It has been two long years since the last Retromobile Salon, so it was not surprising that the event is back and so much bigger and better than ever. From March 16 to 20, Artcurial Motorcars displayed more than 170 vehicles spread throughout more than half a hectare.
For the much-awaited auction, Artcurial Motorcars changed the format. Instead of the usual drive-through, videos and live streaming were displayed and shown during the sale. The Artcurial team could be seen both on the rostrum and on camera as they walked around the cars. With microphone in hand, Antoine Mahé and Benjamin Arnaud really made it into an exciting auction show.
By the latter part of the third day, the team proudly announced that the sale was able to realize €37.8M or $41.7M. It is quite an impressive feat despite the covid restrictions that still made it a bit tricky to travel for some individuals. Even with the restrictions, however, there were still a great mix of international buyers and sellers. There were also bids from the phone and through the internet. Roughly 45% of the total sales were from foreign buyers.
There were six lot that was sold for more than 1M euros and 13 lots were sold for 500,000 euros.
Artcurial Motorcars Managing Director Matthieu Lamoure shared, “This spectacular sale producing multiple records illustrates how strong collectors’ desire is to acquire pieces of history, bringing us together in our shared passion for the automobiles that have always made us dream! After a two-year absence from this international show, what a pleasure to orchestrate a sale in front of a packed saleroom buzzing with excitement!”
Friday, March 18
The first day of the much-awaited return of Salon Retromobile 2022 lived up to the hype! The collection of lawyer and Monegasque state advisor Maître Léandri was one of the highlights of the event. It featured four low-mileage supercars that he has owned from new. There was quite a buzz about those specific lots. There were bids from the room, online, and some were even calling in to place their bids.
The collection had a total sale of more than 13 million euros and the supercars were able to get some really competitive prices. Lot 162, a 1996 Ferrari F50 was able to sell for €4,161,600. It is the first time that an F50 was sold for more than €4million in an auction.
A 1968 Factory Porsche 907 of Ernst Schuster (Lot 203) was the top lot for the day as it was able to get a sale price of €4,390,400 including premium. It truly was a magnificent car with an equally impressive history, having participated in the Le Mans 24 Hours for three times. For the last 40 years, it has been in the custody of the consigner.
Lot 133, a 1950 Gordini Type ISS that was once driven by Juan-Miguel Fangio in the Le Mans 24 Hours was sold for €1,013,200 (including premium). It set a new world record auction price for a Gordini.
Previously owned by Jacques Dufilho, the Bugatti 37A (Lot 147) was sold for €894,000, including premium.
Making a grand entrance to the famous song “Gabrielle” was Jonny Hallyday’s 1990 Harley Davidson Softail Heritage 1340 known as “Laura Eyes”. It roared into the packed saleroom, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room. The consigner won the Harley in a competition back in 1998. The competition was arranged by his fan club, but it was presented to the lucky winner by the famed singer himself. Matthieu Lamoure started the bidding, and it was an exciting and intense ten minutes before the hammer finally came down at €470,840 including the premium.
Applause rang in the room when the Bruno Lafourcade which was made up of mostly Bugatti, achieved an impressive white gloves result.
Saturday, March 19
Other collections from other dedicated enthusiasts were also offered on Saturday. One of the featured collections was the Baudoin Lempereur Collection. It was composed of 19 rally cars from his estate. His driving and engineering skills helped Lempereur make a name for himself on the Belgian circuits and rally events. There was a lot of interest in the rally cars and it had some pretty strong prices. Many of the lots even exceeded their pre-sale estimates, one of which was the 1991 Ford RS200 (Lot 356) which was sold for €295,616, there is also the barn-find 1984 Renault 5 Turbo 2 (Lot 353) which sold for €78,672 including premium.
Another interesting sale is Romain Grosjean’s customized 2010 Harley Davidson Fat Boy “Bobber F”. It was able to fetch a sale price of €35,760. Grosjean bought the bike for himself after he was able to get his first podium finish in F1. If that was not enough, Grosjean even offered to take the new owner out for dinner!
A truly exquisite exhibition model was the Autorail Bugatti with an SNCF finish was sold for €86,592 including premium.
The automobilia auction “Racing, Flying, and Yachting” was the final sale of the event and it also had a very strong result with 98% sell-through rate. It was able to record a €673,440 total sale price including the premium.
Auction World Record Prices:
1. 1968 Porsche 907 (Lot 203) – €4,390,400 / $4,829,440
2. 1996 Ferrari F50 (Lot 162) – €4,161,600 / $4,577,760
3. 1950 Gordini Type 18S TYPE 18S (Lot 133) – €1,013,200 / $1,114,520
4. 1957 Bandini 750 Sport Internazionale Saponetta (Lot 143) – €637,720 / $701,492
5. 1987 Harley Davidson Softail Heritage, “Laura Eyes” (Lot 187) – €470,840 / $517,924
6. 1988 Aston Martin V8 EFI (Lot 184) – €357,600 / $393,360
7. 1938 Peugeot 402 Eclipse “Coupé Cabriolet Transformable” (Lot 149) – €210,894 / $231,983
8. 1951 Reyonnah 175 Prototype n°1 (Lot 103) – €83,440 / $53,759
9. 1991 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9 (Lot 196) – €48,872 / $53,759
Top 5 Lots
1. 1968 Porsche 907 usine (Lot 203) – €4,390,400 / $4,829,440 (Est: €4,000,000 – €6,000,000)
2. 1996 Ferrari F50 (Lot 162) – €4,161,600 / $4,577,760 (Est: €2,700,000 – €3,500,000)
3. 2003 Ferrari Enzo (Lot 163) – €2,846,000 / $3,146,153 (Est: €2,200,000 – €2,800,000)
4. 2013 Ferrari LaFerrari (Lot 165) – €2,714,440 / $3,000,718 (Est: €2,200,000 – €2,800,000)
5. 1950 Gordini Type 18S (Lot 161) – €1,013,200 / $1,120,057 (Est: €800,000 – €1,600,000)
