The European season has a different shape from the American one. There is no single week where everything happens at once. Instead the calendar moves through the winter one city at a time, and the auction houses follow it. For a buyer, that spreads the opportunities out. For a writer, it means a lot of trains.
September: Goodwood Revival
The Revival is a race meeting first and a show second, which is why it works. Cars that sold at Monterey a month earlier turn up here being driven hard by people in period overalls. Bonhams runs its Revival sale on the grounds, and it is the one auction of the season where you can watch a lot compete before you bid on it. RM Sotheby's opens its European autumn in Zurich on September 26.
October: Belgium, then London
The Zoute Grand Prix in Knokke-Heist, October 7 to 11, is the closest thing Europe has to The Quail: a concours on the seafront, a rally through Flanders, and Broad Arrow selling under its own tent. It is small, expensive and well run. RM Sotheby's London sale follows on October 31, and Auto e Moto d'Epoca in Bologna, October 22 to 25, is the Italian dealer show where Alfa, Lancia and Fiat inventory surfaces that never makes it to an auction catalogue.
November: Munich, Lyon, Birmingham
RM Sotheby's closes its European year in Munich on November 20. Epoqu'Auto in Lyon is the French equivalent of Bologna: regional, dealer-driven, and the place to find a Citroën or a Facel Vega with a provenance file thicker than the car is long. The NEC Classic Motor Show in Birmingham is the UK's club show, less about buying and more about seeing what 300 owners' clubs have kept alive.
January: Maastricht
InterClassics Maastricht opens the new year. It is a dealer show with an unusually high average lot, and it sits three weeks before Paris, which makes it the last chance to see European inventory before Rétromobile prices are set.
February: Rétromobile
Rétromobile 2027 runs February 3 to 7 at Porte de Versailles, with a preview evening on February 2. It is the anchor of the European season: manufacturer heritage stands, club displays, restoration workshops and the artisans who make the parts that no longer exist. Artcurial holds its flagship sale during the show, and RM Sotheby's and Bonhams have both sold in Paris the same week in recent years. If Monterey is where the American market prices itself for the year, Paris is where the European one does.
The calendar
| When | Event | Where | Auction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-September | Goodwood Revival | Chichester, UK | Bonhams |
| September 26 | RM Sotheby's Zurich | Zurich | RM Sotheby's |
| October 7 to 11 | Zoute Grand Prix | Knokke-Heist, Belgium | Broad Arrow |
| October 22 to 25 | Auto e Moto d'Epoca | Bologna | Dealer show |
| October 31 | RM Sotheby's London | London | RM Sotheby's |
| November | Epoqu'Auto | Lyon | Dealer show |
| November | NEC Classic Motor Show | Birmingham | Club show |
| November 20 | RM Sotheby's Munich | Munich | RM Sotheby's |
| January | InterClassics | Maastricht | Dealer show |
| February 3 to 7, 2027 | Rétromobile | Paris, Porte de Versailles | Artcurial, with RM Sotheby's and Bonhams in town |
Why it matters to an American buyer
Cars built in 2001 became eligible for import into the United States under the 25-year rule this year, which puts the E46 M3, the 996 Turbo, the Ferrari 550 Maranello, the Mercedes C32 AMG and the Series 1 Lotus Elise on the table for the first time. All of them are cheaper and more plentiful on this side of the Atlantic, and all of them will be on dealer stands between Bologna and Paris. Add the duty, currently around 12.5 percent on an EU classic and around 10 percent on a UK one, and the winter calendar starts to look like a shopping list.
Dates are as published by the organisers at the time of writing. Confirm before booking travel; the season has a habit of moving by a week.