.png)
If this was a fish story, you wouldn't believe it, but it is a car story, and it is quite a case!
In France, Niort, a huge collection of old, magnificent cars collected by father and son, Roger and Jacques Baillon was found rusting under tarps in an outdoor hangar on the lands of Château Gaillard, Baillons castle, after son Jacques died in 2014.
The father, Roger Baillon was born in 1914, and by the 1930s he was a self-taught, skilled mechanic, working in a Peugeot car factory.
After the war, Mr. Baillon acquired old army trucks, painted them red-and-white, and started a trucking company that was so successful that he had, at best, about 200 people employed.
Roger Baillon had a mechanic's and inventor's lust -- saving old, fancy cars from destruction. After the wars, people were happy to sell him their old cars made before the wars.
How did Baillon find the cars?
Well, red-white trucks of his transport company where cruising in France and elsewhere in Europe, and the drivers kept their eyes and ears open, and as soon as a strange car was found somewhere, they called Baillon in Niort, who immediately jumped behind the wheel to see a potential purchase. A long drive meant nothing, nor did the condition of the car. If the car was special, it was bought and put on the lands of Château Gaillard to await repairing. Roger Baillon's son Jacques had also been bitten by a collectioner's urge, and there were a couple of hundred cars in total!
Baillon's successful firm drifted into bankruptcy in 1978 after losing big orders. Some of the cars had been held as collateral, and thus an auction was held, selling dozens of cars. It helped cash reserves a little, but not enough. Another auction was held in 1985. But 59 cars were hidden away in a hangar-type, wall-free warehouse at Château Gaillard, and there they were left for 50 years. The cars were kept so secret that no one nearby knew about their existence. For example, grandchildren visiting the castle were never allowed to bring their friends to the castle, and the grandchildren themselves were not consecrated to the secret either.
When Roger's son Jacques died, the grandchildren began to look what they had inherited. They went to the hangar, lifted the tarps, and were to fall on their asses. Beautiful cars, one after the other, but in what condition! Rusted, the tires punctured, covered in dust and dirt. However, one of the grand children, realizing the value of these cars, invited a representative of a shop specializing in car auctions to the site, and he immediately estimated the value of the collection at 16 million euros!
The cars were taken to Paris for a fancy auction which took place on 6 February 2015. The price of the entire collection increased to 23 million euros! A Ferrari came up for sale in, previously owned by Alain Delon, one of France's most famous actors. The price of the car was estimated at around 14 million euros. (The villagers thought that one million would have been nice to have to develop the village..). Now all the cars have been sold and you can't see them anymore, but the castle itself can be seen from another castle, or actually from the castle ruins, Château Coudray-Salbart, where I take a guided tour in my package.
You can, although, search for pictures of these cars by typing the keywords Collection Baillon, especially if you speak French...
For trips to Niort and it's surroundings, contact me at leena.immonen@saaritours.fi. I'll guide you in English - let's meet at Paris airport and take the train together. Niort works perfect for really small groups - 4-6 people.
