What a show! If you’re suffering from a touch of dèja vu, I can confirm that we’ve been saying ‘best ever’ about Rétromobile ever since Romain Grabowski took over the organisation in 2022 – and it was already our favourite indoor show. This year, the 50th edition, has seen another step change – and even the most cynical attendees seemed to agree that Rétromobile Paris 2026 really is the best ever in terms of the quality and variety of the cars and the stands. That’s impressive for an event that has been the true season opener in Europe since 1976.
The obvious difference for Rétromobile Paris 2026 is the move from the familiar but tired old halls to Halls 4 and 7.
The latter is three-storey, with the ground floor dedicated to grass-roots trade stands, the Gooding Christie’s auction – replacing the previous official show sale from Artcurial – and the stupendous Bugatti Presidential Railcar and accompanying Bugatti display from the Musée National de l’Automobile, formerly known as the Schlumpf Collection.
Floor two houses the always-impressive manufacturer displays and the clubs, where the home manufacturers – Renault, Peugeot and Citroën – always battle to have the largest stands with the most exciting cars from their historic collections. Others join in, too; Rétromobile Paris 2026 saw Alfa Romeo show off a Duetto Spider, a 750 Competizione and the stunning 33/2 Periscopica, while BMW displayed a few of its legendary Art Cars.
The top floor, 7.3, is home to the dealer stands, dominated by Girardo & Co., Kidston, Fiskens, Lukas Hüni, Joe Macari, Gallery Aaldering, Axel Schuette, Eberhard Thiesen, L’Atelier des Coteaux and JMB Classic, among many others.
Away from these heavy hitters, other dealers still had plenty to show; the shared stand from Mitchell Curated and MRL (Motor Racing Legends), and the atmospheric display by Vintage Bentley in its first time at the show, proved what can be done with good design in relatively small spaces, for example.
Heading the watch manufacturer stands, Chopard’s display of Zagato cars previewed its new collaboration with the famous coachbuilder, while a spread of historic Ferraris from Richard Mille’s world-beating car collection were showcased on the eponymous brand’s stand.
The Musee du 24 Hours took a stand to preview the forthcoming revamp and extension of the museum at the Le Mans circuit, which will open on May 28, 2026, while neighbour Peter Auto reminded visitors of the new formats for the now-annual Le Mans Classic – that’s 1976-2015 ‘Legend’ in July 2026 and 1923-1975 ‘Heritage’ in 2027, each one continuing every other year from then.
So far we’ve only whizzed through the all-new Ultimate Supercar Garage in Hall 4, but what we can tell you in that it’s huge, vibrant and beautifully laid out, with displays from major manufacturers such as Bugatti, Bentley, Aston Martin and Lotus, traditional coachbuilders including Touring and Bertone, and relative newcomers like Eccentrica and Automobili Mignatta. It’s open to the public on Friday, Saturday and Sunday only but looks well worth visiting.
For some, the week started with the The Peninsula Classics Best of the Best Awards, which took place on Tuesday evening, a day before the show’s official opening. The winning Keller Collection 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B, revealed at the event, was on display at Rétromobile, tucked away opposite the watch and jewellery area.
The auction previews also started on the Monday. RM Sotheby’s was in its now-familiar location next to The Louvre, with the cars beautifully laid out and lit in the spacious underground halls. Because in France public sales must be made open to everyone, there were long queues of people of all ages – although mostly young – waiting for their chance to view the cars for free.
Artcurial, which had previously held the official show sale, has moved from the Rétromobile halls to the basement of The Peninsula Paris hotel, with a far smaller but more curated collection of vehicles (including motorcycles and tractors) than we’re used to seeing from the Paris-based auction house.
The location was well dressed and atmospheric, although the moody lighting made viewing and photography more difficult than they should be. The star lots, explained by well made videos on loop, were a garage-find Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing and Jean Alesi’s own Ferrari Formula 1 car, which he’s kept inside his house ever since the team gifted it to him after the 1992 season. Both cars sold well.
Not for the first time, Bonhams has been ousted from its traditional venue at the magnificent Grand Palais, this time due to a timetable clash with Paris Fashion Week. Its 2026 sale is instead based in a marquee at the prestigious Polo de Paris location, a 20-minute drive from the show – with specially laid-on shuttles between the venues.
The location isn’t as spectacular as the Grand Palais but it’s also not as public, so visitors seem to be those serious about buying – not a bad thing for a sale house keen to home in on potential bidders. Bonhams will decide whether or not to return to the Grand Palais after evaluating the success of the sale at Polo de Paris.
Broad Arrow’s first ‘Paris’ sale isn’t quite that at all, because it’s online only, but the cars were available to view at the famous Roland Garros Stadium, a ten-minute drive from Rétromobile. And that leaves Gooding Christie’s, stepping up to the official show sale position with a strong collection of cars laid out around the auction stage in Hall 7.1.
When the results are available, you’ll be able to find the results of all the sales here.
This is barely scratching the surface of Rétromobile and the accompanying sales, but we’ll continue to add stories to the website. In the meantime, Rétromobile Paris continues to serve as the season opener – and its organisers hope that this year’s inaugural Rétromobile New York, to be held on November 22-26, will eventually become the recognised season closer. We’ve seen the plans for the new event, and they look very promising.
Read more on Rétromobile Paris 2026 here.
