There is no doubt that the legendary Retromobile historic car show in Paris kicks off the season with a lot of fun, a lot of surprises, and just about every known dealer in expensive automobiles is prowling the stands with anguished looks at cars they might have sold if offered.
The show was bigger than ever this year taking in two halls and there was something for everyone. If you want a throttle cable for a 1929 Salmson and amidst barrels of what one would otherwise call junk, you will find one. As for cars, well, Retromobile always brings surprises. For a start, stroll with me to Christophe Pund’s stand. Christian is a jolly smiling Frenchman who manages to dig up the oddest cars from the oddest places and this year was no exception. Restored, but thankfully not to Pebble Beach standard, was a fascinating little Moretti 750 dating from 1955 that was bought by a dealer called Lino Fayen who was kind of French/Venezuelan. Shortly after he bought it he exported it to Venezuela which was just as well because the French tax men wanted to chat with him about tax and customs duty. He fled.
In Caracas the car went through various hands and thanks to Christophe you see here a picture of Edward Speluvela racing the Moretti in Venezuela. It was a twin cam producing 70 bhp and the odd bodywork was by Aperta. You will note it has a head rest and this is the only thing missing from it today. It is very original and no doubt will be snapped up and let’s hope we see it out racing again.