dealers. A lot of manufacturers found their way to Paris this year: Maserati, Jaguar, Mercedes, Peugeot, Citroën, Porsche, Honda and Renault. Renault chose to use their home team advantage to promote their reentry in formule 1 racing. And of course to make sure that the Alpine resurrection receives the attention it deserves. They even brought fan favorite rally legend Jean Ragnotti with them to get the job done. Porsche decided to dig in the archives as well, the new Porsche 718 Boxster’s name is a reference to the Porsche 718 that managed to place third in the 1958 24 hours of Le Mans race. The Porsche GT1 won Le Mans exactly 40 years later. That was 10 years after Jaguar’s last win at La Sarthe with the XJR-9LM. That car was the star of Jaguar’s stand and easy to recognize thanks to its Silk Cut color combination. The 24 hours of Le Mans are created and organized by ACO: Automobile Club de l’Ouest. They were present at Retromobile with a selection from the Le Mans Museum to celebrate their 110th anniversary.

Retromobile has a great location and this attracts not only dealers and manufacturers but also auctionhouses. Noticeable during auctions from Bonhams ,RM Sotheby’s and the French Artcurial was that a lot of cars underperformed. There’s always an exception: the record breaking Ferrari 335 S from the Pierre Bardinon collection that was sold for the ludicrous amount of EUR 32.100.000. Other noticeable sales: the very rare Ferrari Testarossa Spider from former head of FIAT Gianni Agnelli, sold for EUR 1.200.000. Also unprecedented the EUR 441.000 price paid for an 1965 Alfa Romeo GTA.

Not only street legal cars are for sale in Paris. If you are so inclined you can acquire historic racecars at Retromobile. Early February is cutting it close to the start of the Historic racing car season, but it’s possible. Group C cars have been gaining popularity the last years. 2016 is the first year they get their own class during the Le Mans Classic race in July. The Le Mans Classic organizer Peter Auto fittingly had a Peugeot 905B Evo Group C car on display at Retromobile. This car dominated the last year of the World Sportscar Championship. That was the same year: 1992, that Michael Schumacher used a Benetton B192 F1 car to win the GP SPA-Francorchamps. That cars was offered for auction by Stanislas Machoïr. The racingcar world is mainly a man’s world. But every rule has an exception. Enter: Julia de Baldanza, the british car fanatic has an impressive collection. She brought a selection of 10 cars to Paris for all to admire. She brought some racing cars from Alta ,Bugatti ,Maserati and McLaren. And she also brought some cars that would impress at a Concours d’Elegance: Bugatti T40 , Aston Martin Headlam coupé and Voisin C14 Chartre.

The 110.000 visitors could spend their time indoors with the above mentioned and some futuristic city cars and other curiosities.  A Russian T34 was on display on the stand of Tank Museum Saumur. They even had an American M24 “Chaffee” tank driving around between the expo buildings. Also worth mentioning the very loud FIAT S76 “Beast of Turin” record car from the Beaulieu National Motor Museaum.

An expo worth visiting! We will be back next year!

Text and photos by: Steven
English translation by: Jonas

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