Aguttes Motorcars is beginning its 2019 in fine fashion with the Spring Sale on 17 March, which, for the first time, will take place at the Espace Champerret in central Paris. Arguably the biggest talking point of the sale from a historical point of view is the collection of 21 significant Citroëns the auction house has consigned in this, the innovative and elegant French carmaker’s centenary year. 

Among them are a time-warp DS 21 Pallas that’s come from the famous CitroMuseum in Southern France (est. 40,000–70,000 euros) and 13 Traction Avants, four of which are entirely unique. Our pick would have to be the ultra-rare 11B Cabriolet from 1938. The opulent drop-top was comprehensively restored in 2002 and is now estimated to fetch 120,000–160,000 euros when it crosses the block next week. 

Our favourite pre-War machine from the sale, however, is without question the 1938 Fiat 508 Ballila Aerodinamica ‘Mille Miglia’ – arguably the world’s first ‘teardrop’ design, pre-dating the legendary Bugatti Atlantic. Four are believed to remain on the road of the 100 that were produced, and this red example’s been owned by the same chap for the last 48 years. It unsurprisingly spearheads Aguttes’ catalogue with an estimate of 200,000–250,000 euros. 

Those with a penchant for orange, we love both the matching-numbers 1970 Porsche 911S 2.2 (110,000–140,000 euros) and the 1971 Fiat Dino 2.4 Spider (80,000–120,000 euros), the latter of which is resplendent in its original shade of Giallo Oriente and has alpaca and leather upholstery – yes, please.

The Dino forms part of Aguttes’ so-called Il Fascino Italiano collection, joining arguably one of the finest Ferrari 365 GT4 2+2s on the planet. A 1975 model, the black-over-cream car has had just two owners from new, the first of which – a Swiss businessman – held onto it for 39 years. Remember, this is the stylish gentleman’s express Il Commendatore himself chose to smoke around Modena. It could be yours for what we think is a reasonable 65,000–85,000 euros. 

Francophiles and ‘youngtimer’ enthusiasts alike should be as enthralled with the 1991 Porsche 928 GT that was formerly owned by the late French rock ‘n’ roll legend Johnny Hallyday (70,000–90,000 euros) as the two-owner 1987 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.9. A rare early ‘Phase 1’ example, the latter has covered just 16,000km from new and will likely garner a record price for the model when it goes under the hammer – it’s estimated at 25,000–40,000 euros. 

What of our favourites? While the 2002 Maserati 4200 Spyder, with its soul-stirring Ferrari V8 and Giallo Granturismo paintwork (30,000–40,000 euros), pushes a lot of the right buttons, we’d be hard pushed to look past the 1965 Ford Shelby Mustang Fastback (120,000–16,000 euros). It’s been restored to within an inch of its life and just looks like it wants to be driven, hard. We certainly wouldn’t say no! 

Photos courtesy of Aguttes Motorcars © 2019