Rétromobile and the recently merged Gooding Christie’s have partnered in a multi-year arrangement that sees the auction house serve as the official partner for the Paris and New York events from 2026 onwards.
The partnership will begin with Rétromobile Paris in late January/early February 2026, the 50th running of the event, taking over from Artcurial. The first US event is to take place at New York’s Javits Center in November 19-22 that year.
Romain Grabowski, Director of Rétromobile said “During my travels in the United States I had the opportunity to attend several sales orchestrated by David Gooding and his team. The quality of the collections on display was simply exceptional. It is this expertise, these values, and the reputation of this auction house that attracted us, as well as Christie’s international reach and expertise in the art and luxury goods world.”
This diversification into areas that aren’t just about cars has been a theme of both auction companies and indoor car shows for a while now; RM Sotheby’s trialled lifestyle auctions alongside cars in Dubai with some success in 2024 and there were almost as many independent watch manufacturer stands at Rétromobile as there were for automobilia.
For Gooding Christie’s, it’s a useful strengthening of its European arm; its Hampton Court London sales have had mixed results (as we discussed here), and a foothold in Paris means they can fight with Bonhams and RM Sotheby’s and their Paris sales. Gooding Christie’s president David Gooding, said: “Rétromobile has been a vibrant marketplace for the last 50 years, with the most prominent collectors and dealers transacting the most significant cars. We look forward to taking the centrer stage at the Parisian and New York events.”
So, where does this leave Artcurial? It’s been a difficult few years for the auction house, with the firm bringing several collections of 1960s Ferraris to market just as these cars have been struggling, as evidenced last year here and here. The international focus of Bonhams, RM Sotheby’s, Broad Arrow and Gooding Christie’s means that Artcurial may not be able to reach as wide an international audience. The reputation-damaging saga of Ferrari 250LM chassis 5901 in 2023 hasn’t helped matters either.
In more recent years, some of the pre-auction messaging has become quieter; in the past, communication about special items coming up for sale were projected early and wide. In more recent times lot lists have been released in one go, very close to the auction, with barely a trickle in the weeks or months beforehand. While last-minute consignments are always going to happen, other auction companies use their lot list as an ongoing online catalogue, allowing for organic excitement to grow among enthusiasts.
However, it largely comes down to where Rétromobile’s organisers see the business expanding most, and it’s likely to be the USA – as hinted by Romain Grabowski above. Rétromobile Paris 2025 was busier than ever, but there were furtive conversations between dealers and brokers about possible increases to import taxes in France, following the example set by the Netherlands. Other EU countries are believed to be interested in following suit.
This perhaps played out in slightly disappointing auction results in terms of sales vs estimates, as explained here. More widely, further wealth taxes in France have been mooted. It all points to the USA as being where the opportunities lie at the top of the market, and an auction company with international offices makes obvious sense. However, it is difficult not to have a pang of sadness for Artcurial.
Artcurial auctions have a style all of their own, particularly those at Rétromobile. The vast, diverse collection of cars up for auction – and the uniquely weird and wonderful selections – was almost a car show within a car show. Then, of course, there was the famous Baillon collection – the French countryside is large, and even the most cursory drive off the autoroutes yields something interesting in seemingly every village, and each year Artcurial always had something weirdly tempting, and often unique.
Will a move to an international auctioneer rob the Paris show of one of its standout attractions, or can Gooding Christie’s carry on the fine tradition of Artcurial’s delight for uncovering the rusty, weird and wonderful? We’ll find out in early January 2026…
For more information on Rétromobile and Gooding Christie’s tie-up, head here.
