A stunning way to display this 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 Berlinetta (#412035) by Touring.
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
Retromobile, February 3, 2023: If I had a £1 for every time I said WOW! (or words to that effect!) I would have had enough money to pay for the trip. Yes, Retromobile was back to its usual self. The big hitting dealers were back, the Artcurial Auction was jammed with lots on offer, there were tons of spare parts to buy and art to hang on your walls, and lots of visitors, though Friday was not so bad.
There were few negatives; the show was back in the older halls which have less light, and perhaps the car club displays were a bit below par this year, mainly due to the size of their stands. But overall the show is back to its glorious old self.
If, when you get to the end of the photographs below, you wonder why there no Ferraris, do not worry, they were there in number and quality and my story about the Ferraris will follow in due course. Below are selected Italians plus one outstanding work of art depicting the very French Voisin.
This Alfa Romeo 1900 SS Zagato was delivered to Vittorio Vanini, a Swiss-Italian Chocolatier, in 1955.
Later that same year it was entered into the Millie Miglia finishing 14th out of 400, and the first Alfa to cross the Brescia finishing line.
Listed in the archives of Alfa Romeo, this 6C 2500 SS Coupe Superleggera by Touring was constructed on the 18th May 1949 and delivered to its first owner in Paris on the 16th January 1950. Unfortunately the original owner’s name is not known and the oldest title information dates from the 20th February 1964 when the car was registered to Andre Safran from Lyon.
Engine of the 6C2500. The car was owned for more than 50 years by the collector Mr Rene Cornillac. The vehicle has never been restored and has only ever had one repaint, a quick respray in the 1970s.
Gracing the FCA Heritage stand was this Touring-bodied Alfa Romeo 1900 Super Sprint. Constructed on the 14th July 1956 and sold in Paris three days later.
1959 Angelo Molinari Class LV Hydroplane. Delivered new to French racer Rene Milon. Powered by a 1300cc Alfa Romeo motor, it set a new class record speed of 128.57 km/h on the lake at Saint Cloud in 1961.
From Carrosserie Lecoq, 1970 Autobianchi Spiaggina beach car.
1965 Bizzarini 5300GT chassis A3* 0245, Aluminium bodied, built in 1965 as a Strada but converted to Corsa specification 20 years ago. Since then 0245 has been raced extensively at many prestigious events across Europe.
For sale at just shy of 30 thousand Euros, 1968 Ferves Ranger.
Part of the Van life display, 1970 Fiat 850 Familia camper.
Martin Otto Lambert Heukeshoven’s sculptures are stunning as evidenced by this Voisin.
Voisin art.
I understand this Fiat 1400 Zagato was (assuming there was more than one?) built in 1950.
Fiat Zagato Panorama, Ruote da Sogno stand.
Another mystery car on the Ruote da Sogno stand. The ASI badge on the tail says Aurelia but only the engine is Aurelia, being from a B10. If I recall correctly the car started life as a tube-framed racing car and was re-bodied later. It has sliding pillar front suspension and had just been sold off the stand.
Click here to read about this car in the As Found Classic story in VT…https://velocetoday.com/as-found-number-twenty-three/
No not the result of a collision. A Fiat 500 Limousine.
On Simon Kidston’s stunning stand, Maserati 5000GT, AM103-48. One of two (from a total of 34 chassis built) bodied by Frua. The 1962 Geneva and Paris show car, reportedly used by the Aga Khan prior to purchasing his own Frua-bodied 5000GT, and team owner John Simone for transport between Modena and Sarthe where his team’s Maserati Tipo 151s were testing prior to the 24 Hours.
And here is the other one, again on Simon Kidston’s stand, Chassis AM103-060, Ordered by the Parisian Maserati importer on the 24th May 1962 and delivered to Prince Karim Aga Khan on the 8th August 1962.
Displayed on the Auto Moto d’Epoch stand, The 1928 Maserati Tipo 26B from the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile Torino collection.
On the Lukas Huni AG stand, finished in the rather fetching, and very seventies, colour of Luci del Bosco with a chocolate Brown/Beige leatherette and cloth interior, this Lamborghini Miura 400S chassis number 4773 dates from 1970. Delivered to the Rome Lamborghini dealer Carpanelli in November of that year.
