Retromobile Paris, Arizona - 2026 is GO
Each year Paris fires the starting gun for the classic car market with auctions throughout the week;
- Tuesday 27th Artcurial’s sale is at the Peninsula Hotel
- Wednesday 28th RM Sothebys at Le Louvre
- Thursday 29th Goodings Christies at Retromobile
- Friday 30th Bonhams at Polo de Paris in the Bois de Boulogne
- Finishing Friday 30th, Broad Arrow’s online auction
Different venues for all of them, probably most significantly Goodings Christies taking the honour of hosting the Retromobile sale in what is, after all, known as Retromobile week in Paris.
Forgive the indulgence, but let’s start at Paris Expo at Porte de Versailles and Retromobile – we’ve seen the classic shows in the UK, NEC, Silverstone, Goodwood, Salon Prive at Blenheim and Hampton Court. We had a great stand at Techno Classica and have been lucky enough to represent one of our clients at Pebble Beach and this year we finally made it to Paris.
After a misdirected visit to a gas engineering show in another pavilion, we followed the queues to the show – probably the worst signposted classic event that we’ve attended but, once inside the popularity of the event was obvious and there was no mistaking the Goodings Christies area – heavily branded and busy but without the press of crowds who were dutifully lined up outside the roped off area watching the theatre.
And theatre it was – beautifully presented cars, a large seating area fully taken, a substantially stocked bar with Goodings usual popcorn and interesting and busy rostrum area. Cécile Verdier, Camille de Foresta & Victoire Gineste with David Gooding and Charlie Ross.
First time in Paris for the newly merged auctioneers which had brought together Gooding & Co. with Christie’s. Probably acknowledging Christies involvement as auctioneers from 2002 – 2007, polite protocols were followed such, that the three most senior Christies’ officials in France took turns to preside over the sale, roughly split by a third each.
These female presenters were its President and two Vice Presidents. They introduced every lot briefly in French then handed over to David Gooding who gave more specific detail about each vehicle’s attributes. Then Charlie Ross took over and ran the auction process itself, in his usual extravert and precise style.
However, Charlie was denied his signature theatrical routine – as he counted down the final bids, his French colleague summarized the sale in French and noisily banged the gavel confirming the sale.
An early pair of Astons – appeared not to excite Charlie or the audience, finishing well below minimum reserves although post sale, both were marked as sold – 1960 DB4 Series II sold at €225k (£193,500) [€258,125 (£221,988) with premium] while the DB Mark 3 with a DBB spec engine made €190k (£163,400) on the hammer [€218,500 (£187,910) with premium].
The rostrum was probably waiting for the more lucrative lots with a number of world records achieved with sales in the millions:
New World Auction Records:
? Lot 67 - 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO, sold for €9,117,500 (a world record for the model)
? Lot 40 - 2018 Ferrari FXX K Evo, sold for €6,980,000 (a world record for the model)
? Lot 29 - 2013 Ferrari 458 GTE, sold for €1,130,000 (the first Ferrari 458 GTE to be sold at auction)
? Lot 37 - 1975 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale, sold for €815,000 (a world record for the model)
? Lot 63 - 1994 Ferrari 512 TR Speciale, sold for €747,500 (a world record for the model)
By any measure, Retromobile was a success for Goodings Christies and the market – Aston Martin notwithstanding!
Artcurial starting the auction rounds on the Tuesday were a little constrained after the wide-open spaces of the Porte De Versailles. Even with the cars in the Peninsula Hotel’s underground car park, the well-appointed sale room was crowded.
From the quartet of Astons in their catalogue, one, a DBS Vantage, was withdrawn and a Virage Volante was a non-sale given it was shy of the lower estimate with a bid of €80,000 (£69,442). A Vantage GT8 was also €10k under its own benchmark, but was declared sold, as a 'No Reserve’ with the hammer price of €150,000(£130,203) [€178,800 (£155,202) with premium.
Matching its estimate first was a German sourced Series 4 Lagonda V8, though this was set at an already impressive €120k, but with under 21,000 kilometres travelled in 34 years, and a rear seat feature glass roof, it must already have been among the top echelons of this select market for William Towns wedge designs and sold for €150k (£130,203) [€178,800 (£155,202)with premium]
RM Sothebys were next up in an interesting venue under the Louvre. Tiered seating offered a sense of an amphitheater. Sholto Gilbertson conducted the sale in English but appeared to spend more time engaged with his support team on the telephones. As so often the PR hyperbole followed the sale reporting the sale of 61 cars for a total exceeding €68 million.
