ECLECTIC MELANGE; Model cars, auto parts and million-dollar classics-it's all part of Retromobile.(News)

Byline: NICK KURCZEWSKI

Nick Mason was impressed and pretty darned excited, and the reason had nothing to do with his multimillion-dollar 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO sitting nearby. Surrounded by journalists and ringed by a select choice of cars from his formidable collection, the longtime car fanatic (and drummer for Pink Floyd) admitted this was his first visit to Retromobile. "It's the scale of the thing,'' he enthused. "When one thinks of car shows, you think of a couple stalls selling parts and headlamps. Here you see acres and acres of old headlamps!'' We'll grant Mason some artistic license, but if a car show can impress a rock star who has a 1995 McLaren F1 GTR and a 1990 Porsche 962 among other prizes in his garage, chances are he's onto something.

Held this year from Feb. 16-25 at the Porte des Versailles exhibition center in the south of Paris, Retromobile is the annual signal to Europe's classic-car world that winter is nearly over. This 32nd show was as eclectic and friendly as ever. Car clubs, skids of automobilia, auction house tents and-as Mason pointed out-hordes of headlamps and rare auto parts stand side by side in an awe-inspiring mass.

An initial walk through the exhibition hall can lead you past model cars of all shapes and sizes and an elaborate club display for the "French Polar Expeditions''-complete with faux snow, faux penguins and genuine Arctic exploration vehicles. There are also countless classic cars looking for new homes. Of the vehicles aimed for auction, focus centered on a 1939 Auto Union Type D, the centerpiece of a Christie's auction that was pulled at the last minute (see sidebar).

Chief among the auctioned cars of local interest was a gently restored 1951 Talbot-Lago T26GC Barquette, a four-time Le Mans entry and the car Pierre Levegh nearly took to victory at the 1951 endurance classic. That car sold for $1,747,000.

Despite its 11th-hour vanishing act, the lure and mystique of the Auto Union did help increase Retromobile's prestige and presence. Crowds of French, English, German and ...