The price of celebrity?

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You will know by now that many a record broke with Artcurial during their RetroMobile sale held last week. Collectors from Europe, America and Asia forked out their wallets for cars that had been marketed particularly well. No doubt we will see some of the 59-car strong Baillon collection back at the manicured lawns of the major concourses within the next few years. It gives historians and restorers plenty of work and keeps the economy going. Everybody happy, right? Well, not entirely.

Alain Delon, who owned the piece de resistance of the sale regrets that his name was used ‘to raise prices’, or so he said to French press agency AFP this week. According to the French actor, who owned the Ferrari 250 California Spider between 1963 and 1965,  “Too much noise was made around this car to ignite its auction estimate.” What’s more: he says the car sold is not the one he was pictured in with Jane Fonda, used throughout the classic car world to advertise the sale. Delon is adamant that car is in fact another California Spider. Delon: “Everything that has been said about the sale of this car was done without my consent.”

What do you think? Is Delon simply crossed for paying the price of celebrity or should this really never have happened? Meanwhile, the hunt goes on. This Maserati Ghibli, driven by the great actor in the 1969 flick ‘La Piscine’ is believed to have vanished from the earth. Now, it wouldn’t surprise us if that car resurfaces even before the 250 California’s restoration is finished…

(Words Jeroen Booij, picture courtesy Artcurial)

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