Auctions at Retromobile

An integral part of Retromobile week has for some time included associated auctions and this year RM Sotheby’s started the ball rolling in a massive facility beneath the Rue de Rivoli called Les Salles du Carrousel.  For once the big-ticket seller was not a modern supercar but a 1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione with period race history under the NART banner, which changed hands for 10,158,125 Euros.  A 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/6C made €3,211,250 and a 2007 Maserati MC12 Versione Corsa €3,040,500.  In the old car world, a 1926 Bugatti Type 40 found a new owner for €161,000, a 1919 Hispano-Suiza H6 made €522,500 and, a bit more up to date, a 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona changed hands for €533,750.  However, a 1950 Ferrari 195 Inter by Ghia failed to sell as did a 1991 Porsche 962C despite being the last built by Porsche themselves.  

Photos Eric Sawyer

The next day, in the shadow of the Eifel Tower, Bonhams had set up shop  at the Grand Palais Éphémère, the real thing, like other large chunks of Paris, still undergoing restoration, no doubt in time for the Olympics.  The big seller here was a 2004 Ferrari Enzo with 9,500kms on the clock that sold for €3,910,000.  Trailing in its wake was a 1969 Lamborghini Muira P400S at €954,500, a Countach at €621,000 and a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7 RS, one of the first 500 lighter-bodied ones.  At the other end of the timeline, a 1901 De Dion made €69,000, a 1905 Automobiles Eugene Brillie sold for €92,000 and a 1900 Darracq Quadricycle for €63,250.  Sadly, the two Maseratis in the sale did not find new owners with neither the 1933 Tipo 8C-3000 or the 1951 A6 1500/BC GT reaching their reserve.  

One brave soul paid €190,720 for a one-off Guidobaldi ‘Monoplace’ begun in 1939 by one François Guidobaldi with a home built 1357cc two stroke 8-cylinder star engine located flat in the rear, with bodywork only recently completed. Only at Retromobile!

Within the halls of Retromobile itself Artcurial and Osenat held auctions with the latter first to declare.  Top seller of an all Delahaye, Delage and Talbot-Lago line up was a 1937 Talbot-Lago T150C Roadster at €468,000 and a restoration project 1947 Delahaye 135 not far behind at €408,000.  Artcurial on the face of it didn’t have a particularly good sale with several of their featured lots not selling.  Neither of the two Ferraris, a 1964 250GT Lusso estimated at €1.6 to 2 million, or a 1958 250GT California Spyder LWB estimated at €8.5 to 11.5m sold, nor did a 1975 Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 TT12 with period Interserie wins.  Modern supercars did not fare well, with only a 2014 McLaren P1 selling for €1,358,800 and the only other car over the million mark a 1980 BMW M1 Procar.  

Significant older cars did well however, led by four Bugattis.  A part-recreation Type 35 sold for €405,280, a 1934 Type 57 Galibier made €262,240, a 1929 Type 40 Roadster by Gangloff went for €405,280 and a 1930 Type 40 Grand Sport for €238,400.