It’s a matter of only a few days between the start of America’s auction season in Scottsdale and the European equivalent getting under way during Rétromobile in France (February 5-9, 2025).
Artcurial returns to its traditional official slot within the Rétromobile event itself, but Bonhams and RM Sotheby’s are also hosting satellite sales. We’ve picked out some of the highlights.
Artcurial
Artcurial is spreading its auction over two days, with 257 lots in all, including cars, bikes, an aeroplane and an amphibious Packard.
Enzo-era Ferraris are a big factor in this auction, and it will be fascinating to see how they perform, given the downturn in auction results over the past couple of years. The biggest collection of Ferraris comes from the Silver Collection, which includes a 2001 550 Barchetta (€400k-€600k), a 1963 250 GT/L (€1.2m-€1.5m), a 1966 275 GTB longnose (€2.1m-€2.6m), a 1973 365 GTB/4 (€500k-€700k) and a 265 GTC/4 (€160k-€220k).
However, it is the above 1966 275 GTB longnose, one of 93 with all-aluminium bodywork, that we’re pulling out. Coming from the collection of André Cadiou, a gentleman driver from Le Mans, chassis 08151 was originally sold in Argento Metallizzato to Noris Lastucci of Prato. In 1971, it was bought by Paul F Schouwenburg from Amsterdam, after a previous criminal owner left it in an outside car park while he served prison time. It was then bought by Dr Fokke Busch, one of a string of Dutch owners before it was later restored to Rossa Corsa and sold to France. It was then owned by Cadiou, who updated the car for competition and added 40,000km on the clock before putting the 275 GTB into storage for the past six years. It has recently been recommissioned, and is estimated at €2m-€3m.
This 1930 Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix Usine began life as a Works car, and it was sold to Clause Bossu aka Barowski, who achieved several class victories in 1935 and 1936. It was later sold to Prince Bertil, the third son of King Gustav VI of Sweden, who sold it to America the following year. There it would count among its owners George D Parrish, the brother of the writer Anne Parrish, Tommy Lee, W Hudson Mills, Bob Fergus and Ralph Lauren. Restored in the 1990s by Crosthwaite & Gardiner, it’s estimated at €1.7m-€2.3m.
This 1936 Delage D6-70 Spéciale was fitted with a streamlined coupé body by Figoni and originally built to compete in the 1936 Le Mans 24 Hours. The event was cancelled, so the car spent some time on the concours circuit before being sold to Louis Gérard. He took it to a fourth-place finish and a class victory at Le Mans in 1937, and third at the Paris-Nice race. The panelwork was then replaced by a two-seat open body, again by Figoni. It was entered into Le Mans in 1938, but this led to retirement. It then scored a second place at the Spa 24 Hours, and victory at the Donington Tourist Trophy.
It was then acquired by Peter Aitken, who took it racing at Brooklands and Crystal Palace in 1939. After more racing with Pat Garland in the aftermath of World War Two, it was put into storage until the 1980s, and eventually restored on behalf of one of Colin Crabbe’s customers. Following time in the Abraham Kogan Collection, it was acquired by Paul-Émile B, and has since taken part in the Le Mans Classic, Mille Miglia and Goodwood. It is estimated at €1.3m-€1.6m.
This 1995 Bugatti EB110 GT, the only GT built in Bianco Monaco, is the penultimate car produced. It was first sold to Paul-Émile B. It has covered just 19,387km, and is estimated at €1.2m-€1.5m.
This Gladiator 9L is described as being the oldest French Grand Prix car still in existence. Coming from the Paul-Émile B Collection, it has a 9.0-litre four-cylinder engine with copper cylinder liners. It was previously in the André Binda Collection, it features in Gladiator catalogues and is claimed to be the 1907 Paris-Berlin car. It’s estimated at €600k-€900k.
Other highlights from the Artcurial sale at the Paris auctions 2025 include: one of 105 Alfa Romeo 2600 SZs, the penultimate example built (€150k-€200k); a unique black 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing with US and British ownership history (€1.3m-€1.6m); the ex-Peugeot family and ex-Helmut Newton 1956 Bentley S1 Continental bodied by HJ Mulliner (€750k-€1m); one of eight LHD AC Cobra 289 Sports with coil-sprung suspension and 289ci engine (€600k-€800k); one of the last low-body Lamborghini Countach LP400 S models built (€500k-€600k); a 1952 Porsche 356 Pre-A 1300 split-windscreen coming from 60 years of single-family ownership (€380k-€460k); a 1962 Porsche 356 B Carrera 2000 GS (€370k-€450k); the ed-Gerhard Berger 1989 Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary (€360k-€420k); and one of 14 Isdera 036i Spyders (€230k-€280k).
