After its cancellation last year, Retromobile was back in Paris at the Porte de Versailles exhibition center (75015) from March 16 to 20, 2022.
A unique and unmissable event, Retromobile opens the season of collector and prestige vehicle shows. This show allows lovers of old vehicles to meet each year. They can find the club of their favorite brand or model there. They also have the chance to find research, scale models, books and magazines, decorative objects and all the driving equipment of an old-timer.
This year, for the 46th edition, Youngtimers, exceptional cars, auctions and exhibitions were on the agenda. Nearly 1,000 vehicles and a hundred clubs welcomed visitors on 2 floors. The show also focused on certain aspects concerning old vehicles: insurance, maintenance and restoration.
For those who are not yet collectors, a car sales area for less than 25,000 euros offered offers from individuals and professionals.
The history of Retromobile
Retromobile was born in 1976 after the exhibition of old cars organized in 1974 by the Atlas editions, during the launch of « The great encyclopedia of the automobile, « Alpha Auto » This exhibition was held in the old station of the Bastille, now gone.Thanks to the success, Jean-Pierre Jouët and Marc Nicolosi decided to create Retromobile and then move to Porte de Versailles in 1981. In 2010, the show was restructured and went from 10 to 5 days.
In summary, at Retromobile we meet manufacturers, clubs and federations, dealers in automobiles, spare parts and tools, restorers and mechanics, auction houses, insurers and art galleries. automobile.
Prestigious stands
This time again, the association « Le Fardier de Cugnot, the engineering school of Arts et Métiers Paris Tech and volunteers from Void have reconstructed the prototype of the fardier, the first land vehicle capable of moving on its own without the use of a animal, Built in 1769 by the French engineer Nicolas Joseph Cugnot in Void-Vacon in Lorraine, it was intended to transport cannons and their carriages.During the show, dynamic demonstrations were carried out.
The Vintage Revival Montlhéry, an event reserved for cars and motorcycles from before 1940, organized for the 3rd year on the Linas Montlhéry autodrome, had a stand on which it presented the BNC (Bollak, Netter et Compagnie) at the wheel of which Jean -Pierre Beltoise started and won his first victory in 1958. It was an opportunity for his son Anthony to recount memories. On the stands, you could also see a 6-cylinder C6 racing model from the Amilcar brand, which has just celebrated its 100th anniversary. Finally, it was an opportunity to discover gear from the French Slowth Festival (FOS, French Festival of Slowth).
The Armored Museum of Saumur offered a Panther tank on display and demonstrations in the car park, several times a day, of the AMX 10 PAC 90, a French armored vehicle from the end of the 1970s equipped with an anti-tank gun and powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8-cylinder V-engine turbo diesel.
The French Federation of Vintage Vehicles (FFVE) devoted a retrospective to the Lyon motorcycle brand created in 1912, Koehler-Escoffier. On the stand, we could discover the sidecar 1000K100 with 4 exhausts.
Although it is not a 2, 3 or 4 wheels, a tribute was paid to Jean Bertin and the aerotrain he invented in the 1960s. For this Retromobile decided to exhibit one of its derivatives, the cabin » Tridim » with electric propulsion, able to accommodate 4 passengers.
French brands in the spotlight
With DS, the history of the Fifth Republic and elegance are highlighted. The DS were the preferred vehicles of the presidency but also of business leaders. On the exhibition stand, you could see a DS 21 ie and a DS 23 ie with Pallas finish.
The Citroën adventure, the chevron brand celebrated the 90th anniversary of the « Rosalie » and unveiled the C5 X while the eternal 2 CV was represented by the 2 CV Salara with its 4-wheel drive and 2 engines.
For its part, Peugeot made visitors discover more than a century of history.
A happy birthday for the R5 which is blowing out its 50 candles. Renault launched the R5 in 1972, 10 years after the 4L. With the evolution of the company, the Diamond brand plans to release a model with an electric motor for 2024. On the stand, several R5 models were on display.
For its 40th anniversary, the Marius Berliet Foundation, created by the descendants of Marius Berliet and Renault Industrial Vehicles, exhibited a 1921 series 18 400 pumper, with cylinder engine and Delahaye fire pump. This model was used at the Menier chocolate factory in Noisiel.
The National Gendarmerie presented, for the first time, 11 of the 80 vehicles from its collection. It took the opportunity to launch an endowment fund for the preservation of the mechanical heritage of its museum. In addition to these 11 pieces, there was a Yamaha snowmobile used at the Albertville Olympics in 1992 and 3 motorcycles (2 BMWs and 1 Norton 750 Atlas of the Republican Guard during the 1996 Tour de France). On the automotive side, there were several intervention vehicles including 1 Peugeot 203 station wagon, 1 of the 3 Matra Djet of the BRI A 110 berlinettas, 1 Alpine A310; 1 Subaru Impeza and a Renault courier.
Italian legends
Tribute to Amédée Gordini, in collaboration with the historian Christian Huet and the Schlumpf National Automobile Museum in Mulhouse On this occasion, 9 vehicles designed by « Le Sorcier » were exhibited on the stand as well as Renault Gordini.
Having started as a wheelwright-blacksmith,. After the war, he left for Paris and worked in Suresne in a mechanical and bicycle manufacturing workshop. Once on his own, he became a Fiat agent and then won a slow race on the Mont-Valérien coast in 1933. He then took part in numerous races with Simca, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans on a Simca 5 prepared by Gordini.. After the Second World War, Gordini stood out thanks to drivers like Fangio, Behra and Pollet. Thanks to the help of Renault, new vehicles appeared in 1957. (the « Dauphine-Gordini, 1 V6 and 1 V8). Amédée Gordini died in May 1979.
As usual, Lamborghini had its stand at the show. It presented a reconstruction of the Countach LP 500, the star prototype of the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. Destroyed during a crash test 3 years later, the reconstruction of this collector’s vehicle began in 2017, following the request of a collector .
The Maserati firm presented on its stand the activities of the Classiche department (spare parts program) inaugurated in December 2021. It made it possible to issue a certificate of authenticity to a light gray Mistral 3700, produced in 1969.
Artcurial, a renowned auction
As every year, the famous Artcurial auction has put up for sale many jewels of car racing and grand touring, from famous collections. The star was a Gordini type 18 S, present at the 24 hours of Le Mans in 1950 and driven by Fangio, Froilan and Gonzales. The value of the vehicle was estimated between 800,000 and 1.6 million euros. The other big piece was the Peugeot 908 HDi, estimated between 2.2 and 2.8 million euros. Ferraris, from the Supercars collection, Fords, Aston-Martins, Cortina-Lotus, Sierra Cosworths and many more were there, but also 2-wheelers and vintage vehicles. There were also 19 vehicles from the estate of Belgian driver Baudouin, who died in 2021.
Group A highlighted by YoungTimers magazine
We call YoungTimer, a used vehicle, « a little old », as opposed to « OldTimer », which has become a collector’s car. This qualifier applies to vehicles that appeared between 1980 and 1990, even up to the 2000s, being between 20 and 40 years old. In this category, we find the BMW M3, the Ford Sierra Coxworth or the integral Lancia Delta.
On the stand of the magazine YoungTimers, were exhibited civilian versions of group A, having hosted the world rally championships for 10 years from 1987.
See you next year for a 47th edition.
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