LONDON, 30 September 2021

RM Sotheby’s is delighted to announce some important early consignments for its Paris sale, taking place on 5 February 2022 during Rétromobile week. This will mark the 9th annual return to the French capital, once again hosted at the stunning Place Vauban, and which promises to offer an eclectic assortment of high-quality collector cars.

Heading the early consignments is a 2003 Ferrari 550 GTC, chassis 2102, a car owned by the Ferrari factory from 2003 to 2005 and supplied by them for evaluation and development into GT1 racing specification by famed Italian independent race team, N-Technology. Boasting a mighty 6.0 litre V12 engine producing just under 600bhp, JMB Racing was entrusted to run the car in selected rounds of the FIA GT championship in 2003.

The car’s competition highlight was the 2003 Spa 24 Hours which it led overall for the first 6 hours, leading the Prodrive 550s before retiring from the race. The car was sold in 2005 via AF Corse to Napoli-based Gentleman driver Pierro Nappi and went on to be a dominant contender in the Italian Hillclimb Championship. The car has had a sympathetic but extensive series of restorative works, and although not raced, chassis 2102 has been tested and demonstrated for selected magazine articles. With all the major mechanical components rebuilt and with very little running since, as well as extensive body and cosmetic work undertaken, the car is offered in excellent running condition and presents a rare opportunity to acquire one of these highly coveted and important Ferrari competition cars that represent the swansong of Ferrari’s long history of front-engined, V12 competition cars. Matching numbers and red book Ferrari Classiche certified (Estimate: €2,000,000 - €2,500,000).

If an iconic Touring Car from the ‘Super Touring’ golden era of the 1990s is more your thing, then there are few cars more desirable than the 1995 Alfa Romeo 155 V6 TI Chassis number SE062E-005 is an Evolution model delivered by Alfa CORSE directly to the Italian EUROTEAM, where DTM driver, Michael Bartels, secured a convincing victory in both races at the 7th round of the season in Diepholz. For the 1996 season, the car passed to the semi-works team of J.A.S. Motorsport in Lombardy. Under the official name "Jägermeister JAS Motorsport", Bartels was again highly competitive in the car, finishing 4th in the opening race in Helsinki. This remarkable Alfa Romeo with its powerful V6 engine is presented in the most technologically advanced specification of its era. It features the most advanced factory aerodynamic package and boasts a sequential X-Trac 6-speed gearbox operated semi-automatically via  paddle shifts. The power unit was recently completely overhauled and has since been run on the test bench. Offered in Paris with an extensive history file and all the necessary control units so that it can be used immediately. (Estimate: €600,000 - €700,000).

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Of all the small, specialist marques to emerge in post-war years, few have the mystique and dedicated fan base as that of Abarth. Offered in Paris is a rare 1969 Abarth 2000 Sport Tipo SE010 a car made all the more remarkable having been in one family’s ownership since 1976. Famous for producing specialist components and with an enviable reputation in rallying, Abarth also produced highly competitive racing prototypes. 2000 Sport Tipo SE 010 was intended for homologation in the Group 4 category using the 2000cc four-cylinder 16-valve engine that delivered 250 horsepower at 8.700rpm. The model was instantly competitive, peaking when three such cars filled the podium at the 1968 500 km of the Nürburgring. The car offered is chassis SE010-0018, acquired new by the driver Alain Finkelstein in 1969. During its racing career, it was mainly entered for various hill climb races, first by Finkel, then by Pierre Maublanc and Michel Pignard of the MAUBLANC RACING team. In more recent years the car was regularly used for historic racing and track day events. In 2016, an expert and highly sensitive restoration was undertaken on this very original chassis which kept all of its original parts. Since then, it has been invited to participate in the prestigious Historic Hill Race of Ollon-Villars in Switzerland and the 2018 “Montée des Légendes du Col de la Faucille”. Chassis SE010-0018 represents an opportunity to acquire a car with a remarkable documented history, complete with FFSA passport and FIA Historic Technical Passport. (Estimate: €350,000 - €400,000).

The Paris sale will be sure to feature a mix of exotic road sports cars, and leading the charge is a 1994 Bugatti EB 110 GT, firmly established as one of the most collectable supercars of its era. The car offered is in desirable silver with dual tone blue/light grey interior, and was supplied new by Austrian dealer, Bruno De Cillia, in Villach, Kärnten and has been owned by a single owner since new. Displaying a meagre 25,000 kms on the clock, this 213mph supercar is still capable of keeping up with today’s current crop of performance cars. (Estimate: €1,000,000 - €1,200,000).

Augustin Sabatié-Garat, European Sales Manager at RM Sotheby’s, commented: “Our annual Paris sale is an established highlight of the auction calendar, not least because it’s a sale which always attracts a wide variety of cars to suit all tastes but offers a broad spectrum to all budgets. Without a doubt these early consignments demonstrate the exceptional quality we are attracting to the sale, and we’re looking forward to a great auction in February and to return to the Rétromobile week of activities in Paris that we all enjoy, after the enforced break this year.”