Like the swallow heralding the return of spring, Rétromobile is synonymous with the launch of a new season for classic car enthusiasts! The annual meeting place for an extremely committed community, with over 1,600 clubs in France alone! Visitors to the Rétromobile show share a deep attachment to heritage preservation, a culture of fine objects, the pleasure of driving, and last but not least, a shared passion for classic vehicles.

Around 130,000 visitors packed the halls to see over 600 exhibitors over the course of 6 days. Although rooted in the earliest days of motor transport there is a definite move towards more modern models, whilst maintaining a core of outstanding examples from the glory days of engineering and design. The significance of the show was reflected by the fact that most of the World’s stock of Bugatti Type 59’s were in attendance in one form or another, as were the majority of Ferrari’s 550 Le Mans cars.

Away from the main show the highlight of the week was undoubtably RM Sotheby’s sale of the Le Mans winning Ferrari 250LM on behalf of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum. This incredibly original track warrior rightly achieved an outstanding result selling for the equivalent of almost £30,000,000. Bonhams made a welcome return to the stunning Grand Palais and proved that interest in pre war cars remains, selling a trio of imposing Horches for over £800,000. Meanwhile, back at Porte de Versaille, Artcurial undertook their usual highly entertaining sale, with the highlights being a choice of Ferrari 275GTB’s – a stunning road car in Celeste Blue or a competitio-prepared, alloy-bodied example in the iconic Rosso Corsa. Take your pick for around £1.8m!