Rétromobile revisits some of the icons of car design, along with their modern descendants

Today marks the final day of Rétromobile Paris 2025. Held over five days at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Rétromobile has been running since 1976 and not only kicks off the global season of classic car shows, concours events and auctions, but is a markedly more demographic and traditional affair than high-rolling, owner-focused events like Monterey Car Week and the Villa d’Este Concorso d’Eleganza.

In these days of retro design and freighted references between heritage and modernity, Rétromobile serves as a fine opportunity to revel in history whilst also pointing to the future. Hence there were several manufacturers with displays that bridged the gap between old and new. Read on to find our six favourite debuts and displays.

Bentley Speed Six Continuation and Continental GTC

Bentley used the event to showcase the next stage of its Continuation series. Following twelve hand-crafted Bentley 4½ Litre Supercharged ‘Blower’ Continuation models, the next model to receive the treatment is this, the Speed Six. Between 1928 and 1930, 182 examples of this racing car were built and in 1929 and 1930, the model won the Le Mans 24 Hour race outright.

It’ll take ten months to build each Continuation version, with Bentley drawing on a Speed Six from its own collection, GU409, together with ‘Old Number 3’, a works Speed Six driven in the 1930 Le Mans.

Alongside this blast from the past will be the debut of the Continental GTC Speed equipped with the latest 782 PS ‘Ultra Performance Hybrid’ powertrain. Offering over 50 miles of pure electric range, the Speed is the most formidable model in the Continental line-up, building on the precision and power of the ‘standard’ car, which we sampled last June.

BentleyMotors.com, @BentleyMotors

AGTZ Twin Tail

This time last year we reported on the arrival of the AGTZ Twin Tail by La Squadra and Zagato, a coachbuilt edition of 19 cars developed by Zagato and La Squadra. Paying homage to the 60s-era Alpine A220 racing car, the Twin Tail is based on Alpine’s soon-to-be-replaced sporting flagship, the amazing A110.

The two companies chose this year’s Rétromobile as the place to reveal the first customer car to be delivered. Happily for history, the owner of Commission #3 has embraced the retro spirit of the project, specifying a custom colour scheme based on the 1969 Le Mans Race livery and unique wheels.

AGTZTwintail.com, @agtztwintail

Zagato.it, @zagato1919

LaSquadra.pl, @lasquadra__

DS Automobiles / 70 years of the DS

DS Automobiles is making a big play for the luxury market from now onwards, pushing the younger sibling of Citroën up into the automotive stratosphere where it hopes to compete with the likes of Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar and even more elevated names. This year we’ll see the arrival of the new DS No.8 and there’s a strong possibility of more to come.

The halls of Rétromobile 2025 played host to a big display marking the 70th anniversary of the debut of the original DS, 1955’s magnificent and modernist Citroën saloon. As part of their stand, DS Automobiles recreated one of the car’s most notable moments, when it was displayed on a quartet of balloons as a way to highlight the legendary hydropneumatic ride quality.

This gimmick, created in 1959 by Citroën’s advertising director Claude Puech, made a welcome return. The DS 19 ‘balloon car’ was shown alongside an original 1969 DS 21 Pallas as well as the forthcoming DS Automobiles N°8.

DSAutomobiles.co.uk, @DS_Automobiles

Renault Filante Record 2025

Renault also paid homage to the past via a future-facing machine. Alongside immaculate examples of the original Renault 4 and Renault 5 – both arriving in modern-day EV form this year – the company showcased the Renault Filante Record 2025, a demonstrator and cheerleader for ultimate electric efficiency and range.

The Filante is long and slim, with a regular production 87 kWh battery at its heart. Everything else is very non-standard, for this ‘laboratory on wheels’ seats just one and weighs 1,000kg. It’s also a mighty 5.12m long in order to increase its aerodynamic abilities.

The car’s precursors were the Bluebird-esque Étoile Filante (the name means ‘Shooting Star’) from 1945 and the 1925 40 CV “des Records”, a record-breaking endurance racer. This year, the new Filante Record 2025 will be out and about trying to push the envelope of EV efficiency.

Renault.co.uk, @Renault_France

Type 59 Bugatti Monograph

Also making its debut at the Rétromobile was this bespoke new book from German-based 110% Publishing. Laid out by Tales of Tomorrow Studio, with industrial design by Marc Newson, the Type 59 book is a thorough, forensic and undeniably elegant set of three volumes dedicated to one of the most iconic of all racing cars, the 1930s Bugatti Type 59.

Over 920 pages, the three books feature illustration and photography charting the design, development, racing pedigree and subsequent history of this fabled car. Just seven were built in racing spec, including four belonging to Bugatti’s own works team.

Written by Bugatti historian Julius Kruta, the book comes in three different editions with five colour combinations, as well as a bespoke aluminium slipcase and stand. It’s these latter two objects that have been shaped by Newson, a long-time car aficionado who also happens to own of one of the remaining Type 59s.

Inspired by the structural frame of the car itself, the entire package is elevated to the status of art: the Type 59 endures for its elegance and mechanical precision, which were rather more successful than its race record. As Kruta told Classic Driver at an early point in the project’s genesis, ‘It has to be to the book world what the Type 59 is to the Grand Prix world. It will be beautiful and useless, something that nobody can say does not touch them.’

@TalesofTomorrow.Studio, @MarcNewsonOfficial

Touring Superleggera Veloce12

Touring Superleggera showed off a freshly finished version of their Veloce12, launched last summer as a radical reinvention of the elegant Ferrari 550 Maranello. The new car is resplendent in Azzurro Cielo, a blue livery that harks back to Touring’s long history of coachbuilding and which takes around 600 hours of work to apply.

TouringSuperleggera.eu, @TouringSuperleggera