Particular strengths of Retromobile are the thematic exhibitions lining up exciting specimens from collectors and museums honouring a brand, a person, a race, a country or an era.
On the corridor to the main hall, some fifteen vehicles were displayed to honour the Dakar Rally, one of the toughest races in the world.
Paris Dakar is an off-road challenge through the African sand dunes over several thousand kilometres every year since 1978. Since 2012, the rally has relocated to Latin America for safety reasons and then to Saudi Arabia.
The exhibition commemorates the creator of Paris Dakar, including the helicopter accident on 14 January 1986 that took his life. The selection included some cars he entered, like the Toyota BJ, and many others like the Renault 4 of the Marreau brothers, a somewhat surprising Lada Niva or a DS 23 from 1981.
The real deals were the selection of cars that defined their epochs at Dakar throughout the decades.
Mitsubishi was the leading manufacturer taking podiums during the decades from the early ‘90s to the late 2000s. They were honoured by the Mitsubishi PX33 prototype, that was entered the Paris-Dakar of 1991.
The design of the Mitsubishi PX33 rallye-raid car was evoked by the very first all-terrain vehicle built in the mid-30s by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. This fibre bodywork was mounted on a long-wheelbase Pajero chassis using the drivetrain and suspensions of the Pajero race car.
French manufacturer Peugeot also scored several victories, and their most iconic car was arguably the Peugeot 405-16 from 1989.
Peugeot’s Paris-Dakar adventure coincided with the end of Group B, and Peugeot took inspiration from the 205Turbo 16, and its Dakar version won in 1987.Peugeot decided to move on with a 405 T16 ‘Grand Raid’. This 405 is based on the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 mechanics, with power increased to 400 cv.
Racing legend Jacky Ickx fell in love with the desert race, and after winning with a Mercedes, he brought Porsche on board. The German factory developed a 911 especially for desert racing. René Metge and Dominique Lemoyne triumphed at the German make’s first attempt in 1984. The French team did it again in 1986 with a car derived from the 959.
Metge returned several times, even teaming up with Johnny Hallyday in a Nissan prepared by André Dessoude, which was also on display.
A generation of resourceful inventors would come up with ever more original machines. These included Rolls-Royces and six-wheeled cars venturing into the desert, like the 1984 Montcorgé Dakar race car.
In recent years, the era-defining manufacturer is Audi, whose hybrid-engined RS Q e-Tron prototype has made the trip to the show.
The Teuf-Teuf club showcased old cars even by Retromobile standards.
With this club, pre-war is guaranteed as pretty much all members were from the pre-war era, in fact even from before World War I.
The 100th anniversary of Montlhéry was honoured with legends and curiosities.
Rétromobile also kicked off the centennial festivities of the once illustrious French motor racing venue. The idea of a test track was born in the aftermath of the First World War, when French manufacturers were looking for proper asphalt tracks to test their vehicles and develop new technology.
Despite the impressive racing pedigree and early lead in the automotive industry, France caught up only in 1924, well after Brooklands (functioning already since 1907), Indianapolis (1909), Avus Berlin (1921), Monza (1922) and Barcelona (early 1924).
Two new speed rings were built: one at Miramas, and the one at Linas, commonly called Montlhéry as trains from Paris stopped in the village of Montlhéry. These rings were very popular at a time when drivers were dreaming of harnessing speed and manufacturers were striving to set world records.
The organisers brought together a lovely selection of over a dozen vehicles, encompassing several epochs, categories and nationalities. Among them were several motorcycles and pre-war monoposto race cars, but also postwar gems like the 300SL. We particularly fell for the crazy Peugeot 404…
In the courtyard you could find tractors, if you still were not fed up with them…
Dozens of classic agricultural vehicles were showcased in the expo courtyard. Unfortunately, not enough as the roads to Paris were blocked by an agri demo.
Rétromobile honoured the 50th birthday of legendary rally ace Sebastien Loeb
Rétromobile announced the presence of the nine-time world rally champion as part of his fiftieth anniversary celebrations.
For the occasion, the organisers arranged an exhibition centred around the emblematic racing cars of his career, including the latest Dacia he entered Dakar.
Richard Mille honoured the Ferrari racing pedigree.
Through eight well-chosen sacred monsters, Richard Mille brought us the highlights of the glorious sporting history of the Maranello firm. The cars cover a wide range of categories, like Endurance and GT racing… These include reigning Le Mans champion 499P but also the classic 250LM from 1964.
The Saumur Armored Vehicle Museum presented two flagship tanks of the French military industry.
The Saumur Armored Vehicle Museum is a traditional guest at Retromobile, bringing some heavyweights to the show, quite literally. The Museum counts among the world’s largest collections of armoured vehicles, enlisting vehicles from all around the world, from the First World War to the present day. It is located not far from Le Mans, so we paid a visit back to back to the 100th anniversary race.
For the 47th edition of the Rétromobile show, the Museum presented an emblematic tank of the French military industry, the AMX 30. Built in the Issy-les-Moulineaux construction workshops, it was put into service in 1957 and served France for 50 years as their Main Battle Tank. The AMX 30 presented at the show took part in the Gulf War in 1991.
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