Bonhams
Bonhams is bringing 135 lots to its sale, which is led by a brace of racing Ferraris. The auction house hasn’t yet shared many details about the above 1955 Ferrari Super Squalo (chassis FL 9001) or its 1950 Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta (chassis 0034). According to Magneto‘s research, the 555 Super Squalo was raced by the likes of Giuseppe Farina, Piero Taruffi, Paul Frère, Mike Hawthorn and Peter Whitehead through 1955, without a great deal of success. Whitehead bought one of the cars (Reg Parnell bought another), and both had them fitted with 3.5-litre Tipo 860 Monza engines for Formula Libre racing in Australia and New Zealand.
Whitehead raced his car successfully through 1956 before selling it to Tom Clark, who raced it through to 1959 and subsequently sold it to Robert Henry Smith for Bob Smith to drive through to 1963. After it was crashed that year, it was stored in a used-car garage and lost its Monza engine for use in a speedboat. A Chevrolet V8 was installed, and the chassis clothed in a Morris Minor body, before being raced by Garth Souness. It was later reunited with its Monza engine and fitted with a new body reconstructed by Gavin Bain.
It was then acquired by Nigel Moores, who later sold the car to Tom Wheatcroft’s Donington Collection. It was later acquired by Yoshjuki Hayashi, who had the car restored to 1955 555 Super Squalo configuration, reuniting it with its original 2.5-litre engine. After passing through the hands of several British and US collectors, it joined the Juan Quintano Collection in 2000. It’s now up for sale with an estimate of €4m-€5m, and is offered at no reserve.
The 1950 Ferrari 166 MM Touring Barchetta (chassis 034), meanwhile, was originally sold to Scuderia Marzotto. It racked up several overall and class victories in hillclimbing, with several of the Marzotto family getting behind the wheel, but its best result was fourth overall and first in class on the 1951 Mille Migia, with Paolo Marzotto partnering with Marino Marini. It joined the Juan Quintano Collection in 1980, and was rebodied by Fantuzzi. Offered at no reserve, it is estimated at €4m-€6m.
This 1978 Schnitzer BMW E21 1.4-litre Group 5 Turbo is one of just two 1.4-litre turbocharged E21s built out of the 32 originally produced by BMW Motorsport to Group 5 regulations. It was raced by Harald Ertl for the final four races of his victorious DRM championship year, notching up a victory in the process. For 1979 it was raced by Manfred Winkelhock, taking two victories along the way, as well as Walter Vryb. For 1980 it was driven by Harald Grohs and Willi Siller, before being handed to Hans-Joachim Stuck for the Macau Grand Prix.
After the 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine with which it was fitted for this event blew, a 1.4-litre turbo unit was fitted – and team mechanic Franz Klinger drove the car back to the circuit through busy Macau traffic. Stuck repaid the efforts by winning the race. It stayed in Macau to be driven by Winkelhock for the 1981 Grand Prix support round, before being sold to Ian Grey in 1983. He’d race the car in Thailand, Malaysia and Australia, before it was sold to Belgium. It’s been restored to 1978 livery, and is estimated at €750k-€950k.
This 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Zagato Super Sport Spider is one of four factory test cars built for the 1929 Mille Miglia. Chassis 0312870 has an enigmatic pre-war history, although it received a 6C 2300 Pescara triple-carburettor non-supercharged engine from the factory in 1936-37. Its first known owner is Romeo Paoli of north-east Africa in 1951, who used it to win the Eritrean Hillclimb Championship in 1954. It then had several British, Swiss and German owners until 2004, when it joined the vendor’s collection. It’s recently had an engine rebuild (2020) and two services (2022 and 2023), and is estimated at €800k-€1.2m.
This 1984 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale is one of 71 believed to have been built, and it was originally sold to the UK before heading to France in 1990 with 2420km on the clock. Its new owner Jean-Christian G struggled for two years to get the car registered, and it was eventually sold to the current owner in 2000. With 5600km on the clock, it estimated at €480k-€680k.
This 1990 Range Rover Halt’up V8 T2 is the first of four such cars built, and it was used in the Paris-Dakar in 1991 and 1992 – the latter with Patrick Tambay behind the wheel. It features novel tri-lever suspension arms, horizontal dampers and centre-fixed axles, as well as a 280bhp 4.2-litre V8 engine. It competed in off-road rallies through much of the 1990s, and is now eligible for the Dakar Classic having been restored over the past two years. It’s estimated at €70k-€90k.
Other highlights from the Bonhams sale include: a 1928 Bugatti T43 Grand Sport (€1m-€1.5m); a 1925 Bugatti Type 35 GP coming from single ownership since 1963 (€900k-€1.3m); a 1969 Matra MS640 Continuation (€600k-€800k); one of two Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG prototypes (€600k-€800k); a 1936 Bugatti Type 57 (€400k-€600k); a 2004 Alpina Z8 Roadster (€250k-€350k); and a 1924 Bugatti Type 23 Brescia Open Tourer (€250k-€300k).
