50 Years of Retromobile
The annual Retromobile show in Paris celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Bucking the trend, the world's premier classic car show was once again packed with exhibitors from all around the world, which filled all three floors of the freshly refurbished Hall 7. In addition to the stands from traditional classic car dealers, major manufacturers, a variety of vendors, there were also special displays from the Schlumpf Museum, BMW Art Cars and rally cars from the Macaluso collection, while the heavily refurbished Le Mans museum was launched and the 2026 historic racing programs were officially announced. On the first floor of Hall 7, Gooding Christie's staged the official Retrombile auction. Additionally, there were three other major auctions in and around Paris during the Retromobile week.
Our photographers explored every corner of the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre Hall 7 for the better part of two days to capture all the highlights with this 240-shot gallery as the very tangible result.

Busy week of auctions
It was a very busy auction week in Paris with four major auctions and also a viewing for the online-only sale staged during the same period by Broad Arrow Auctions. Rightly expecting many major collectors to arrive in Paris early, Artcurial Motorcars kicked off the action on Tuesday, before the doors to show had officially opened. Hosted by the Peninsula hotel, the €16.5 million auction was headlined by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL that was offered in barn-find condition and sold for a record breaking €4.4 million.
Next up was RM Sotheby's in the Louvre Carousel, which grossed over €80 million and included a €14 million Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder that was offered from a single ownership of almost exactly three decades to the day.
On Thursday, all eyes were on Gooding Christie's, which hosted the official Retromobile sale for the first time this year. Indicative of a market shift to a later generation of cars, this sale was topped by a two-owner Ferrari 288 GTO that found its third custodian for €9.1 million, which was another world record.
At the Polo de Paris in the Bois de Boulogne, Bonhams Cars closed the auction action on Friday. With a sell through rate of 79%, the British company achieved €8.6 million.

Major Manufacturers
Although the Retromobile show is focused on classic cars, many manufacturers have a presence to both celebrate their rich heritage and also introduce new models to potential customer. BMW stole the show with a display that featured all of the legendary art cars from the original Alexander Calder 3.0 CSL right through to the recent M Hybrid V8 that was liveried by Mehretu for the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Citroën stand featured several important concept cars that included the Activa I and one of the earliest 2CVs to survive. While the Activa had a highly sophisticated active suspension system, the 2CV's original design brief was little more than "Four wheels under an umbrella." Sister company DS showcased several past presidential limousines and also the DS 8 used by the current French president Emanuel Macron. Hot hatches were also prominently featured with Peugeot, Renault and Volkswagen celebrating the 205 GTI, Clio and Golf. The Mazda stand also grabbed a lot of attention courtesy of the ever striking Mazda 787B that was borrowed from the Le Mans museum. Across the aisle, Porsche also celebrated their rich Le Mans history by showcasing the 2016 winning 919 Hybrid and a privately 924 Carrera GTR that competed at the 2025 Le Mans Classic.

The dealers
Keen to impress consignors and customers alike, and also to outdo the rivals next door, the major classic car dealers traditionally pull out all the stops. With 14 very different classic road and competition cars, London-based Fiskens had an impressive display as always. Our eye was caught by the lovely patinated Ferrari 750 Monza and the freshly restored Porsche 956. Kidston celebrated the company's 20th anniversary in style with a McLaren F1 road car taking centre stage. Also on display was a Longtail F1 GTR. The road car had been previously owned by Simon Kidston himself, and considering his affection for James Bond, the fact that it was serial number 007 was probably not just a happy coincidence. Also on display was the very Aston Martin DBS used by George Lazenby in 'On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.' Across the aisle, Girardo continued the all-Ferrari theme of recent years with a display that featured the star car of the show; the 1963 and 1964 Le Mans winning Ferrari 275 P. We were ensured that the only Ferrari to win the coveted Le Mans trophy twice was not for sale but experience learns that everything always is, for the right price. French historic racing specialists JMB Classic showcased a colourful mix of more recent machinery, headlined by the BMW V12 LM that has recently been restored to its original configuration and livery by JMB. RM Sotheby's was also on hand to showcase the upcoming 'Sealed' offerings, which included an ex-Ayrton Senna Lotus and the second of three McLaren F1 GTRs on the show. The third was shown by Joe Macari alongside a more recent Maserati MC12 GT1 racer.

Further highlights
What originally made Retromobile so revered were not the massive stands from the big dealers and major manufacturers but the small displays with one or two cars that formed a maze on the show floor. These are still here with old school dealers like Jack Braam Ruben's Fine Automobiles, which showcased an original 1950s Chrysler Pope Mobile that had been used by the Vatican for a decade, and Christophe Pund's Galeries des Damiers, which brought out the unique O.S.I. Silver Fox and the one-off Michelotti designed and mid-engined Conrero GT. An altogether larger display was required for the Bugatti Autorail that had been brought over from Mulhouse especially for the occasion. Designed by Ettore Bugatti, it featured four Type 41 Royale engines and was capable of speeds of up to 196 km/h. The sole surviving example was trucked to Paris and to celebrated the momentous occasion, the truck made several laps around the Arc de Triomphe in the middle of the night. The Autorail was accompanied by a selection of very rare Bugatti competition and prototypes that were also brought over from Mulhouse by the former Schlumpf collection. Another collection to take centre stage was that of the late rally enthusiast Gino Macaluso. The display featured some of the great 1970s and 1980s machinery including a Lancia Stratos, Renault 5 Turbo and Peugeot 205 T16.

Final thoughts
It is impossible to capture all the highlights in a brief write-up, suitable for consumption on the internet. There was no room, for example, for numerous highlights like the turbocharged Citroën 2CV ice racer or the Ferrari-packed Richard Mille stand. It is for this reason that many visitors spent more than one day exploring all the nooks and crannies of the Retromobile Show. During the 50th anniversary edition they did so in record numbers with 181,500 enthusiasts coming through the gates during the five-day show. If you are keen to find what you missed or would like to relive the experience, we highly recommend our 240-shot gallery.