Many important new cars and countless concepts are first revealed to the world at the Paris motor show - itself one of the most important shows on the automotive calendar
Established more than 100 years ago, the Paris motor show - or Mondial de L’Automobile - was the first-ever public gathering of vehicle manufacturers and their creations.
As interest in the automobile boomed, the Salon de l'Automobile (as it was named until 1988), gained notoriety and moved to a more fitting stage in 1901: the Grand Palais.
This palatial setting became the symbol of the Parisian show for 60 years, and new car unveilings were only interrupted by two world wars. One key French car helped the 1955 show break the one million visitors mark – Citroën’s DS 19.
The show moved to Porte de Versailles – now Paris Expo - in 1962 and rekindled the tradition of annual themes – 50 years of Grand Prix cars being a popular one. Many more notable models from the most famous manufacturers made their world entrance here; including the 1984 Ferrari Testarossa, a wild rally-inspired Peugeot Proxima concept, Alfa Romeo’s glorious 2006 8C road car and the Jaguar C-X75 future supercar of 2010.
Dany Bahar’s doomed plan to build six completely fresh Lotus models was also revealed at the Paris motor show in 2010 – complete with guest stars Mickey Rourke and Naomi Campbell.
The Paris motor show continues to showcase the best of the motoring industry in October every other year (when not in France the motor industry convenes in Frankfurt). This year's show, held last week, introduced significant new cars from Land Rover, Volkswagen, McLaren and Jaguar, and many others. View our gallery of some past Paris motor show gems.