From a dictator's limo to Shelby's Ferrari, barn finds fill RM Auctions Paris

Mud still mars the front tires. Both instrument clusters dangle out of their housings like droopy gag eyeballs on springs.The engine looks like it belongs down with the Titanic, and the the fabric top shows the ravages of time.

And yet this neglected 1971 Mercedes-Benz 600 “Six-Door” Pullman Landaulet is one of the stars of RM Auction's first Paris sale set for Feb. 5 in the shadows the imposing Napoleonic war hospital, Les Invalides. The limo was sourced from a seller who unearthed the barn-find in an unnamed African country where it — like its 25 other “Six-Door” Landaulet brethren — served a head of state before being unceremoniously retired.

“We’re pretty confident it’s the last Landaulet out there, so for a Mercedes-Benz collector it’s the holy grail,” says Max Girardo, the event’s auctioneer and managing director of RM’s London operations. “The current owner rescued it, though he didn’t want to exactly say where in Africa, just to be cautious.”

Mercedes’ 600 Landaulets were undeniable signs of wealth and power in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, custom-ordered and hand-built stretch limousines with folding canvas tops (which allowed potentates to stand and wave at their citizens) that were essentially the four-wheeled private jets of their day.

This particular model, whose estimated sale price is between $100,000 and $160,000, was kitted out with then state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, which consisted of a Sony TV, a Becker stereo with eight speakers and a telephone. “It’s ready for a full restoration for someone who wants a part of Mercedes history,” says Girardo.

This German luxury machine aside, it’s fitting that French cars in particular will gather their fair share of the spotlight when the hammer falls in Paris. “We made a point of finding a pre-war, post-war and modern car to highlight,” says the auctioneer.

The first of these is 1936 Delahaye 135 S (estimate: $1.3 million–$2 million) in robin’s egg blue, a car with an impressive sports and Grand Prix history that was painstakingly restored in 2005. One of seven that remain intact from an original grouping of 16 135 Specials, it’s a worthy stablemate to other legendary French racing marques of the time including Bugatti, Hispano-Suiza and Delage.

The post-war celeb is a 1953 Gordini Type 24 S ($4.1–$5.4 million) championed by the iconic French driver Jean Behra. This snub-nosed, 3-liter beast ran in just about every important contest on the Continent and abroad, including the Mille Miglia, Le Mans, Carrera Panamericana and the 1953 Tour de France, which it won. Better still, the car comes with reams of race-day documents, hand-written portals into the past.

Rounding out the French racing theme is a 2008 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP Le Mans Prototype ($1.9-$2.4 million) offered directly from Peugeot, a race car that took second in that year’s Le Mans. “We consider all three French icons, and they’re a great way for a buyer to grab a huge piece of that country’s racing history,” says Girado.

Other notable vehicles in this auction come from the collection of Australian collector and historic racer Peter Harburg. The offerings are nothing less than jaw-dropping, a racing enthusiast’s fantasy garage all for sale in one place.

Two show-stoppers include Harburg’s sunny Sunoco-liveried 1973 Porsche 917/30 Can-Am Spyder ($3 million–$4 million), a Hot Wheels car in the flesh boasting a comical 1,100-hp out of its turbo-charged flat-12. Mark Donohue famously took a 917/30 up to a record-setting 240 mph on the straightaway at Talladega. But this particular 917 never turned a wheel in anger, instead selling directly to a collector. Subsequent owners have kept this rocket of a time-capsule as it was, a car that “makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck when it fires up,” says Girardo.

Just as intriguing is a 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Spider ($2.5 million–$3 million), which after winning in the able hands of Phil Hill and Carroll Shelby went through a series of gentleman racers, one of whom stuffed a Chevy V-8 under the car’s sleek hood. By 1963, the racer was ailing, and the car was sold to a college student who stashed it in his mother’s barn in Texas for the next 30 years. After the car was rediscovered, it underwent a full restoration by its current owner, including the hand-fabrication of a new Scaglietti-penned body.

“The buyer of this car also gets the old body, which you could almost see sitting in a living room as a piece of art,” says Girardo. But the truth is, an existing photo of the late, great Shelby grinning like a fox from behind the wheel of this Maranello machine should be enough to sell the car.

Finally, two of other cars of note if only because most American car aficionados may be surprised to see them alongside far rarer cars.The first is a 1956 Fiat 600 ($30,000–$40,000), the big brother to the 500, whose modern offspring we see cruising around our cities today. RM literature cheekily notes that this 600 is eligible for the Mille Miglia historic races; technically true, but that’s like entering a Shetland pony in the Kentucky Derby.

And then there’s the 1968 Citroen DS21 Decapotable ($190,000–$215,000), a hardtop turned convertible (nicknamed “The Goddess”) at the hands of coachbuilder Henri Chapron. The auction estimate gives you an idea of how seriously the French take their Citroens.

“It was advanced for its day, trust me,” says Girardo. “It had power brakes and hydraulic steering and was about the smoothest riding car around. If you drive it, you adore it. It’s an eclectic French piece.”