What makes people in Paris stand patiently in front of an exhibition hall in the freezing cold? The Rétromobile, perhaps the most important trade fair in the international classic car scene. Although other trade fairs are larger, none manages to gather such a density of high-quality and rare classic cars in such a small space. The dealers' presentations alone make up for many a visit to a large car museum.
700 cars for sale
The majority of the trade in Paris was controlled by the auction houses Bonhams, RM and Artcurial, with around 450 vehicles in the 300,000 euro price bracket looking for new owners over three days. Those who attended all the auctions easily set aside 24 hours for this.
A further 250 or so classic cars were offered by dealers in Paris and these - Fiskens, Kienle, Axel Schuette, The Gallery Brummen, to name just a few examples - brought the silverware to the Seine metropolis. The density of 300-SLs from February 4 to 8, 2015 was enormous; there were probably two dozen or more of them
Crowds of people
The Rétromobile is one of the best-attended trade fairs. Queues at the entrance and crowds in front of the interesting vehicles have been a tradition for years, and the move to the larger hall in 2014 did nothing to change this.
The fact that the restaurants are always full to the brim is of course no longer surprising given the huge crowds. French, English, Dutch, Italian and German are spoken simultaneously in just a few square kilometers, so there is certainly no lack of internationality in Paris.
And there was plenty to see between February 4 and 8, 2015 at the 40th Rétromobile.
Royal Bugatti
Three truly majestic Bugatti vehicles could be admired on a joint stand, called Royale.
They stood there as a coupé, saloon and cabriolet and impressed visitors with their sheer size, presented together for the first time externally by the Cité de l'Automobile in Mulhouse, the former Schlumpf Museum.
French legends with Lukas Hüni
If the three Bugatti gems were not enough, Lukas Hüni had seven more sports and touring cars from Molsheim on display. From the Bugatti Type 35C, once driven by Trintignant, to the Type 51 and two Bugatti 57 Atalante, there was an interesting selection to admire and, as the icing on the cake, Hüni was also able to show the 4x4 Type 53 from 1931.
As always, the entire Hüni stand was carefully set up under the banner of French legends, and the three Talbot Lago T26 Grand Sport and the Delahaye naturally fitted in perfectly.
Only the Hispano Suiza H6 B Dual Cowl Tourer from 1926 didn't quite fit in despite its majestic stature, which is perhaps why it was parked at the very back of the stand.
Spanish sports cars in the special show
In the 1950s, the truck manufacturer Pegaso built around 100 sports cars in Spain that could compete with the best in the world. No expense was spared, and the vehicles, which were fitted by Touring, Saoutchik and other coachbuilders, were correspondingly exclusive and expensive.
Around a seventh of the entire production could be admired in Paris, both at a special show and at dealers who were able to offer one of the rare examples for sale.
Italian rarities from the Lopresto collection
The prototypes and one-offs shown by collector Corrado Lopresto in another special exhibition were unsaleable.
From the Lancia Florida limousine to a whole series of four and six-cylinder Alfa Romeos and the Autobianchi A 112 Giovani, the celebration of special designs was definitely one of the highlights of the show.
The Baillon collection in the dim light
However, the Lopresto collectibles were accompanied by a collection in the light, even though it was shown in the shadows. At the end of 2014, this shy find of the century appeared in the press and on television, and on February 6, 2015, 59 almost forgotten cars that had been brought together in the Baillon Collection were auctioned off.
Before and after the auction, the cars could be viewed in more or less complete and decomposed condition in Hall 2.1, which was set up especially for this purpose, in dim light and an almost reverent atmosphere.
But the shinier Artcurial auction vehicles, including two Ferrari 275 GTBs, a number of Lamborghinis, several Bugatti and various other rarities, also attracted attention like Marylin Monroe on the drain cover.
Peugeot and 50 years of the 204
At Peugeot, the focus was on the 204, which celebrates its 50th birthday in 2015.
Shown as convertible, coupé and saloon variants and charmingly complemented by vehicles from the 402 series. The fact that a Simca 8 also made it onto the stand as a convertible certainly delighted fans of this brand in particular. And the Peugeot 163 Fourgonnette from 1922, which was also on display, once again proved the appeal of barn finds.
Citroën and the goddess
60 years of the Citroën DS naturally provided ample opportunity to show different variants of the goddess at Citroën.
But the manufacturer, which as always exhibited together with its clubs, did not stop there. Also on display were variants of the GS and CX as well as concept cars from the recent past.
Mercedes and the gullwing doors
Gullwing doors were the common denominator of the Mercedes stand.
A Mercedes-Benz 300 SL from 1952, a C111 and the 540 K streamliner invited visitors to take a closer look alongside modern descendants.
Renault and the family sedan
At Renault, the R16 celebrated its 50th birthday. In addition to various production models, a prototype of a two-door coupé from 1963 was also on display.
Early representatives of the brand were also on display at Renault.
Finally, the integrated Alpine stand presented an A106 Mille Miles and the Brazilian Berlinette derivative called Willys Interlagos, alongside a modern example from the Alpine kitchen.
Skoda and its special features
A 1905 Laurin & Clement as a brand predecessor was just as much a part of Skoda as a fast and beautiful coupé from the thirties, a racing car from the fifties and a sports coupé for the masses from the seventies, supplemented by a preview of future Skoda design.
The rest of the Volkswagen Group officially remained just as aloof as BMW, Opel, Ford or Jaguar. A pity really, because the international public would certainly have been inspired by other makes.
The Matra saga
On the initiative of Youngtimer Magazine, a collection of vehicles from Matra's history was put together. Starting with the Matra 530 LX, through two Matra-Simca Bagheera to the Talbot Murena, sports cars were combined with the Renault Espace, the Avantime and the soft off-road variant Ranchero.
Together they told a significant part of the Matra production car story.
Informative club stands
Once again, the many lovingly decorated club stands were well worth a visit. Only in France can you learn so much about Deutsch&Bonnet, Panhard, Salmson, Facel Vega or Grégoire in such a small space. And the exhibits were more than worth seeing, such as the Socema Grégoire, a genuine turbine vehicle with a sensational drag coefficient for the time, or elsewhere a Rover 14 Streamline Coupé, which had been brought to Paris especially from neighboring countries.
On the Lotus Club stand was one of the rare Lotus 47s with a mid-engine, not far from which was a rare VW Golf GTI 16S, which Oettinger had produced in a small series especially for France.
The tank on the lap of honor
Anyone venturing out of Hall 1 to get a breath of fresh, cool air, for example, might well find a tank driving past at their feet. The caterpillar monster made its rounds several times and drew attention to itself with a roar and smoke.
This too is probably only to be found in Paris.
If you didn't want to miss anything in Paris, you needed at least three days and a fair amount of stamina. But the mill was worth it, and you could relax with French cuisine and the easy French way of life. It's no wonder that most visitors to the fair return to Paris every year - there are around 100,000 of them - because it doesn't get much better than this.
