Above: Bugatti 57

This is probably the most important event in the European calendar of Classic Car shows and has been a regular feature for over 20 years. This year the 300 or so stands were all contained within one large hall at the Paris-Expo at the Porte de Versailles. All the major French marques were represented with club and some manufacturers heritage collections.

Click on  Camco's movie to see of some of the the cars at Retromobile.   

Above: Nick Mason, the drummer	Above: Nick Mason, the collector

The centre piece was a display from Nick Mason’s collection.

Nick is well known in Veteran, Vintage and Classic car circles as a collector and driver and also as a member of the Pink Floyd.

The cars on display were very varied and featured the 1962 Ferrari GTO, 1970 Ferrari 512 S, 1978 Ferrari 312 T3 and 1957 Maserati 250 F all, of course from Italy. English cars were represented by a 1922 Austin Seven "Chummy" the 1930 Bentley 4.5 litre previously owned by his father Bill Mason, the 1935 Aston Martin Ulster and the 1955 Jaguar D type, 1979 Lola T297 and the 1995 McLaren F1 GTR. Germany was represented with the 1990 Porsche 962.

Also featured was Nick’s 1901 Panhard B1 in which he regularly drives in the annual London to Brighton Commemoration run.

As usual at this event Christie’s were holding a major auction of desirable cars.

The star attraction being the 1939 d type Auto Union racing car which has recently been restored by Crosthwaite and Gardener. Unfortunately this car was withdrawn from the sale at the last moment. It would have been interesting to see whether it’s $6 million estimate was reached or exceeded.

Above: Auto Union 1939 D Type	Above: 1939 Auto Union	Above: De Dion Trepardoux

Prices are certainly rising again and a major surprise was the Circa 1890 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux steam quadricycle (left) which was sold for £478,017 (including buyers premium) against an estimate of £80,000 to £120,000. Interestingly there are only 6 known survivors of this model and only one other is in private ownership in the UK.

Above: Talbot Lago	Above: Talbot Lago T26GS Barquette	Above: Talbot Lago T26 engine

The 1951 Talbot-Lago T26GS Barquette had been re-bodied in 1952 with a full width body to replace the original racing one with cycle wings to comply with the Le Mans regulations, made £896,597. Of course it had been raced at 4 consecutive Le Mans 24 hour races and other European events driven by Pierre Levegh and Froilan Gonzales. These cars were essentially a pre-war design with a 6 cylinder engine giving 215 bhp at 5,000 rpm which featured twin high camshafts operating the valves with short push rods and rockers similar to the Riley’s and ERA’s. Also similar to the ERA was the use of a Wilson pre-selector gearbox. The suspension was independent transverse leaf at the front and a live axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear.

Another Talbot-Lago on sale at the Chrities auction was the 1952 T26 Grand Sport Berlinette. This car, chassis number 110 154, was originally purchased by Lucien Vincent and was the last of the Grand Sport. They featured a six cylinder engine of 4,482cc with an output of 190bhp at 4,200rpm. The gearbox was a 4 speed Cotal pre-select type and the suspension was independent at the front with a transverse leaf and wishbones, the rear suspension was a conventional live axle with semi-elliptic springs.

It was sold for Euro 152,750 against an estimate of Euro150,00 to Euro250,000.

Above: Amilcar MCO	Above: Amilcar MCO engine

The 1928 Amilcar MCO supercharged single seat works racer was an interesting entry with an estimate of £210,000 to £270,000, but it did not sell. These works cars of which only about 12 were built differed from the C6, which was available to the public. The twin overhead camshaft engines had an integral cylinder block and cylinder head (non detatchable) the engine and transmission were offset to the near side. This car was recently restored in New Zealand by Auto Restorations.

 

 

 

 

 

Above: Mercedes 540K	Above: Mercedes 540K	Above: Mercedes 540K

The one owner from new 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet A was a beautiful car with fully documented history. It was completely restored in 1993 by the original owner to original specification and colour including the mother of pearl instrument panel. These cars have a straight 8 engine of 5,401 cc with overhead valves and give 115 bhp at 3,400 rpm which is not very demanding, but this is increased to 180 bhp when the supercharger is engaged by fully depressing the throttle pedal. The gearbox was a 4 speed manual change and the chassis featured independent coil spring suspension front and rear. It sold for £822,512 in the presence of the original owner against an estimate of £850,000 to £1,100,000.

