Discovery of a forgotten treasure of sixty old and classic cars in rural Western France...
The Baillon Collection
Deep in rural western France, sixty old and classic cars have been discovered in the sheds and barns of a family farm.
As with most Barn Finds, the back-story is as interesting as the cars themselves: a trucking magnate and life-long enthusiast, Roger Baillon, took twenty years to assemble his dream collection and was about to build his own museum, when his industry took a beating in the 1970s and he was forced to sell almost half the collection.
What remains includes cars from Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza, Talbot-Lago, Panhard-Levassor, Maserati, Ferrari, Delahaye, Delage and Porsche. Of particular value are two Italian cars: one of just three Maserati A6G Gran Sports with coachwork by Frua, from 1956 and beneath piles of newspapers, a Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spider, with covered headlights. It was bought new by French actor Gérard Blain, then sold to fellow actor Alain Delon, who was often seen at the wheel of this machine, including in 1964 with Jane Fonda and on the Côte d’Azur with Shirley MacLaine. One of 37 examples, this Pininfarina-designed cabriolet, its whereabouts unknown to marque historians until now, is bound to attract the attention of collectors of important historic Ferraris.
The entire collection goes under the auctioneer’s hammer on February 6. Read all about the entire collection in a forthcoming copy of Unique Cars magazine.
Photography: Artcurial | Video: Artcurial