A Guide to Retro

Story and Photos by Brandy Elitch
Scroll down for more photos.

Where it is

No matter how many collector car events you have attended, nothing prepares you for Retromobile. More than just a “car show,” it is held every February in the Porte de Versailles exposition center in the southern end of Paris.

Wooden Citroën.

The center is located at the end of the number 12 Metro line, just next to the Peripherique, the ring road that separates Paris from the suburbs. I have attended numerous times, but the sheer size, variety of exhibitors, and elevated level of presentation still manages to astonish. You couldn’t see it in one day and do it justice.

Prices

Another thing is astonishing – the prices, particularly if you are an American. I’m not exaggerating when I say that everything in Paris costs twice as much as it does in the US. I found that the French themselves are a little embarrassed about this, and when this subject is brought up they remind us how, for most of the postwar period, the franc was a small fraction of the dollar.

A sculpture of Andre Citroën who died in 1935.

It is even expensive for the exhibitors: a stand costs between one and two thousand euros, which is not small change for a car club. And make no mistake: the charm of Retromobile is the car clubs, dozens of them, with their members manning the stands eight to ten hours a day for the whole ten days of the event. As the owner of one Facel and various Citroëns, I can always be assured of a warm welcome by the people manning the club booths. They are proud of their “patrimoine” and always seem to be delighted that an American would take an interest.

Club stands

France has their own “Big Three” manufacturers: Citroën, Renault, and Peugeot (although Citroën was absorbed into Peugeot a long time ago), and each of these has a whole series of stands, since there are clubs for individual models within each marque.

Simca Club stand, with ex-rally drivers, including J.P. Beltoise, at right.

There is for instance, a “Citroën Villages” with half a dozen clubs represented. Then there are the stands for the many small marques that are no longer with us: of course, all the “grandes routieres,” such as Bugatti, Delage, Delahaye, Hispano, Panhard, Talbot. On top of that there are clubs representing marques that we don’t see too much in the US: Amilcar, D-B, De Dion Bouton, Gregoire, Darl’Mat, Hotchkiss, Simca, etc.

Models and Art

Elsewhere, there is an artist’s corner, where a dozen or so painters and sculptors show their work, some of it quite large. Want models?

Visit the dozens of stands showing thousands of models. The French prefer the 1/43rd scale, perhaps because their apartments are smaller, but the prices are not commensurately smaller.

Lalique radiator ornaments: fragile and expensive!

You will find hundreds of small batch models, of some of the most obscure cars you have ever seen, and the prices can be in the hundreds of euros. One vendor makes custom dioramas, if for instance you wanted to recreate at home the entire pits at the 1955 LeMans race.

Original posters, some 80 years old, mounted on linen.

Another vendor category consists of those who sell very rare, very pricey collectibles: Lalique hood ornaments, car-related period items, original posters, objects d’art, really. Prices are in the stratosphere here, but there seems to be no lack of demand.

Auctions and others

Bonhams Auction folks were on hand this year, which took about half of the second hall on Saturday morning to sell their wares.

This 1956 Silver Wraith 4.9 litre LWB, Perspex top saloon by Hooper, was auctioned at Retro by Bonhams.

There used to be a boat section called Retronautique, which showed very high end yachts powered by big, big motors (Ferrari, Maserati, even Miller) but this has disappeared. In previous years there was occasionally a big motorcycle exhibit, but this year it was relegated to the second hall and only had perhaps 20 bikes, but some pretty interesting ones nonetheless.

Parts

For the practical minded, there are many vendors who sell NOS and reproduction parts for your collector car. The most famous of these is Depanoto, founded in 1911, and a long time must-see for serious French car collectors. I took some time after the show and visited their warehouses, located at Nogent-Le-Retrou, about an hour outside of Paris.

A typical vendor, here specializing in lights

You can see in the attached pictures how large the operation really is, and they recently moved to newer quarters. In the process they were forced to clean up and organize mountains of parts that have been on the shelves for fifty years!

Distributors, lights and various electrics at the parts vendors.

They also put out a catalog, which you can get by emailing them at info@depanoto.fr. In addition, there are a host of other vendors, many of which specialize in just one make, or one country.

Books

You can find just about every book ever published in any language on the automobile.

The Tido bookseller stand at Retro.

I even found a bookseller with a huge stock of remainders: www.tido.fr thus enabling me to almost get a hernia carrying book laden luggage back to the States.

Events

There are clubs and companies that put on automotive events. Want to join a few thousand fellow Citroën owners for a long weekend? – try www.icccer.com
Want to take your Amilcar on an Amilcar event? Click here --- www.avignon-motor-festival.com
Just want to drive in some of the most beautiful countryside in the world? Surf www.authentic-roads.com
How about taking your historic racecar out on the circuit? – see www.classic-days.fr
Of course, there are museums:
www.caapy.net
www.beaulieuevents.co.uk
www.museeauto24h.sarthe.com
www.musee-auto-vendee.com
www.musee-automobile-reims-champagne.com
www.amav.fr
This is but to mention only a few.

Nothing like Retro

Yes, there are shows “almost like” Retromobile, Essen Techno Classica for one, and the dearly departed Genoa Autostory. But there is only one Retromobile.