Nearly 50 Years Surgeons In UK Park Rare Bugatti Cars

Bugatti Type 57S Atalante Coupe - Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - On January 2, 2009, British media reported a rare 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante Coupe found in the garage of a British doctor. A month later, on February 7, the car was sold at a Paris auction for about $ 4.4 million.

Quoting History, Saturday, January 2, this black two-seater car is one of 17 Atalante Coupes 57S cars ever made by Bugatti.

This car has been owned by a British orthopedic surgeon named Harold Carr since 1955. Carr bought this car from Earl Howe, a famous car racer from England.

Carr, who died in 2007, parked this rare sports vehicle in his garage since the early 1960s and hasn't driven it in five decades. The car was made in May 1937.

Because the original equipment is still intact, this rare car can be restored without relying on replacement parts. This rare car is even more valuable because its first owner, Earl Howe, is also the first president of the British Drivers Club and the winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

"It has all the best attributes any expert collector could look for in one of the finest street sports cars of the golden era of the 1930s," said James Knight, head of the international automotive department at Bonhams.

Knight and a small number of Bugatti fans know about Carr's most proud possession, but not the eight relatives who inherited Carr's legacy.

The orthopedic surgeon, who died at the age of 89, was described by relatives as an eccentric hoarder who never threw away anything. He also left behind an Aston Martin which had been sold and a Jaguar sports car that had been dismantled due to its poor condition.

When built, the 57S Atalante Coupe was capable of reaching speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour at a time when the average car couldn't go more than 50 miles per hour. The car is also notable for its low frame and V-shaped radiator. At the time of the auction, the Carr car was said to be in good condition and had an odometer of 26,284 miles.

The Bugatti car company was founded in 1909 by Italian born Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947) (1881-1947) in Molsheim, France. Bugatti is known for producing expensive and cutting-edge sports and racing cars. From its founding into the 1940s, the company made fewer than 8,000 cars.

After Ettore Bugatti's death in 1947, the company suffered setbacks and changed hands several times. In 1998, Volkswagen bought the rights to make the car under the Bugatti name. In 2009, the company introduced the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, a convertible sports car capable of traveling at a speed of around 253 miles per hour and priced at over US $ 2 million. The Veyron can reach 60 mph in less than 2.5 seconds.