This year's Rétromobile auctions were more awaited than ever before, with not only Canadian giant RM joining the Paris fray with traditional combatant Bonhams, but also the home team from Artcurial adding a second, Alfa-only sale.
While there were the expected big numbers across a range of the star lots, there is no question about the headline stealer, the 1971 Mercedes-Benx 600 'six-door' Pullman Landaulet that made a mind-boggling €537,600 despite being a barnfind in need of restoration.
Admittedly only 26 six-door Landaulets were built, but all the more extraordinary was the fact that the pre-sale estimate looked entirely reasonable at €80-120,000.
The Merc was far from being the top-seller as RM racked up sales of nearly €18million in just three hours and an 80% sale rate.
After a few high-profile no-sales of D-types at recent auctions where around £5million was being sought, the Jaguar seems to have found its level with the Harburg Collection's nicely original example – without the race history to compare to some – selling for €3,696,000.
Some €1.3million further back was the 1982 Porsche 956 Group C Sports Prototype that came third at Le Mans, with three other cars topping the million-Euro mark, led by the 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Spyder at €1.96m.
Also generating a lot of interest was the 1964 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS (€1.288m) and the ex-Rod Stewart Lamborghini Miura P400 S to SV Spec that made €520k.
The following evening, Bonhams held its sale at the imposing Grand Palais and smashed the world record for Ferrari's in-vogue 275GTB/4, when a 1968 example made €2.225million.
Another big lot was the Jack Lemon Burton and Lady Mary Grosvenor 1929 Bugatti Type 35B. After a tense bidding war, a Far Eastern buyer snapped the racer up for €1.6million.
The million-Euro barrier was also breached by another French car when rapid bidding pushed a one-of-seven 1947 Delage D6 3-litre to €1.1m.
Aston Martins proved popular with the Paris audience, with a 1962 DB4 Vantage doubling estimate to make €1.2m and a 1965 DB5 topping €775k.
Bonhams had a barnfind of its own that flew – a Facel Vega II that had been in storage for 40 years made €155k against a low estimate of €80k.
For press coverage, none of the cars could rival the fever whipped up by the sale of a Harley-Davidson 2013 Dyna Super Glide and leather jacket that belonged to Pope Francis. With the proceeds going to charity, the pair topped €300k.
