Rare dust-covered Bugatti discovered in barn after 50 years
05 Jan 2009
London: In what is being hailed as one of the greatest "barn finds", a rare Bugatti motor car that lay parked in a garage covered under 50 years of dust, is expected to be valued at millions of pounds when auctioned next month.
Having clocked just 26,284 miles on its odometer, the 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante was parked in in the barn in Newcastle, northeast England, by surgeon-owner Harold Carr in 1960. Just 17 of the cars were made, and this particular one stood untouched for most of its 50 years.
Reports said that its existence was known only to a handful of car enthusiasts till former army surgeon Carr passed away in 2007, aged 89. He bequeathed the contents of a lock-up garage to his family when he died. Media reports pegged the value of the find at around £six million ($8.7 million).
The car is scheduled for auction at Bonhams' Retromobile sale in Paris on 7 February and if it were to attain the estimated price, it would be one of the most valuable cars to go under the hammer.
In a statement, James Knight, head of Bonhams' motoring department said that he had known of this Bugatti for "a number of years and, like a select group of others, hadn't dared divulge its whereabouts to anyone". He called it "absolutely one of the last great-barn discoveries", while reports said that the find was the equivalent of finding an old Picasso or an unknown Beatles tape hidden away in the attic.
The car was originally owned Earl Howe, the first president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, who took delivery of the black two-seat Atalante and kept it for eight years. After he sold it, the car changed hands a few times before Dr Carr bought the car in 1955 from Lord Ridley, a member of the Northumberland gentry. He drove it for the first few years, and parked it in the garage in 1960 where it remained until his death.
Other than the Bugatti, Carr's nephew also found a classic Aston Martin and a Jaguar E-type in the lock-up. The Aston Martin was reportedly sold, and the Jaguar scrapped since it was in such poor condition.