Here's a look at a less-reported - though just as remarkable - highlight from Paris's Rétromobile event last week, sold alongside the ex-Roger Vadim $5.8m Ferrari 250 GT.
Also auctioned was the most powerful pre-1914 Delaunay-Belleville ever built. Collectors and experts today regard the 1913 Delaunay Belleville Type O6 8L as the "jewel in the crown" of the Delaunay Belleville marque.
Adding to the car's impressive pedigree was the fact it had been in the same family collection, owned by the Michelins, since it was brand new.
This car dates to nearly 10 years after Delaunay Belleville began manufacturing automobiles in 1904. Prior to this, the company was better known for supplying equipment to the French and foreign navies (including the Royal Navy).
 The most powerful pre-1914 Delaunay-Belleville classic car ever built |
Delaunay Belleville soon earned respect as a car maker - especially for its first vehicles to utilise four separate cylinders. The cars' quality of build was especially renowned, boasting superior steel, precise machining and hand-built construction.
The company progressed to six-cylinder engines in 1908. In early 1913, this Delaunay-Belleville Type O6 45/50 was produced. The car is equipped with the biggest engine ever offered to the public from the marque's Saint-Denis factory.
The classic car's six-cylinder 7990cc Type 36 engine was formed from two groups of three cylinders, sized 103 x 160mm each, built to produce 100 bhp at 1500rpm.
The Delaunay-Belleville Type O6 8L auctioned at Rétromobile appeared with a €400,000 lower presale estimate. It comfortably exceeded this to bring €471,760.
