Rare Porsches, Vanvooren-bodied vehicles and Bugatti 57 cars join the 1964 Le Mans-Winning 1963 Ferrari 275 P at the Artcurial Rétromobile 2018 Paris sale.
Artcurial announced further highlights for the Paris Rétromobile 2018 classic car auction. In addition to the 1964 Le Mans-Winning 1963 Ferrari 275 P, a selection of over 200 cars and motorcycles, including several noteworthy private collections, will be on offer. Highlights include the Volante Collection, featuring nine rare Vanvooren-bodied vehicles, and four rare Porsches owned by a gentleman driver Jean-Claude Miloé for the past 30 years. The sale will also feature two Bugatti Type 57 cars : a cabriolet and a Atalante Coupé. Artcurial will offer a stunning collection of 80 prewar motorcycles in a separate sale at no reserve.
Artcurial Paris Rétromobile Sale 2018
The Artcurial Salon Rétromobile classic car auction will be held on 9 February 2018 in the Rétromobile Hall in Paris during the annual classic car event in the French capital. On 10 February 2018, Artcurial will offer nearly 80 prewar motorcycles in a separate sale at no reserve.
Artcurial has good form at recent Paris Rétromobile auctions:
- In 2016, the new Paris (and European) auction record was set when a 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport sold for €32,075,200 ($35,711,359. This is the highest price ever paid in euro for a car at public auction but in dollar terms second to the 1962-63 Ferrari 250 GTO that sold for $38 million in 2014, which was €28.5 million at the time.
- In 2015, the Baillon Collection of 60 barn-find cars, including a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider that achieved $18.7 million, were sold at the Paris auction.
1963 Le Mans-Winning Ferrari 275 P at Artcurial Rétromobile 2018
The lead car for the Artcurial Rétromobile 2018 sale will be the 1964 Le Mans winning Ferrari 275P, chassis 0816. This was the last car to win Le Mans outright as an official works Ferrari.
In 1964, Jean Guichet and Nino Vaccarella drove the Ferrari 275P to victory at the 24 Heures du Mans ahead of two Ferrari 330P racing cars. Enzo Ferrari never kept racing cars in a museum and sold the car off to race in America. Like many other race-winning Ferraris, the 1963 Ferrari 275 P eventually became part of the famous Bardinon Collection.
Artcurial has not released any estimate or price guidance yet, but it is worth noting that the 1957 Ferrari 335S Scaglietti from the Bardinon Collection, which Artcurial sold for €32 million, had no race victories although it did finish second in the final Mille Miglia race and was driven by some of the top racing drivers of the period.
The record price at auction for a Le Mans-winning car is $21,780,00 paid for a 1955 Jaguar D-Type that RM Sotheby’s sold at Monterey 2016 while the record price for a Le Mans-winning Porsche is $10,120,000 paid at Gooding Pebble Beach 2015 for the 1983 winner, the 1982 Porsche 956 in Rothmans livery.
For more on the 1964 Ferrari 275 P see the Le Mans-Winning Ferrari Announcement.
Other Top Cars at the Artcurial Rétromobile 2018 Sale
Rare Porsches at Artcurial Rétromobile 2018 Paris Sale
A very special group of Porsche motor cars owned by famous French enthusiast and gentleman driver Jean-Claude Miloé since the late 1980s will be amongst the top lots at the Artcurial Rétromobile 2018 sale. Miloé is well known as a careful owner and collector of rare and genuine competition masterpieces.
His cars have been meticulously maintained and have competed successfully in prestigious historic motor racing events:
- 1964 Porsche 904 GTS (estimate 1.4M€ – 1.8M€ / 1.6M$ – 2.1M$) has participated in the Spa 500 km, the Nürburgring 1000 km and the Tour de France Automobile.
- 1959 Porsche 356 Carrera A 1600 GS Cabriolet (estimate 800 000€ – 1.2M€ / 940 000$ – 1.4M$) is one of only 27 built.
- 1961 Porsche 356 2000 Carrera GT (estimate 800 000€ – 1.2M€ / 940 000$ – 1.4M$)
- 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera 2.7L RS (estimate 550 000€ – 650 000€ / 650 000$ – 760 000$)
The Volante Collection of Vanvooren Coachwork Cars
The historically significant Volante collection includes nine rare vehicles from different marques bodied by renowned luxury French coachbuilder Vanvooren. This is the largest collection of Vanvooren cars in the world, and it is believed only 150 examples of the coachbuilder’s distinctive creations are still in existence. Vanvooren was the coachbuilder of choice for many luxury marques during the 1930s, and patented an innovative ‘Silent Travel’ system using lightweight metal-paneled flexible bodies with silent bloc mountings.
