The winter break is finally over and the automotive year is about to kick off in emphatic fashion at Rétromobile, undeniably the finest event of its type on the planet. The annual salon is Paris provides manufacturers with a stage on which to show off their commitment to preserving their precious pasts, dealers the chance to set out their stalls and signal their intentions for the coming year and humble enthusiasts like us an opportunity to ogle thousands of collectable cars ranging from the affordable and the obscure to the rare and the downright priceless. 

Special exhibits poised for 2020’s edition include a selection of 10 obscure Bertone prototypes. Presented by the Automotoclub Storico Italiano, which acquired a large cross-section of the Bertone archive when it was publicly auctioned in 2015 following the illustrious design house’s demise, the assembly will include the Citroën Camargue, the Ferrari Rainbow and the whacky Genesis, a Lamborghini-based people carrier. 

FCA Heritage will celebrate 40 years of the Fiat Panda (we’re not sure it’ll rival our summit in St. Moritz) and Lamborghini Polo Storico will exhibit several of its exquisitely restored Miuras. Richard Mille is marking the 25th anniversary of the McLaren F1’s sensational Le Mans win with a number of GTRs including the Le Mans winner itself, while Citroën will celebrate the 50th birthday of the SM, no doubt in a manner as quintessentially French as the quirky Grand Tourer itself. There will also be two books launched concerning Bugatti Automobili S.p.A.: the former company’s patriarch Romano Artioli will present the English version of his no-holds-barred autobiography, while The Last Bugatti Racing Cars will chronicle the nuanced tale of the ill-fated endeavour like never before. 

Whether you’re in the market for a new car, bike, scale model, book, office decoration or obscure spare part, the hundreds of trade exhibitors at Rétromobile will have you covered. Inevitably, a plethora of Classic Driver dealers and auction houses from Europe and beyond will be present in Paris. And if you do have an automotive itch, they’ll be only too happy to help you scratch it. 

Don’t forget the Artcurial, RM Sotheby’s and Bonhams auctions, which will take place throughout the week – the catalogues for all three can be found right here on Classic Driver. For those with a lower budget, there will also be a dedicated section of the show for cars priced below 25,000 euros. This area threw up some weird and wonderful surprises last year and we see no reason why that won’t be the case again. You can find the full list of Classic Driver dealers and auction houses exhibiting at Rétromobile 2020 listed below. 

Classic Driver dealers  and auction houses at Rétromobile 2020

·       Aguttes On Wheels

·       Artcurial Motorcars

·       Arthur Bechtel

·       Ascott Collection

·       Aston Martin Works

·       Auto Storica

·       Automobilia Franco Lembo

·       Auxietre & Schmidt

·       Auxietre & Schmidt

·       Cecil Cars

·       Christoph Grohe

·       Dylan Miles

·       Eleven Cars

·       Fiskens

·       Girardo

·       Gooding & Company

·       Graeme Hunt

·       Historic Cars

·       HK - Engineering

·       Hödlmayr Classic Car Center

·       Kidston

·       Machines with A Mission

·       Mecaniques Modernes Classiques

·       Messina Classics

·       Mint Classics Gmbh

·       Movendi

·       Osenat Motorcars

·       RM Sotheby's

·       Ruote Da Sogno

·       Serge Heitz Automobile Consulting

·       Speed 8 Classics

·       Sports Classics Geneva

·       Stuart Parr Collection

·       William I’Anson

Of course, if you can’t make it to the City of Lights this week, fear not – we’ll be bringing you all the highlights live on our Instagram account and right here on Classic Driver. Keep your eyes peeled! 

Photos: Mathieu Bonnevie for Classic Driver © 2020