37.8 M€ / 41.7 M$ For Artcurial Motorcars At Retromobile

March 24, 2022

The total realised by the Artcurial Motorcars team at the 2022 Official Retromobile Sale. The brothers in arms, Matthieu Lamoure, Pierre Novikoff and the legendary Maître Hervé Poulain brought the Salon Retromobile to life, thrilling the thousands of visitors who came together once more to share their passion for all things automotive.

Bidding was strong throughout the sales, both on the telephone, in the room and on the internet, with many new record prices achieved over the weekend. Cars and bikes, both classic and modern, racing, rallying, collectors and collections : 82 % of the vehicles on offer changed hands and will now head off towards new horizons.

On 16 to 20 March 2022, two years after the last edition of the Retromobile Salon, Artcurial Motorcars returned to the show with a new tribute to the Collectors’ Car, displaying over 170 vehicles on their stand, spread over more than half a hectare. The auction format was different this year, and in place of the drive-through, there were videos and live streaming shown throughout the sale. The Artcurial team spoke from the rostrum, and also on camera, walking round the cars, the specialists Antoine Mahé and Benjamin Arnaud with microphone in hand, turning the sale into a real show.

By the evening of the third day, the team was proud to announce that this eleventh edition of the sale had realised 37.8 M € / 41.7 M $. Despite covid restrictions still making travel complicated for some, international buyers and sellers were very much present, both in
person, on the phone and the internet. Foreign buyers accounted for 45 % of the sale total.
The sale included six lots selling for over 1 million euros and 13 lots 500 000 €.

“This spectacular sale producing multiple records illustrates how strong collectors’ desire is to acquire pieces of history, bringing us together in our shared passion for the automobiles that have always made us dream! After a two-year absence from this international show, what a pleasure to orchestrate a sale in front of a packed saleroom buzzing with excitement!”
Matthieu Lamoure,
Managing Director, Artcurial Motorcars

The first of the three sales at Salon Rétromobile 2022, on Friday 18 March, lived up to all the promises ! One of the most highly anticipated collections, of eleven on offer, was that belonging to the lawyer and Monegasque state advisor, Maître Léandri. This included four lowmileage supercars that had been in his ownership since leaving the factory. The interest in these lots was huge, with the three musketeers taking bids in the room, on the internet and from a line of Artcurial Motorcars specialists on the phone. The collection realised a total of over 13 million euros with the supercars all selling for very strong prices. The 1996 F50 (lot 162) sold for 4 161 600 euros. This is the first time that an F50 has sold for more than 4 million euros at auction.

The highest price in the sale went to the 1968 Factory Porsche 907 of Ernst Schuster (lot 203), changing hands 4 390 400 € including premium. This magnificent car with an impressive provenance, including three participations in the Le Mans 24 Hours, had been in the hands of the same owner for the last 40 years.

One of the most coveted models, lot 133, the 1950 Gordini Type 18S, driven by Juan-Manuel Fangio in the Le Mans 24 Hours, sold for 1 013 200 euros (including premium) establishing a new world record price at auction for a Gordini.

Illustrated by some wonderful photographs of a previous celebrity owner, the ex-Jacques Dufilho Bugatti 37A (lot 147) sold for 894 000 euros (including premium).

Finally, just before 20.00, to the sound of his famous song “Gabrielle”, Jonny Hallyday’s Harley Davidson known as “Laura Eyes” was ridden into the packed saleroom, engine roaring. The vendor had won the Harley in 1998 in a competition organised by the fan
club, and he was presented with the bike by the singer himself. Matthieu Lamoure began the bidding which continued for over ten minutes, until the hammer finally came down : 470 840 € including premium.

The Bruno Lafourcade, comprising mainly Bugatti, was cheered for acheiving a «white gloves» result!

Further collections belonging to dedicated enthusiasts came under the hammer on Saturday 19 March. One of the highlights was the Baudoin Lempereur Collection, comprising 19 rally cars from his estate. Lempereur was well known on Belgian circuits and rally events both for his talent as a driver and his engineering skills. The rally cars attracted a great deal of interest and prices were strong, with many exceeding their estimates, including the 1991 Ford RS200 (lot 356) which fetched 295 616€ and the 1984 « barn-find » Renault 5 Turbo 2 (lot 353) which sold for for 78 672 € including premium.

Romain Grosjean’s customised 2010 Harley Davidson Fat Boy « Bobber F » changed hands for 35 760 euros including premium. Grosjean had bought himself this bike on gaining his first podium position in F1 and has offered to take the new owner for dinner! The final sale of the event was the automobilia auction « Racing, Flying and Yachting » which also enjoyed a very strong result, realising 673 440 € including premium, with 98% of lots selling.

The, Autorail Bugatti, an exceptional exhibition model, painted in SNCF colours, changed hands for 86 592 € including premium.