Retromobile: The Best Classic Car Show in Paris
April 2020 • By Eric Sawyer
This is the level of quality seen at the Paris Retromobile, number two of only three 1967 Ferrari 330 P4s ever built.
If you’re into travel and indoor car shows then we suggest you put the annual Salon Retromobile on your bucket list. It happens every February in Paris, France, so there’s one reason to go even though Paris can be pretty wintery that time of year it is still the ‘City of Lights’ and rarely fails to deliver.
Even the architecture of the Paris Expo is worth exploring. The Salon is located at Porte de Versailles in the heart of Paris only fifteen minutes from the Eiffel Tower.
Paris or even France doesn’t necessarily spring to mind for its car culture but the folks here at TorqTalk.com have made numerous trips over the years and there’s a huge scene to be found from the hot rod beach races at Normandy to the classic car street race known as the Circuit des Remparts d'Angoulême. And, we must not forget the 24 Hours du Le Mans and the Monaco Grand Prix. When you think about it, France has a lot of motorsports activities.
Travel is not so expensive in February, the city is not crowded with summer tourists and so a trip to the five-day Retromobile can be attractive. The Salon is held at the Paris Expo at Porte de Versailles located in the heart of Paris only fifteen minutes from the Eiffel Tower. Advance tickets are just €19 ($20) and at the door it is only €23 ($25)—children under 12 are free. Hotels are handy, transport is easy, there’s plenty of distraction for those into sightseeing and there is more than 800,000 sq ft of display space that this year featured 1,100 vehicles and 620 exhibitors. There was everything from tractors to Formula One cars and everything in between including one of only three real Ferrari 330 P4s ever built complete with a period transporter backdrop.
Apparently, Sotheby’s were not able to sell the ex-Bib Stillwell, Frank Gardner, Jack Davey and 'Dickie' Attwood 1955 Jaguar D-type .
Masses of automobilia at Retromobile and much of it extremely rare and priced accordingly.
What really interested us was interesting and unusual autombilia, the fabulous retrospective of Italian design house Bertone and the auctions that saw Bonham’s sell a Porsche 904GTS for a tad under two millions Euros ($2.16 million). Of course, the biggest drawback of going to Retromobile is resisting the temptation to buy something that has to then be carried home. Brochures, books and even posters are probably okay but wheels, engines, pedal cars and even real cars can be much more of a problem. It’s worth the trip though.
At the time of writing, the 2021 dates are Feb. 3-7 but you can keep up with the latest information at: https://www.retromobile.com/ For information about the Paris Expo and local hotels, etc., visit: https://www.paris-expo-portedeversailles.com/en/site/paris-expo-porte-de-versailles