RM Sotheby’s
The standout car from the Paris auction 2025 has to be this 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, chassis 5893, hailing from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum Collection. Originally sold to Irene Young of Wilton, Connecticut, it was sold back to supplying dealer Luigi Chinetti fairly quickly. It was subsequently fitted with an aerodynamically efficient nose by Piero Drogo, and entered into the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hours with Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt behind the wheel – and, it is said, Ed Hugus.
As the Ford challengers slipped away, and Ferrari’s own prototypes encountered problems, chassis 5893 took the victory. It would be the first of six 24-hour races it would be entered into, including Daytona and further Le Mans entries. However, despite the best efforts of the likes of Rindt, Gregory, David Piper, Bob Bondurant, Luigi Chinetti Jr, Sam Posey, Charlie Kolb, Teodoro Zeccoli and Gregg Young, it wouldn’t repeat its 1965 heroics. It’s been in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum since 1970, and is estimated at more than €25m.
This 1970 Ferrari 512 M is one of 25 512 racing cars built and sold new to Ecurie Francorchamps: it would be the last car raced by the team. Chassis 1030 was driven by Derek Bell and Hugues de Fierlant at the Spa 1000km, before tackling Le Mans with de Fierlant and Alistair Walker behind the wheel, finishing fifth overall and fourth in class. It was then featured in the Le Mans film, before competing in the Kyalami Nine Hours, Buenos Aires 1000km and Daytona 24 Hours.
It was then upgraded to M specification, and took de Fierlant to victory at Zandvoort. It was next driven at the Watkins Glen Six Hours by Alain de Cadenet, who acquired the car before selling it to Neil Corner. It was later acquired by Lord Anthony Bamford, who won the MN GT Championship in 1972. It has passed through several collections since, and has been with the vendor since 2018. It is estimated at €9m-€12m.
It is not the only racing 512 in the sale: a 1981 512BB/LM delivered new to Fabrizio Violati’s Scuderia Supercar Bellancauto (chassis 35529) is also up for grabs. Entered into Le Mans twice, it features unique bodywork courtesy of Armando Palanca, and was prepared by former Maserati, Scuderia Centro-Sud and Ferrari mechanic Giulio Borsari. Although the Le Mans campaigns ended in retirement, it notched up some class victories. It remained with the Violati family until 2014, and has had two owners since, the latter of whom has had the car recommissioned in Germany over the past two years. It’s estimated at €2m-€2.5m.
This 2022 Pagani Huayra R is chassis 005 out of 30 customer cars built, and had €310k of bespoke customisation when it was ordered. It spent some time displayed at Circuit Paul Ricard, and despite having just 196km on the clock, it was serviced in 2024. It’s estimated at €2.8m-€3.2m.
1954 Bentley R-type Continental Fastback Sports Saloon by HJ Mulliner was displayed on the Bentley stand at the 1954 Brussels Motor Show, and was subsequently sold to Edouard Zurstrassen of Heusy, Belgium. It is one of 13 specified in LHD with a manual central gearshift and lightweight seats. It is also a rare example with rear wheel spats from new and fitted luggage. It was specified with in Special Grey over a tan leather interior, gaining colonial springs, uprated dampers, a large front anti-roll bar, a speedometer reading in kilometres and twin foglamps. It also has chrome side mouldings and Wilmot Breeden bumpers.
It was later owned by Gerolamo Etro, of the Etro fashion house, for 30 years before passing to Timm Begold. He commissioned Clark & Carter to do a full restoration; after this the car took second in class at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It joined the Curated Collection in 2016, and is estimated at €1.8m-€2.4m.
The Curated Collection is a 73-strong collection of largely Porsches, and although there are many special 911s to choose from, the collection also majors on 928s, with one of nearly every model produced – including the above 1987 S4 ClubSport prototype. One of five built, it was first delivered to Porsche factory racing driver Derek Bell. Designed to offer a more sporty experience than the usual 928, it offers a short-ratio manual gearbox, a 300bhp 5.0-litre V8, a wider track and a 100kg weight saving. Bell kept the car until 2005, when it was sold to a UK collector. It joined the Curated Collection in 2016, and is now estimated at €250k-€300k.
Other highlights from the sale include: a 2022 Bugatti Centodieci (€10m-€15m); a 2015 Ferrari LaFerrari (€3.5m-€4m); a 1951 Ferrari 212/225 by Vignale (€2.5m-€3.5m); a 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Sport by Zagato (€2.25m-€2.75m); a 2011 Koenigsegg Agera (€1.8m-€2.3m); a 1958 BMW 507 Roadster S2 (€1.75m-€2m); a 1974 Mercedes-Benz 600 Six Door Pullman Landaulet (€1.3m-€1.6m); and a 1966 Aston Martin DB6 Shooting Brake by FLM Panelcraft (€550k-€700k).
Further details
The Artcurial sale takes place at Salon Rétromobile on February 7-8, 2025. More details are available here.
The Bonhams sale takes place at the Grand Palais Historique on February 6, 2025. More details are available here.
The RM Sotheby’s sale takes place at the Salles du Carrousel in the Louvre Palace on February 4-5, 2025. More details are available here.
