Selections from Artcurial’s Pre-Retromobile Auction at The Peninsula, Paris, Tuesday, January 27th

As Tuesday’s Pre-Retromobile auction, orchestrated by venerable French auction house Artcurial, swiftly approaches, enjoy a pictorial of some of the fascinating and desirable collector cars on offer. These are but a few of the many exciting finds. Be sure to contact the auction house for live and remote bidding options and for you North American collectors, talk to veteran Artcurial specialist Ed Fallon.

Lot 33 – 1956 Mercedes-Benz ‘Gullwing’

2 million – 5 million Euro Auction Estimate

No Reserve

• Incredibly original, unrestored condition
• Excellent provenance with French ownership from new
• Exceptional history, specification and original condition
• Supplied with all the sports options available at the time
• 100% of numbers as when it left the factory
• First paint, 34 255 km
• NSL high-performance engine, Rudge alloy wheels, sports springs and shock absorbers
• One of 106 cars supplied in ‘Graphitgrau’ (Graphite Gray)
• One of 30 cars delivered new in France (Paris)
• Supplied new to a Parisian industrialist and Olympic champion
• In the same ownership from 1961 to 2014 (53 years)
• Complete evaluation carried out in December 2025 by the specialist Dipl.-Ing.. Klaus Kukuk

Lot 64 – 1956 Lotus 11 – Ex Graham Hill

Auction Estimate: 170,000 – 210,000 Euros

• ‘Yellow Peril,’ built and driven by Graham Hill, future F1 World Champion!

• Significant track record with G. Hill and subsequent owners

• Exceptional and documented history

• Rare original condition for a racing car

• Unforgettable aerodynamic body design

• Early example of Colin Chapman’s revolutionary engineering prowess

Lot 66 – 1939 Talbot-Lago 4.5-litre ‘offset’ single-seater, ex-works

Auction Estimate: €1,200,000 – 1,600,000

• Works car, sporty appearance, one of only two examples

• Prestigious history, previously owned by famous collectors and drivers

• Impeccably maintained, eligible for the most competitive historic events

• Still equipped with its original engine block

• Winner, 6 August 1939 Grand Prix du Comminges with René Le Bègue

This ex-Works Talbot-Lago racing car carries exceptional and heroic provenance. Raced just before the outbreak of WW II in Europe, it is a fabulous touchstone to a time when reliability and durability sometimes triumphed over the raw power and speed of the state-sponsored Alfa Romeo, Auto Union, and Mercedes-Benz GP cars of Italy and Germany, respectively.

There are far too many classic, racing, and modern sports cars on offer at this auction to fully cover here in time for the sale, to be held at The Peninsula hotel in Paris on Tuesday, January 27th, just a day before the celebrated Salon Retromobile festivities kick off January 28-February 1. Here are some additional automobile and on-scene images kindly provided to www.motorcopia.com by Artcurial’s North American specialist, Ed Fallon. Be sure to contact him and the Artcurial team about the many fabulous sale entries and bidder arrangements today!

Auction Details:

• Date: Tuesday, January 27, 2026
• Location: The Peninsula Paris
• Catalog: https://artcurial-maya.com/en/sales/6446
• Contact: Artcurial Specialist Team, including Ed Fallon, North American Specialist – [contact info]

The sale precedes Salon Rétromobile (January 28 – February 1, 2026), making it an essential destination for collectors attending one of Europe’s premier classic car events.

About Motorcopia
Motorcopia is an independent collector-car market intelligence and publishing platform founded by David C.R. Neyens, a veteran writer, researcher, and auction-catalogue specialist with a long-standing presence in the industry since2008.since 2008

Motorcopia delivers proprietary market indices – including the Market Pulse™, Forward Index™, Buy/Sell/Hold Index™, and ValueScope™ – alongside auction coverage, investment insights, and collector-vehicle analysis.

With a focus on serving high-net-worth collectors, advisors, and industry professionals, Motorcopia combines deep cataloguing expertise with data-driven reporting to spotlight actionable trends, opportunities, and results across the global collector-car market.

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