For its 50th birthday, Rétromobile broke every record. From 28 January to 1 February 2026, the Paris classic car show welcomed 181,500 visitors at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, 24% more than in 2025. Clios of every kind, the 205 GTI, BMW Art Cars and record-breaking auctions: here is what you need to remember from this anniversary edition.
An extraordinary 50th edition
Founded in 1976, Rétromobile celebrated its half-century this year, for the first time under the patronage of the French Ministry of Culture. The show filled halls 4 and 7 at Porte de Versailles with more than 2,000 vehicles, around 600 exhibitors and 32 carmakers officially present.
- 181,500 visitors (146,000 in 2025), a new attendance record;
- 32 carmakers, up from 17 last year;
- a new sister show, Ultimate Supercar Garage, with 63,450 visitors in its first year;
- more than €50 million in sales at Gooding Christie's first auction in Europe.
Renault: the Clio Williams stars in the "Cliorama"
On a stand of more than 900 m², Renault told the Clio story through twelve cars in five themes: competition, sport, saga, luxury and new models. On the sporting side, the 1993 Clio Williams, with its blue paint and gold wheels, sat next to the 2000 Clio RS 2.0 16V. The competition area lined up the 1991 Group A Clio, a winner with Jean Ragnotti, Alain Oreille and Philippe Bugalski, the Clio Maxi kit car, the Clio RS Super 1600 and the Clio III Cup. The Clio V6, the R27 F1 Team, the leather-and-wood Baccara and the 1992 Clio RT were there too.
Right next door, Alpine showed three A110s, including a 1977 1600 SX berlinette, one of the last first-generation cars built in Dieppe, and the new A110 R Ultime, limited to 110 units.
Peugeot celebrates 40 years of the 205 GTI
On a 600 m² stand, Peugeot celebrated the GTi badge with a unique collection of 205s: the 1984 105 bhp GTI 1.6, the 115 bhp 1.6, the 130 bhp 1.9, the CTI cabriolet, the rare GTI Dimma widened by the Belgian coachbuilder, and the 1990 GTI Griffe, limited to 3,000 cars. The 205 Turbo 16, twice world rally champion, completed the line-up, alongside the new 280 bhp electric E-208 GTi, shown in France for the first time. The GTI clubs and L'Aventure Peugeot had lent the historic cars.
Other highlights
BMW's Le Mans Art Cars. To mark 50 years of its collection, BMW brought together the seven Art Cars that raced at the Le Mans 24 Hours, starting with the 3.0 CSL painted by Alexander Calder in 1975. A first in France.
The golden age of rallying. With the Gino Macaluso Foundation and Oreca, a major retrospective paid tribute to the queens of the special stages, with drivers such as Ari Vatanen and Didier Auriol.
Citroën, DS, Opel and Alfa Romeo. Citroën showed seven historic concept cars, including one of the three surviving prototypes of the 1939 Traction Avant 15-6 cabriolet. DS displayed four presidential cars, from General de Gaulle's DS 21 to the DS N°8 Présidentielle. Opel made its show debut with the Manta 400 Group B and the Monza GSE, and Alfa Romeo marked 60 years of the "Duetto" Spider.
Golf GTI, Bugatti railcar and Steve McQueen. Volkswagen celebrated 50 years of the Golf GTI, the Cité du Train lent a Bugatti railcar, and an exhibition was devoted to Steve McQueen.
Auctions: a world record for a Ferrari 288 GTO
At its first sale in Europe, Gooding Christie's sold 80% of the lots for more than €50 million. A 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO went for €9,117,500, a world record for the model.
Ultimate Supercar Garage: modern supercars join the party
New for 2026, hall 4 hosted the Ultimate Supercar Garage, devoted to recent supercars. Bugatti unveiled the F.K.P. Hommage there, Donkervoort the P24 RS as a world premiere, and Bertone its new Runabout.
Rétromobile 2027: save the date
The next edition will take place from 3 to 7 February 2027, again at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Before that, the show goes outside Europe for the first time, to New York, from 19 to 22 November 2026.
Seeing so many Clio Williams and 205 GTIs in the spotlight always makes us happy: these are the cars we have been remaking original stickers and markings for since 2015. Getting yours ready for a show? Take a look at our Clio Williams stickers and our Peugeot stickers.
Sources: official Rétromobile 2026 report, press releases from Renault Group, Stellantis (Peugeot) and BMW Group. Photos: official press images, credits under each picture.