VeloceToday sent four correspondents to Retromobile. Last week we presented the reports of Hugues Vanhoolandt and Graham Gauld; this week Jonathan Sharp photographs his favorites, whatever the country; for your convenience, all three of Alessandro Gerelli’s auction reports feature only French and Italian cars.
Archives for February 2017
Jonathan Sharp’s Retromobile 2017
Story and photos by Jonathan Sharp
This year the Editor asked me to just submit everything that peaked my interest at Retro. Fat chance, for to truly be able to show you all the cars that peaked my interest would take several editions of VeloceToday.
I’ve been to Retro many times now, and still the language barrier for me was sometimes an issue but the cars on display were superb, as was the food; there are not many shows were one can enjoy oysters and a glass of champagne from a vendors stall.
The Editor and I wish to apologize for the huge number of photos below…something on the order of 43 but we lose count. And that is just a fraction which resided in my camera data card when I returned home. However, we broke up the subject matter thusly:
Art, Etcetera
French cars
British/German/Spanish
Italian
And looking back, even though myself, Graham Gauld, Hugues Vanhoolandt and Alessandro Gerelli all attended Retro and turned in reports to VeloceToday, there are few if any images of exactly the same car.
That gives one an idea of how immense and diverse Retromobile is. And it gets bigger every year.
Finally, if there are factual errors, the information for the most part is taken from the individual placards. In several cases we eliminated photos due to questionable statements. Spelling errors, if any (heavens forbid)can be blamed on us.
Art Etcetera
Retro Auctions: RM Sotheby’s, February 8
Photos and captions by Alessandro Gerelli
The first Retro related auction was the RM Sotheby’s held at the Place Vauban on Wednesday, February 8, 2017. The 1934 Alfa Romeo Tipo B P3, chassis 50006, sold for €3,920,000 and was the highest sale price of the day. Thirteen Porsches from one collection sold well and was a major feature of the RM auction. Below, Gerelli presents the Italian and French cars: an Alfa Montreal, and a Lancia B20 GT coupe and a Giulietta Spider that sold for 476000 euros, plus much more.
Exchange rate, 2-28-2017: 1 US Dollar=.94 Euro
Retro Auctions: Bonhams, February 9
Photos and captions by Alessandro Gerelli
The Bonhams Retromobile event took place at the Grand Palais on Thursday, February 9. Many of the Italian/French items did not sell, but this is not an indication of the overall sales percentage.
Retro Auctions: Artcurial, February 10
Photos and captions by Alessandro Gerelli
This year Alessandro Gerelli covered all three auctions held at or around Retromobile. The Artcurial Auction below was held last, on Friday on the same complex as Retromobile. This auction resulted in the highest price paid for a car during the auctions at Retro – the unique Dino 206 P berlinetta speciale of 1965 by Pininfarina sold for about 4.4 million euros against an estimate from 4 to 8 million euros and no reserve!
VeloceToday for February 21, 2017
Hugues Vanhoolandt at Retromobile, 2017
Story and photos by Hugues Vanhoolandt
Rétromobile, Paris February 7-11
Once again, the latest edition of Rétromobile has raised the bar to the highest standards and it won’t be easy for its British, German or Italian counterparts to reach the same level.
Next to the many dealers showing their best offers, there are plenty of car clubs and associations exhibiting small treasuries, as well as many displays celebrating some anniversaries or putting the light on some unknown stories.
This year, these exhibitions were, among others, the “70 years of Ferrari”, “Bugatti meets Bentley”, the “Four-wheel drive and six-wheel F1 cars” , “30 years of Group B rally cars”, the “1927 Delage Grand Prix cars”, the “Renault Turbo years”, and many others.
On the French Side…
On the Italian side…
Gauld and the Six Delage Grand Prix Cars
Story by Graham Gauld
Color images by Hugues Vanhoolandt unless otherwise noted.
Every year tends to mark the anniversary of something significant in the automobile world and 2017 is important for one car in particular, the Delage 15S8. It was one of the most successful Grand Prix cars of all time and it was born ninety years ago this year.
It was fitting that Retromobile in Paris reserved a special area upstairs and in the smaller hall for a remarkable display that featured five of the six original cars built ninety years ago! It was a tremendous feat to gather them all together in one place for the first time thanks to a group of dedicated Delage enthusiasts including my old friend Christophe Pund.
Seaman, Chiron and the Grand Prix Delage
Story by Nicholas Lancaster
[While doing research for this article,originally published in VeloceToday in October of 2007, Mr. Lancaster began a search to find the current location of the ex-Ramponi/Seaman Delage. He found it in the hands of Mr. Abraham Kogan, who had consigned it to the RM Auction in London. It then passed into the hands of Peter Giddings. Our thanks to RM Auctions for providing the illustrations used in this article.Ed.]
Louis Delage had been active in Grand Prix racing since before the First World War with a series of first-rate designs that had achieved numerous successes, culminating in victory in the Indianapolis 500 in 1914. In the mid-1920’s Delage returned to front line motor sport with the introduction of the 1923 2 liter V12 engined Grand Prix car, designed by Charles Planchon, and refined by his protégé Albert Lory.
Whilst the V12 eventually came good, winning the Grand Prix of Spain in 1925, the design had suffered from numerous initial teething problems, and this cost Planchon his job. For 1926, a change of formula required the use of 1.5 liter engines and Lory — who had eventually developed the V12 into a winner — took a different approach with the new car, designing a jewel-like supercharged straight-eight engine capable of 170 bhp at 8000 rpm.
Randy Cook, a Tribute
One is remembered by his work
By Pete Vack
We are saddened by the loss of Bowtie Ferraris author and vintage racer Randy Cook, who passed away on February 16, 2017 after a being diagnosed with cancer.
When I first met Randy, he was carrying a huge, I mean huge, three ring binder bursting with facts and photos of Chevy-engined Ferraris.
He plopped it down in front of me and said, “Well, let’s get to work.” [Read more…] about Randy Cook, a Tribute
VeloceToday for February 14, 2017
Tazio Nuvolari Meets Gabriele D’Annunzio
By Peter Darnall
Our thanks to Matteo Rinaldi at the Museo Nuvolari
The AIACR (Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus), which was the governing body controlling Grand Prix racing, issued an innovative ruling which would define racing events beginning with the 1934 season. Known as the 750-kilogram rule, the weight of a race car was limited to 750 kg, less tires, liquids, and driver. Intended to restrict the ever-increasing speed and power of Grand Prix machines, the ruling had quite the opposite effect: German interests, closely followed by Italian efforts produced the fastest and most powerful racing cars the world had ever seen.