This 1974 Lancia Stratos chassis 829ARO-001788 started life as a Stradale, finished in red and delivered to Pierlugi Monteverdi in Turin. The car passed through various owners in Italy before being bought by Maurizio Bardini of Cuneo in 1977. He subsequently commissioned Claudio Maglioli to convert the car to Group 4 specification. Carrying the colours of Tejanos John livery Bardini entered the car in the 1979 Spanish Rally Championship driven by Mariano Zapata Martinez.
Alas I can not tell you much about the history of this car. All I can tell you is what it said on the ASI plaque, 1937/1949 Fiat/Siata 500 Sport. It was lovely though!
This matching numbers Maserati A6 GS 2000 was shown at Salon de l’Automobile in Paris in 1955 at which time the chassis was fitted with a unique Allemano body. The chassis was subsequently fitted with an original Zagato A6 body.
This is the works prototype Iso A3/C – the Turin show car, tested at Le Mans in ‘64, and piloted by Pierre Noblet and Edgar Berney as a works entry to 2nd in class (19th overall) at the ’64 Nürburgring 1,000 km.
1957 OSCA S273 chassis 1187, ex Gianni Manelli, first in class at Monza in 1959 and 1961.
OSCA motor
On the FAC Heritage stand, Lancia 037 ex Attillio Bettega.
Lancia Delta Intergrale, driven by Auriol/Occelli in three WRC events during 1992, first place in the 1000 Lakes Rally and Telecom Rally Australia.
Another star car on the Lukas Huni AG stand was this 1954 Maserati 250F chassis 2504, ex White Mouse Stable/Prince Bira in which the Prince finished 4th in the 1954 French Grand Prix, 2nd in the Pescara Grand Prix, 1st in the 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix, and 3rd in the 1955 British Grand Prix.
Interestingly, during the 1954 British Grand Prix Prince Bira fell ill and so offered 2504 to his Friend Tony Rudd of the Owen Racing Organisation to race, only for their driver Ron Flockhart to crash the car during the race damaging the chassis. To resolve this somewhat embarrassing situation the team dismantled their own 250F chassis 2509 and swapped the chassis frames to return an undamaged car to the Prince. One week later the Prince finished fourth in the Caen GP in the repaired car.
Courtesy of Lukas Huni, 1955 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT Fourth series, chassis B20S-1155, the S indicating that it is sinister (left hand drive) which was only available from the fourth series.
The Aurelia is sinistra and just a bit sinister?
If I only had buckets of money and could stand air travel! What a great show, and great pictures.
Once again I thank you for such great coverage, for people like myself who are unable to travel the World to attend such functions. Not only great photos, but very interesting information with each one!
Great report! Retromobile is on my bucket list. One quibble, however. Under the picture of Maserati 250F #2504, it says the car finished 3rd at the 1955 British Grand Prix. That race was actually a Mercedes Benz 1-2-3-4 (Moss, Fangio, Kling, Taruffi). Thanks. Keep up the wonderful reporting and stories.
I’ve been studying Prince Bira’s background recently, truly an amazing gentleman. Thanks for the interesting bit about that beautiful 250F 2504, I was under the impression all his cars wore the unique pale blue color with yellow highlights ? Great review of a outstanding venue…Jack
Jim,
Thanks for the comment! But we’ll have to put the blame on Lukas for this one. According to the placard, Bira had “a fine 3rd place in the 1955 British Grand Prix behind Collins and Salvadori, after which he retired from racing.” Again, we do not have the time to fact check every single placard shown at shows and events. Nor do vendors often return our queries when we do have questions.
Magnificent machines and great pics and text. Thanks so much!
Thanks Pete. Once you added the information about Bira finishing behind Collins and Salvadori, I think I’ve figured out which race we are actually talking about. It’s the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, May 7, 1955. Maserati 250F’s finished in the top 5 places – Collins, Salvadori, Bira, Andre Simon and Louis Rosier. Wikipedia has full results and some other statistics. Sleuthing over. And a big thanks too to David McKinney’s book, “Maserati 250F”.
Further to my comment yesterday about Bira and Maserati 250F #21504. Perhaps the sleuthing isn’t completely over. David McKinney’s book on the 250F (also mentioned yesterday) says that #2504 did win the BRDC International race in 1955, but it was entered by the Owen Organization (BRM) and driven by Peter Collins. Not Prince Bira, who finished 3rd in his self entered car. What to make of all that, I don’t know. I know pretty much nothing about the histories of the various 250F chassis. I’ll leave that up to the experts. What I do know is that the 250F is a gorgeous race car and a true classic!