The Vanvooren collection comprises:
- 1898 Vanvooren Gig (estimate: 15 000€ – 25 000€ / 18 000$ – 30 000$)
- 1912 Panhard & Levassor Type X14 7-seater (estimate: 180 000 € – 260 000€ / 210 000$ – 300 000$) is one of the oldest surviving examples of a Vanvooren-bodied car that is still running. It spent its early life in Argentina, returning to Europe in the mid-1980s, and remains in original condition.
- 1928 Avions Voisin Type C11 (estimate: 120 000€ – 180 000€ / 140 000$ – 210 000$)
- 1935 Alvis Speed 20 SD Cabriolet – ex-Serge Pozzoli (estimate: 200 000 € – 300 000€ / 235 000$ – 350 000$)
- 1937 Hispano-Suiza K6 Berline (estimate: 180 000 € – 260 000€ / 210 000$ – 300 000$)
- 1938 Bentley 4 ¼-litre Coupe (estimate: 300 000€ – 400 000€ / 350 000$ – 470 000$)
- 1939 Bugatti Type 57 Cabriolet (estimate: 700 000€ – 900 000€ / 825 000$ – 1M$) has the penultimate Vanvooren cabriolet body to be fitted to a Type 57 chassis/engine. The German army used the Bugatti, probably as a radio car during the war. It was later part of the Söderström collection in Malmö.
- 1939 Rolls-Royce Wraith Faux-Cabriolet (estimate: 120 000€ – 180 000€ / 140 000$ – 210 000$)
- 1950 Delahaye 135M Coach (estimate: 250 000€ – 350 000€ / 300 000$ – 410 000$) was the last car to leave the Vanvooren workshop in Courbevoie in 1950 before the company closed its doors. It was owned during the 1970s by four times French national rally champion Bernard Consten.
The Volante Collection includes another splendid example of 1930s luxury motoring that was not bodied by Vanvooren :
The 1937 Horch 5-litre 853 Cabriolet (estimate: 600 000€ – 800 000€ / 700 000$ – 950 000$) has a believed genuine mileage of just 20,000 km. The car spent most of its life in Norway, where it was confiscated and used by the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War. At the end of the war, it was handed over to Crown Prince Olav of Norway, who used the car in the victory parade on the streets of Trondheim in 1945. It remains in wonderfully original condition and has full matching numbers.
Futher Highlights at Artcurial Rétromobile 2018
1938 Bugatti 57C Atalante Coupé
The 1938 Bugatti 57C Atalante Coupé, estimate: 3 M€ – 3,5 M€ / 3.5M$ – 4M$, is a wonderful example of the iconic Atalante. This splendid Bugatti was displayed new at the 1938 Geneva Motor Show, and spent the next 20 years in Switzerland. The car then crossed the Atlantic and was owned by various US enthusiasts including a future President of the American Bugatti club. Only 34 Atalantes were built on a 57 or 57C chassis, and this car is one of the last, featuring an aluminium body, hydraulic brakes and supercharged engine.
A stylish 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Cabriolet by Vanvooren sold for $7,700,000 as the highest price paid at the RM Sotheby’s Amelia Island 2017 classic car auction in Florida, USA.
1942 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Cabriolet Speciale by Pininfarina
The 1942 Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Cabriolet Speciale by Pininfarina, estimate: 1.2 M€ – 1.6 M€ / 1.4M$ – 1.9M$, is another unique car with its own special history. In 1946, Battista “Pinin” Farina, founder of Carrozzeria Pininfarina, drove this unique Alfa Romeo from Turin to Paris. He parked it at the entrance of the Motor Show, so that visitors could admire it as they walked in. Built on a 1942 6C 2500SS chassis, the coachwork epitomizes Farina’s work, with interior and exterior finishing touches special to this car. In concours condition, following a no-expense-spared restoration in the US, the car returns to Paris after 71 years, to be one of the uncontested stars of the Rétromobile Salon!
Motorcycles at the Artcurial Rétromobile 2018 Paris Sale
On Saturday 10 February, Artcurial Motorcars will hold a separate sale featuring an important single-owner collection of prewar motorcycles.
Belonging to a French enthusiast who started collecting in the 1960s, the collection comprises nearly 80 pioneer, veteran and vintage machines. Many of the bikes date pre-date World War One, and the majority is unique. They offer a fantastic testimony to the early days of the motorcycle.
Based in Thiers, the knife-making capital of France, old motorcycles often found their way to the region to be dismantled so that the metal could be melted and re-cycled to make knives. Our collector rescued some rare and very unusual motorcycles from this fate and displayed many of them on the walls like paintings. From early on, he was in touch with the first collectors and enthusiasts including Serge Pozzoli and M. Lefranc, from whom he bought some important pieces.
In addition to early French machines, including Perno, Werner, Lamaudiére, Janoir and Majestic, the collection features well-known names, such as Brough Superior and Norton. The entire collection will be offered at no reserve.
