On Wednesday, the annual Retromobile show in Paris will open its doors. Supporting the event will be two auctions; Bonhams at the Grand Palais in downtown Paris and Artcurial at Retromobile. One of the most interesting machines to cross the block is the ex-Achille Varzi Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix offered by Bonhams. The car was readied for the 1931 Italian Grand Prix at Monza by combining an existing chassis with the big Type 50 engine. Due to the massively powerful straight eight, the Grand Prix racer proved very difficult to drive and rightfully earned the nickname 'widow maker'. Our 36-shot gallery features two examples, shown in action at various editions of the Goodwood Revival. Chassis 54201 on offer is expected to change hands for at least EUR 2.5 million. Another Bugatti available at Bonhams is the Type 57 C Coupe Aerodynamique originally owned by Ettore Bugatti himself.
Among the most interesting lots in the well stocked Artcurial sale is this Talbot Lago T150C Competition Roadster, which was the first of six competition cars readied for the 1936 season. Although this particular car was extensively raced and competed at Le Mans four times, it is one of the very few survivors. The pre-sale estimate for this T150C is EUR 1.2 - 1.6 million. Available at Artcurial for slightly less is this Maserati A6G/54 2000 Allemano Coupe Speciale. One of 21 examples bodied by Allemano this one was uniquely fitted with full rally equipment. Later in its life it was shown in the Rosso Bianco museum and was more recently restored. We captured the car last year at Villa d'Este in a detailed 18-shot gallery.
As always, we will be in Paris this week and will have a complete report ready later this week.

Enjoy the links:

1931 Bugatti Type 54 Grand Prix - Images, Specifications and Information

1955 - 1957 Maserati A6G/54 2000 Allemano Coupe Speciale - Images, Specifications and Information

1936 Talbot Lago T150C Competition Roadster - Images, Specifications and Information