[Brookside]

Underneath the Dirt an Automotive Treasure
Rare 1938 Bugatti Atalante Coupe found in NYC Garage



[This 1938 Bugatti Atalante, parked by John W. Straus in 1962, will be auctioned by Christie’s on June 3 at the Greenwich Concours d’Élégance.


Estimated sale price placed at $300-400,000....as is.



The Atalante will be auctioned on June 3 by Christie’s at the Greenwich Concours d’Élégance, at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park in Greenwich, Conn.
Christie’s estimates that the car will sell for $300,000 to $400,000.


AMONG serious collectors, there are few mysteries; with only occasional exceptions, cars of particular significance have all been deeply researched and their histories well-documented.
A Duesenberg or Ferrari expert knows when an important example will be coming to auction and can typically recite its ownership history in numbing detail,
referring to the car not by something as vague as a model name but by its exact chassis number.

That is why the grapevine of the collector market buzzes when a rare car re-emerges after being out of sight for many years.
Such is the case — and the source of anticipation — surrounding the French grand touring car from 1938, a Bugatti Type 57C Atalante coupé.
One of about 40 built, the Atalante is the last design of a talented young man before his early death, and one of the most daring shapes of its time.



This Bugatti Type 57C Atalante coupé has not moved from its garage space in a New York City suburb since 1962.

Adding to its mystique, the car, owned by a member of one of New York’s most prominent families, had not seen the light of day since 1962, when it was last registered for the road.
The Atalante has not moved from its garage space — it is now sandwiched between a old Farmall tractor and a 1949 Jaguar Mark V sedan — in a New York City suburb since then.
It will be auctioned on June 3 by Christie’s at the Greenwich Concours d’Élégance, at Roger Sherman Baldwin Park in Greenwich, Conn. Christie’s estimates that the car will sell for $300,000 to $400,000.

While noncollectors might be shocked by that price for a car in this state of neglect, its as-found condition adds charm for many would-be Bugatti owners.
Many vintage cars, even from the grandest marques, have suffered untold indignities, but this Atalante is remarkably original — with little more than small repairs at the rear and the addition of bumpers —
and it has never sustained the harm of a botched restoration.



Of the 710 Type 57s built, about 40 carried the sleek two-door coupé body named Atalante, after the quick-footed young woman of Greek mythology who would not marry any man who could not outrun her.


Its value is related to Bugatti’s status as one of the most revered names in automotive history, memorable enough for the Volkswagen Group to revive the brand in recent years for a series of ultraexpensive sports cars.

The founder of the company, Ettore Bugatti, built his first car in 1899 and gave them his name in 1910, when he established his company in the Alsace region, then under German control. Bugatti soon became known for superbly engineered racecars, one of which won the first Monaco Grand Prix in 1929. To finance the racing, the company built powerful cars for wealthy enthusiasts, a business model later adopted by Enzo Ferrari.

Ettore’s son, Jean, grew up in the business and established himself as an imaginative and talented automotive engineer and designer. Jean, who died in 1939 while testing a racecar, designed the bodies for the Type 57 models.

Of the 710 Type 57s built, about 40 carried the sleek two-door coupé body named Atalante, after the quick-footed young woman of Greek mythology who would not marry any man who could not outrun her.

The owner of this particular Bugatti is John Wendell Straus. Mr. Straus, 87, is a grandson of Isador Straus, who built R.H. Macy & Co. into a retail giant and who, with his wife, Ida, was among those lost on the Titanic in 1912.

Quite a story and heritage, yes?


All photos by Chip Riegel/Text NYT

[BForbes]

Awesome story. Thats crazy how that car hasnt seen the light of day since 1962. I mean under whose custody was this thing and why wasnt it stolen...yikes. I dont think I could ever let a car rot like that. But, with Bugatti's prestige and reputation right now that thing can easily sell for 400k.

By the way, I wonder what Brooksides LUCKY #500 is going to be on.

[kway]

Funny, my wife and I were fortunate enough to have attended the Christie's auction on sunday, and this Bugatti was my primary interest (I absolutely LOVE barn finds). The pre-auction estimate was blown out of the water early on, and continued to a final sale price of $775,000! The sale of this car alone made the trip down to Greenwich worthwhile. The electricity under that tent was amazing! Ultimately, it came down to a telephone bidder against a gentleman conveniently standing immediately behind us. The phone bidder ended up the victor; it would have been nice to have kept it in the room, but oh well. So if the new owner goes the concours restoration route, let's figure on 6000 hours at $100.00 per. That along with some incidentals should put the total right around $1.4 million when all is said and done, right? Anyhoo, here are some more pics I took, I have a bunch more from the rest of the Concours if anyone would like me to post them in another thread.




Funny, I was so enamored with the Atalante, it completely slipped my mind to get any pics of Steve McQueen's Ferrari 250GT Lusso parked right next to it. You can see the banner promoting it's upcoming auction in this shot.




The auctioneer at work (sorry so fuzzy, I was zoomed way in)

Contemplating a bid, his final was $760k. I think he was correct in letting it go at that, the war was starting to get a bit out of hand. Dunno who was on the other end of that phone, but they obviously had no intention of letting this one get away.

[Brookside]

Great post.
unbelievable the prices for everything that's old and rare- but what a beautiful car...your pics show that they didn't even dust it off before the auction. Original shape, incl. dirt.:biggrin:

[bruiserk18]

For those interested the winning bid for the 1938 Bugatti Coupe was $852,500! Again, what a great story!

[kway]

Originally Posted by bruiserk18

For those interested the winning bid for the 1938 Bugatti Coupe was $852,500! Again, what a great story!

That's probably including "buyer's premium" and whatever other fees they tack on there. The actual bid amount was $775,000.

[bruiserk18]

Originally Posted by kway

That's probably including "buyer's premium" and whatever other fees they tack on there. The actual bid amount was $775,000.

Good point kway. The number I listed was from Christie's site, which probably had those values added in.

[Brookside]

Rothko Painting sells for
$72.8 Million.



Just to try and put the Bugatti's sale into perspective, less than a month ago two paintings shattered the old record price for post-war (WW2) art.
"Shattered" is an understatement with the sale of Mark Rothko's painting, "White Center" that more than doubled the old record held by a painting by Willem DeKooning.

The record price for postwar art was broken twice at a Sotheby’s auction in New York City on Tuesday, May 14th, first with a Francis Bacon work and later with a Mark Rothko painting, which went for almost $73 million, the auction house said.

The 1950 Rothko painting, “White Center (Yellow, Pink and Lavender on Rose),” of blocks of color, sold for $72.8 million to an anonymous bidder, Sotheby’s said. "White Center" is regarded as a particularly important example of Rothko's regimented pools of saturated color.

Earlier in the evening, a 1962 Bacon painting of a pope, “Study from Innocent X,” sold to an anonymous bidder for $52.6 million.

[kamikaze2b]

Great story, and pics. Thanks for sharing.