Bugatti Barn Story Part 2: Sold! $4,408,575!

Filed in archive Auctions , French Cars , Rare Europeans on February 9, 2009

In a January ClassicalDrives blog I related the tale the tale of a 1937 Type 57S Atalante that the nephews and nieces of Dr. Harold Carr discovered when they opened the doors of an old garage left to them by their uncle. It contained a small but spectacular collection of dust-covered classic cars, including a 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante, one of just seventeen still existing. That Bugatti, cleaned up but unrestored and with an odometer reading of just 26,284 miles, has been sold at the Bonhams Retromobile auction in Paris for $4,408,575 (3,417,500 Euros). Presumably the nieces and nephews divided the proceeds with a minimum of family disagreement.

The rare Bugatti was originally owned by Earl Howe, first president of the British Racing Drivers' Club and a renowned competitor, who kept the car for eight years. It changed hands a couple of times before Dr Carr bought the car in 1955 from Lord Ridley, a member of the Northumberland gentry. The reclusive Dr Carr drove it until 1960 when he parked it, turned off the exquisite 8-cylinder inline engine and locked the garage doors, where the Bugatti remained untouched for half a century.

Bonham's ad writers suggested that "the new owner will have the pleasure of firing up the engine and hearing the turbine-like sound that so excited Earl Howe when he collected this car from Sorel in 1937." Indeed! No idea who the new owner is but I can't help wondering what I'd have done with the car if it had been left to me. Give it a shine and polish, assure the mechanicals are working properly, drive it in classic revivals, show it at leading concours? Or do as Dr. Carr's relatives did and go to auction? Lacking the resources to follow through with the former, I'd probably choose the latter. With that money one could buy a collection of lesser classics and still have a small fortune remaining. Such fantasies are what dreams are made of.

Simply by clicking on this BBC link you can see the car as it was auctioned at the Retromobile auction, and read the story. Thanks to friends Colin Hefferon and Nigel Matthews for altering me to the auction results.