Cars

'Exact replicas'

Sold!

There’s hardly a more fitting venue in which to display a collectors’ car auction as the Grand Palais in Paris – a vast, magnificent building beside the Seine that is typically French in terms of architecture and character, and thus lends itself beautifully to the presentation of classic cars. However, we couldn’t help but feel the actual auction was dwarfed by the venue itself, and struggled to retain the attention of the crowd.

Rétromobile is considered to be the calendar’s opening top-tier event, and rightly so. Where else can you find World War One tanks, automotive jumble, humble car clubs and multi-million-euro collector classics all in one place? Sure, it might be showing its age around the edges, and curated with typical French abandon, but as the hundreds of dealers and high-profile collectors in attendance prove, it remains a ‘must-go’ event.

A banana yellow Ferrari 512M would make a scene in the Le Mans paddocks, so just imagine being greeted by such a sight as you turn into one of London’s peaceful mews streets. Gregor Fisken had told us to expect a surprise or two, but little could have prepared us for the sight of a golden-era sports-racer gracing English cobbles – particularly when we’re informed it’s a veteran of Le Mans, the Daytona 24 Hours, the Tour de France and several other highly prestigious competitive events. It even claimed a 192mph land-speed record in the late ’70s with Derek Bell at the wheel.

With more than 500 exhibitors displaying their wares – be it classic cars, restoration services or collectables – in the charming Parc des Expositions at Porte de Versailles in Paris later this week, getting the most from Rétromobile takes some careful thought. Hence we’ve compiled the most important things to see during your visit to what will become the temporary collectors’ car capital of the world.