An incredible French barnfind has revealed the most astonishing collection of lost classics discovered this century. The priceless collection of 60 cars includes an ex-Alain Delon Ferrari California Spider, the location of which had been a mystery for decades.
A huge number of Talbot Lago T26s includes a Grand Sport Aérodynamique and an ex-King Farouk Cabriolet.
The Roger Baillon collection was stashed in the west of France and many of the cars are thought to have lain dormant for more than 50 years.
Other stand-outs amassed by the transport magnate for a museum that never opened include a one-of-three Frua-bodied Maserati A6G Gran Sports, but all the great European marques – Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Talbot Lago, Panhard-Levassor, Maserati, Ferrari, Delahaye, Delage and many more – are represented.
Many of Baillon's vast car collection were sold off when his business went into decline in the 1970s, but these cars did not emerge then and were not known of outside of his immediate circle until now.
Matthieu Lamoure, Managing Director at Artcurial Motorcars, described stumbling across the collection after a tip-off to specialist Pierre Novikoff: "It was a fairly indescribable feeling. On entering the gates of this property, we had no idea what we would find. We had to go in through the gardens at the rear of theproperty, to get a first look.
