Classic car show in France: Ferrari to showcase vintage racing cars at Rétromobile 2017

Motorsport fans are in for a real treat as for the first time at Rétromobile, they’ll have the chance to see no less than six Delage 155B 1500, a racing car that won first place in the 1927 Constructors’ Championship. Ninety years after it dominated the Grand Prix races with Robert Benoist at the wheel, this legendary car will be on display for visitors to enjoy at Rétromobile.

Racing car aficionados will also be delighted to see the Ferrari 500 F2 in which Alberto Ascari won the World Championship of Drivers in 1952 and 1953. Over a two year period, this car won 14 out of the 15 Grand Prix races in which it took part. It is part of Rétromobile’s major tribute to the 70th anniversary of the prestigious Italian brand. The show will feature numerous models which made Ferrari a legend in competition and on the road, including the 166 Mille Miglia which won the 1949 Le Mans 24 Hours race, the Ferrari 312B (a Formula One car from 1970), a 1957 Ferrari 250 GT Cabriolet Series 1, a 1961 250 GT Berlinetta, a 275 GTB, and a 1965 250 LM Berlinetta.

In complete contrast to the Ferrari theme, Rétromobile will celebrate the genius of Victor Bouffort, a French engineer who designed quirky vehicles that were often ahead of their time. A number of these will be on display, including a three-wheeled sports car, an amphibious all-terrain vehicle, a suitcase which could be transformed into a scooter in two minutes, and a two-seater city car that was shorter in length than the width of an ordinary car so it could park anywhere.

Rétromobile will also feature an exhibition of some of the most iconic models in the history of the French motorbike, ranging from the very first motorized two-wheeled vehicle built in 1871 by Louis Guillaume Perreaux to 2017’s Midual Type 1. Visitors will be able to see a Louis Blériot 1920 invention, the Peugeot 500 two-cylinder which won the 1927 Grand Prix, a 1934 Jonghi 350, a 1939 amphibious Simca-Sévitame, a 1952 Koehler-Escoffier 1000 and a 1957 Taon Derny.

As part of the Rétromobile event, Artcurial Motorcars will hold its annual auction on February 10. A 1948 Ferrari 166 Spyder Corsa Scaglietti, which was driven by champions Giuseppe “Nino” Farina and Raymond Sommer, is so highly prized that Artcurial does not want to reveal its estimate. In 2016, the auction broke the world record for the sale of a racing car with a 1957 Ferrari 335 S which went for 32.1 million euros.

The 42nd Rétromobile takes place from February 8 to 12, 2017, at the Parc des Expositions, Porte de Versailles, Paris

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