The Baillon Collection – our book on the barn find of the century

In December 2014, Classic Driver broke a sensational story – photographer Rémi Dargegen had captured almost 100 forgotten classics at a French castle, in what proved to be the ‘barn find of the century’. Now comes our book, documenting the fabled Baillon Collection...

A sensational barn find

News of the Baillon Collection proved sensational, quickly spreading around the world. In the grounds of a French castle, almost 100 abandoned classic cars were discovered, including Bugattis, Hispano-Suizas, Delahayes, Delages and a Maserati, all caked in rust, dust and cobwebs. And sleeping under one pile of magazines lay the jewel of the collection – Alain Delon’s Ferrari 250 GT California Spider. Parisian auction house Artcurial was charged with selling the cars at Rétromobile early this year, and we were given exclusive rights to photograph the barn find. Who better to document this stunning discovery than Rémi Dargegen, a man with an extraordinary eye for detail. Within just a few days, our story became the most read in Classic Driver’s history, and no less impressive was the auction itself. Almost every lot well exceeded its pre-sale estimate, and the Ferrari fetched a simply staggering 16.3m euros.

The book on the Baillon Collection

In collaboration with Dargegen and publisher Delius Klasing Verlag, Classic Driver has produced a small but gorgeous photo-book of the Baillon Collection, which visually retells the story of this outstanding discovery, preserving the magic for generations to come.