Written by Rosemarijn Atalante Veenenbos
Let’s continue the party with two Atalantes. As an Atalante myself, I am obviously always on the hunt for those masterpieces made by hero Ettore. The Bugatti stand exhibited a 57 with a strange color combination… moss-green and yellow. But the real treat was at the Lukas Hüni stand, a 57SC! I understood that this ex Dr. Williamson Atalante had long been in Japan and agreed with the color combination, it is fabulous. Lukas Hüni is known for high class automobiles, and the collection which was exhibited didn’t disappoint, on the contrary. Next to the 57SC, I was really impressed by the stunning Alfa 8C 2300 Figoni cabriolet, Jaguar D Type dans son jus, the Bugatti T59, a smashing black Mercedes 26/120/180 Saoutchik, an Aston DB3S, and pretty much everything else Lukas had on display. What I also really like is to meet young people with the same interest and luckily I did.
To continue with Alfa, I have a very special one for you in store, as the price might be approaching that of a GTO. It is probably even more special than a GTO. Jack Braam Ruben and Philippe Mulders of Fine Automobiles shared their stand again with Bruno Vendiesse, and they showed a unique 8C 2900B touring Berlinetta, as well as a Bugatti T46 Gangloff cabriolet, a T57 Ventoux and a Ballot 2LT Boulogne saloon. To me, the Best of Show award of this Retromobile goes to the 8C 2900B.
To stay in the absolute top class, let’s take a look at some other fine automobiles from the London Muse. Obviously I am talking about Fiskens, who exhibited a very sporty and fierce collection in Paris. It is hard to tell which one stole their show, since they all had something really special. As a prewar girl, I liked the Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS Figoni Roadster (Figoni bodied Alfas were popular at Retro), but it had some very strong competition, such as a 1948 Alfa Romeo 6C Competizione coupé, a 1982 LOTUS 91, and another very special Dino was the 1968 Ferrari 166/246 Dino Tasman (F2), a 1978 Ferrari 512 BB ex-Ecurie Francorchamps, a 1967 Ferrari 365 California Spyder, a 1990 Porsche 962C, a 1966 Bizzarini Competition Lightweight coupé, a 1970 Ferrari 512M, a 1953 HWM Jag, a 1976 Porsche 934 RSR Turbo, a 1990 Porsche 962C, a 1976 Alfa-Romeo Tipo 33/2B Daytona coupé, a 1961 Jaguar E-Type ‘Lightweight’, and last but not least a Porsche 356 GTL. It was great to meet Gregor and his team, for sure the place to be when looking for a special sportscar to compete in the finest events.
Sadly Simon Kidston did not bring some of his pearls, but if you have not seen it already, you really need to CLICK HERE. Was a pleasure to meet as well.
Work on the ex-Baillon 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Record Saoutchik fastback coupé, sold last year, is making good progress. The wooden frame looks huge, but the car slowly returns to its original shape.
As a short break, I found something incredible in Paris near my hotel… Not the entrance to wonderland this time, but perhaps the hidden garages where the Italian Job Miura was found. These are the oh so long or rather endless catacombs under the Paris railway lines. Who knows what might still be hidden there! Later that evening I found a very inspiring place full of license plates that gave me inspiration for my backpack plans with the CGS… While hearing an incredible story of a friend who did this in his T37, my plan is now making progress. Hopefully this summer will be the time for an extreme adventure.
One woodylicious car that I recognized from the auction of the Frederiksen collection was the 1914 Mercedes 28/95 Phaeton with coachwork made for C.L. Charley, exhibited on the Axel Schütte stand. Together with the ex-Frederiksen Lagonda we can admire them again at the magnificent Chantilly concours 2016. As usual Axel Schuette showed a great collection with fine Bentleys and classics.
I already mentioned the Landspeed Record Fiat beast on the stand of Prewarcar/Postwarclassic, but there were more beasts. The most impressive beast is still the ‘Beast of Turin’. While having very interesting discussions in the VIP room above, the huge engine of the ‘Beast of Turin’ was started up with the crank handle below me, spitting fire from its 4 exhaust ports. Obviously it has hoards of fans, probably even more then a popular boy-band. The 1911 Fiat S76 was accompanied by its fire-spitting friend, the 1905 Darracq 200 HP Land Speed Record Car. Another fun thing was the drifting tank.
Soon there will be more great book news, because Gautam Sen is preparing a follow up book on his magnificent Maharaja book…
To me the difference between the old and the new is fascinating, so the futuristic Bugatti Chiron was a fantastic addition to this event. If you compare the Chiron to a Brescia, there are just no words… I was stunned!
There were also some Weirdos and the one with the most volume was for sure the Pathé-Marconi bodied Panhard IE 45 HL, designed by that famous French automobile designer Philippe Charbonneaux. Another acquaintance was the fashionable X-fish, the 60s Pinin Farina PFX. The weirdest stand was that with the spherical little city cars, showing a 1968 Automodule, 1970 L’Ellipsis by Philippe Charbonneaux, and the 1947 L’Alamagny.
My dad was fascinated by the Diligence à vapeur du Marquis de Broc, built by Amédée Bollée père in 1885! The Marquis used to drive this monster, coachbuilt by Mühlbacher, himself, while his chauffeur kept the fire going at the back. Weighing no less than seven tons, this steam driven carriage could transport up to 12 passengers at speeds between 16 and 20 km/h! The Marquis used this diligence until 1896, where after it belonged to the Viscount of Lantivy. In 1949 the was donated to the Musée de Compiègne.
I told you that I noticed some Alpines… Alpine had a very nice stand and the most striking for me were the 1956 Renault Etoile Filante, as well as the 1926 Renault 40 CV record car. Other brutal machines of Renault Alpine were the 1978 A442 B, 1973 Alpine A366, the striking 1965 Alpine M65, 1983 F1 RE40, 1976 Alpine A310 Groupe 4, etc.
The hall of the racers not only showed the remarkable Dino prototype, but also the 1970 Porsche 908 blew my mind. I can easily carry on, because there were many more interesting cars. Like a 1926 BNC 527GS, a 1925 Bugatti T13 Brescia (probably the one that yielded 800.000 at an auction, but now without the wings?) and so on! Retromobile never gets boring, even after 4 days I had not seen the entire collection, so please share your highlights with me as I missed quite some other beauties… CLICK HERE for more.
If you did not join Retromobile, then I can highly recommend you to go next year and join this great party. Many visitors come to meet friends from around the globe, like my dad, but most people come to look at fine automobiles. I think the combination of meeting great people, as well as lovely automobiles, is a most successful cocktail. Often people make the stories of the cars and, cars give the people a story to tell.
See you next year February in Paris! Next up some more hammering.
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