Pleased to report that the figure included some Astons – a 1989 V8 Volante X Pack sold for €290,000 (£255,490) [€331,250 (£291,831) with premium] and a 1984 V8 Volante made €115,000 (£101,315) [€132,250 (£116,512) with premium]. A 1957 DB Mark 3 was bid to €110,000 (£96,910, it was listed as available at €160,000 post sale.
After the spectacle of Goodings Christies, the live auction curtain came down on the Friday with Bonhams who had literally pitched their tent in the Bois de Boulogne. Speaking to Jamie Knight formerly of Bonhams now a consultant to Goodings Christies, he rationalized his presence as helping the American team with the rather different European market. So, it was strange to see his old firm making the mistake of offering their star lot with no reserve – that may have attracted bids the other side of the pond but did not encourage high bids in Paris!
When Richard Stafford passed the baton to the enthusiastic Harvey Cammell there seemed an improved engagement and the price digits seemed to move a lot faster. The story for Aston was good – three cars offered and three cars sold.
A 1983 Lagonda V8 Series II offered with No Reserve sold for €28,000 (£24,254) [€32,200 (£27,892) with premium]. 1967 DB6 Vantage sold for €168,000 (£145,525) [€193,200 (£167,353) with premium] and a 1962 DB4 Series V made €330,000 (£285,852) [€379,500 (£328,730) with premium.
As a postscript we must mention Broad Arrow who conducted their sale online only, but worthy of mention for two reasons. First the auctioneer’s premium was a flat 10% (the other North American firms were charging 15% for the initial €200k, then 12.5%, Bonhams was 15% throughout and Artcurial required 16% for the first €900k.
The second reason is that even constraining the sale online, they nevertheless had their impressive inventory on display at Paris’ home of tennis, Roland Garros with a complimentary shuttle bus to and from the Retromobile pavilions. Their only Aston, a 1986 V8 Volante disappointed at €65,000 (£56,355) [€71,500 (£61,990) with premium]
Looking back at the event, there was a vibrancy in the market places – with all the familiar auction faces, it was interesting that Max Girardo with his team and great stock, reported it was his best Retromobile - with the shake up of venues and auction houses, the Paris market was shaken out of its familiarity and probably equally out of its complacency.
Not just the revised locations but the product mix had its impact - visitors were able to engage with just two 'price points' in the cars made available, the 'Sub €30,000' section at Level One, and the mostly gilt-edged at Level Three.
Missing from previous years was the broad swathe of mid-level dealers from across the whole of Europe, and though their offerings last year were dominated by examples of the Porsche 911 and Pagoda SL, they were largely absent in 2026 has it just become too expensive for them to participate given the broad economic malaise that has afflicted Europe as a whole?
That is supported by the source of wealth that generated a certain level of financial buoyancy evident in the auctions – RM’s sale total of €81 million, and a "record" for a European classic car auction underlines that missing middle level.
Two notable specialists in English marques remarked that they had received zero business from the UK in 2025, the demand coming from either the very highest level of European wealth (the middle class of the EU having been decimated), the Middle East, or the USA.
Personal impressions were of a poorly signposted event, the same sort of crowds and the same visitor profile as Techno Classica but less room to move. Goodings Christies were impressive, the facilities in the pavilions less so.
But if the Paris week were a signpost for the European market, then we can approach 2026 with a little more optimism – but what about the other side of the pond?
Bonhams and RM Sothebys were both active in Arizona on 23rd January, Bonhams at Scottsdale and RM Sothebys at Phoenix. Dealing first with the Astons – Bonhams had a single 1966 DB6 which, despite boasting over $100,000 of service documentation it struggled to$220,000 (£162,955) $30,000 short of its low reserve – it was, however, marked as sold at $246,400 (£182,508) with premiums.
But like many auctions, high value cars return handsome premium returns - a Bugatti Chiron ’Super Sport’ estimated at $4.5m-$5m, did break through the lower barrier to reach $4.6m net, and thus go to a new home. That meant a premium for the British Auction house of $465,000 on a single vehicle!
Earlier in the evening RM Sothebys had a much more valuable inventory, including a high proportion of Ferraris and Porsches. A pair of catalogue leading Ferraris returned gross figures of $8.8m for an F50, and $9.3m for an Enzo, but the Aston Martin with track performance potential in that league - the second of 24 produced Vulcans - stalled at exactly one million dollars, net and remained unsold offered later their website for $1,35 million.
They also offered a 2017 DB4GT Continuation Prototype which at least made the sold column with a sale at $820,000 (£618,280) [ $907,000 (£683,878) with premium]
For full Aston Martin results from Paris and Arizona follow the link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qtiPaaQbJgJD11Toj53FV_Fd5M_NZhNF/view?usp=sharing
© Byron International
