Just got a call from "The Brigadier," my London pal and resident U.K. antiques expert, and he says the automotive world is buzzing with news about that Bugatti they just found - and sold - for a record number this week.
Dr. Harold Carr died childless in 2007 at the age of 89 and no one knew what he had stored away in his dusty garage. Estate agents found a 1937 Bugatti 57S Atalante, one of 17 in existence, along with the rat and bat droppings and, as soon as word got out, the antique car dealers started lining up.
The Bugatti, a black two-seater, was delivered to Earl Howe, the first president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club and a winner of the 24 Hour Le Mans race, soon after it was completed on May 5, 1937. He kept the car for eight years, adding personal touches including a luggage rack, after which it changed hands a couple of times before Dr. Carr bought it from Lord Ridley, a member of the Northumberland gentry, in 1955.
He drove the car for a few years, but he parked it in the 60s. The Brigadier says it has exceptional originality, retaining original chassis, engine and drivetrain. Even the odometer gives a mileage of only 26,284, although the vehicle is almost 72 years old.
"It's an amazing piece of machinery," The General says. "When it was built most cars were doing only 50 mph or so - with tailwind. This beauty could do 120."
It could also do a million, $4.4 million to be precise, when the car went on the block at Bonhams Friday.
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