Equally desirable was the 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540 K Cabriolet B which had also been restored in the late 1990’s at an estimated half a million Euros. It did not have any previous history and was sold for £266,874 but it does highlight the fact that it is very difficult to recover the cost of restoration. The estimate of £270,000 to £400,000 was also rather optimistic.

Above: 1966 Brabham-Repco BT20	Above: Hall & Hall stand	Above: Hall & Hall stand

The 1966 Brabham-Repco BT 20 Formula 1 was sold for £274,283. This was the car in which Denny Hulme won the 1967 Monaco Grand Prix.

Other stands we visited were Hall and Hall from Bourne in Lincolnshire who are one of the UK’s premier restoration companies specialising in Historic Racing Cars. They also have an active sales department. This was their first appearance at Retromobile and we interviewed Rick Hall on the stand.

(video interview with Rick Hall)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgvxfLZYRxM

We also met Tony Gosnell who, in contrast, has been to every Retromobile and exhibited for the past 20 years. Tony had an amazing collection of Automobilia on display and clearly enjoys being there and talking to all his friends and customers.

(video interview with Tony Gosnell)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx3evXzmt9Q

Another interesting stand was that of Bernard Marreyt of Merreyt Classics from Belgium. Unusually he is a micro-biologist whose passion for beautiful cars has seduced him. We were particularly taken by the lovely 1924 Vauxhall 30-98 Wensum OE 162 which left the factory at Luton on the 12th December 1924. It is believed it was sent to Australia as a running chassis to be bodied locally. At this time a high proportion of the production went to Australia as these cars had a very good reputation largely as a result of the exploits of Boyd Edkins, a local Vauxhall agent who broke a number of trans-continental Australian records. It has replica chassis ROE11 and body made in the UK but was finished to concours standard in Australia.

(video interview with Bernard Marreyt)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EBla3xwPn0

Above: Delage GP	Above: Engine from Delage GP

A 1927 Delage 15 S 8 was displayed on the Friends of Delage stand. This must be the only Grand Prix car that was successful when they took the first 3 places at the Grand Prix de L’Ouverture at Mothléry driven by Benoist, Bourlier and Morel in 1927 and was resurrected 10 years later by Dick Seaman for the Voiturette class when he won in the Isle of Man in 1937. It had a very advanced straight eight 1,500 cc double overhead camshaft engine with dry sump lubrication and twin Rootes-type superchargers giving up to 170 bhp. They also featured 5-speed overdrive gearboxes and were capable of 130 mph.

Above: SEFAC	Above: SEFAC engine

One of the more unusual exhibits was the SEFAC (Societe d’Etutde et de Fabrication d’Automobiles de Course) Grand Prix car from 1947-48 on the Galerie des Damiers stand. This car was originally a project financed by the French Government in 1935 in an attempt to counter the domination of the German racing teams in the 750 kg formula. It was a dismal failure and never finished a race. Amazingly it was resurrected post war, but was equally unsuccessful. The engine is of unusual design being two 4 cylinder twin overhead camshaft units mounted side by side and geared together to give a capacity of 2,970 cc. The crankshaft of the right hand engine drove a supercharger whilst the clutch and offset transmission was driven from the left hand crankshaft.

Bugattis were, as one would expect, well represented. The Type 43 Grand Sport featured in the Christies auction with an estimate of £380,000 to £470,000 but did not sell.

Above: Bugatti Type 43	Above: Bugatti T43
Above: Bugatti Type 57	Above: Bugatti Type 57

(interview with Cornelius of RetroRoadster) 

If you are visiting Paris and fancy the idea of hiring a classic car you could contact Cornelius of RetroRoadster and have the use of an MGB or Triumph TR2. They also undertake restoration and preparation work on classic cars. He can be contacted on : This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and you can visit his website at : http://www.retroroadster.com/

(2 photos : Bugatti-57 and Bugatti-57-S)