Everybody has heard about the sale of the Baillon collection of nearly 60 cars in desperate state for most of them. Here on the same picture, the most well preserved cars, the Maserati A6 G 2000 Frua coupé in the background, and the Ferrari 250 GT SWB California once owned by French actor Alain Delon, sold for an incredible $18.5 million.
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Click on pics to enlarge
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Retromobile show in Paris. Over the years it became a must-see event that starts the classic car season on the European continent and it continues to grow in size and quality. The sale of the well-publicized Baillon collection attracted even more spectators, who had to queue for some time to access the hall where the barn finds were exposed.
The Maserati, which went to an American buyer for $2.2 million, is one of only four A6G 2000 bodied by Frua. It was the 1956 Paris Motor Show car and in the Baillon family since 1959.
Apart from the usual manufacturers and dealers displays, many themes were developed with a retrospective of the production of Spanish manufacturer Pegaso, a selection of cars from the collection of Corrado Lopresto from Italy, a gathering of Bugatti Royales, the production cars of Matra, etc.
Yes, there were Pegasos, but you missed them. Fortunately Hugues did not, and we'l present Hugues' Pegaso pics in depth in another issue of VT.
But first take a look to the sale that made the headlines and to some French rarities.
The Baillon collection was presented in a very dark environment, giving an ambiance of mystery to these cars coming to light for the first time since decades. Another highlight was this Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport by Saoutchik, already featured here in VT ( Baillon barnfind part 3). It went for $1.9 million.
This Talbot-Lago T150C was also a car owned by Baillon until 1979 when a first batch of cars went on public sale due to his transport business bankruptcy. 1936 French ACF Grand Prix, 1937 Mille Miglia, 1938 Le Mans 24 hours are just some of the races in which this car took part with various bodies.
Lükas Hüni, Swiss classic car merchant and vintage racer, always brings to Paris a selection of exquisite cars. This year was dedicated to Bugattis and Talbot-Lagos. Among these was this T26 Grand Sport short chassis, first fitted with a coupé body and then, after catching fire in a rally, with this aluminum barchetta body by Motto of Turin
Yet another T26 Grand Sport with a great history. This is the car in which French driver Pierre Levegh stayed behind the wheel during 23 of the 24 hours of the 1952 Le Mans enduro. He was in the lead and near the completion of an incredible achievement when the crankshaft broke.
The Bugatti line-up on the Lükas Hüni display with a Type 51 Grand Prix, a Type 37C ex-Trintignant and a Type 53 4WD, all three from 1931.
The idea of a 4WD Grand Prix car came from Jean Bugatti, the son of “Le Patron” Ettore. But it proved to be uncompetitive in Grand Prix races, so the car was entered in international hillclimbs like Klausen Rennen, Shelsley Walsh or Mont Ventoux with great success.
This Bugatti Type 57S (S for Surbaissée or lowered) is unique due to its cabriolet body by Corsica. It was built for the famous racing driver T.A.S.O. Mathieson.
This Delage was born with a 2 Liter V12 engine for the 1923 French GP in Tours where it failed to finish in the hands of René Thomas. Later given to Maurice Béquet, famous French aviator, he equipped the car with a Hispano V8 aero engine from a WW1 fighter. The car is now known as the Béquet Delage and appears frequently on historic events.
In 1937, Amédée Gordini was in charge of the preparation of the Simca Type 5 for Le Mans. Despite its small capacity engine (568 cc), it went on to win its class three years in a row, in 1937, 1938 and 1939.
One of the first cars produced by French engineer Jean-Albert Grégoire under the Tracta name is this model, the Type A, featuring the front wheel drive system that Grégoire has developed . The car took part to the Le Mans 24 hours in 1928 and 1929.
More modern and more powerful was the Tracta Type E of 1930, still FWD with a 6 cylinder 2.6 liter engine.
After Tracta ceased its activities in 1934, Jean-Albert Grégoire continued to design cars like the 1952 Socema Grégoire featuring a turbine engine and an aerodynamic shape, allowing the car to reach the 200 kph mark. It remained a prototype.
Still faithful to the front wheel drive transmission, the Grégoire Sport was technically in advance of its time in 1958 with a lightweight chassis and a 4 cylinder supercharged boxer engine. The body was built by Chapron but less than 10 examples were produced due to the high price of the car.
The 1956 Panhard Monopole X86 with its lines sculpted for the Mulsanne straight.
Designed in the Art Déco style, functional, modern for its time, this 1927 Avions Voisin has been owned by famous Swiss architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, alias ‘Le Corbusier’.
The Citroën 2CV, here in its ‘Fourgonnette’ version, was a common sight on the French roads from the 50s to the 80s and remain one of the symbols of the French automotive industry.
The Citroën DS turns 60 this year. The most sought after versions are the cabriolets which were in production between 1961 and 1971 and built by Henri Chapron.
Even rarer is the coupé ‘Le Léman’ built in 24 examples by Chapron. Based on the Citroën DS21, this one is the sole originally equipped with a sunroof.
This Peugeot 401 D is famous by its first owner, French music hall singer ‘Mistinguett’, who ordered this roadster body to a small coachbuilder called Crozier. It is believed that this car has been shown at various Concours d’Elegance, which were very popular in France in the prewar and postwar years.
Invented by Georges Paulin, the coupé cabriolet concept has been put into production for the first time on the Peugeot 402 Eclipse, built between 1935 and 1940.
Peugeot celebrates the 30th anniversary of the 1st World Rally Championship won by its famous 205 Turbo 16 in 1985. A second title will follow in 1986 and, after the ban of the Group B cars from traditional rallies, the 205T16 continued its success story on the Paris-Dakar with two wins in 1988 and 1989.
The Renault 8 Gordini represents an icon of the French sports car of the 60’s. Always delivered in blue with two white stripes, it was the first time that customers could afford a car with sporty performances for the prize of a mid-class sedan.
The Renault 16 also celebrates an anniversary this year as it was presented for the 1st time at the 1965 Geneva Motor Show. The model you see here is a prototype of a coupé cabriolet that unfortunately had no future.
Another iconic French car is the Alpine Renault A110 berlinette that remained in production between 1962 and 1977 and won numerous rallies around the globe. This one is a 1964 Willys Interlagos, made in Brazil under license.
Wow! So many of these are wonderful cars those of us in the States won’t see anyplace else. Long live Retromobile!
I agree completely. Fabulous !
Since I moved over to Australia, I do not get to France as often as I used to. But I still love their quirky cars. Of course I would love to have a Bugatti, any Bugatti would do, preferably blue though. Those Chapron Citroëns are still stunningly beautiful, they must be the future Figoni Delahayes for the Pebble Beach crowd surely. To bring me (nearer) back to earth, I was fortunate to first visit Paris on a student exchange program in the late sixties and much as I still find it hard to believe the streets are not filled with delightful old 2CVs, Renault 4CVs and green and cream Panhard buses, it was the Renault 8 Gordinis that made the biggest impression. Coming from London where hot Mini Coopers were all the rage, I found these boxy little ‘rear-engine-weird-cambered-always-blue-with-white-stripes-buzz-boxes’ fascinating and the allure of that one photographed above can only be understood by anyone who was around the Parisian streets in that era. Thanks !
I saw similar Peugeot 205 last year in Prince’s Rainier collection in Montecarlo, amazing car. Without stickers may looks almost like normal car
So much pay for a car, its called…passion only passion !!! Felicitation mister X
Thank for the pic’s Hug