Dr. Harold Carr died in England recently at the age of 89 . . . and left a stunning legacy. As the Daily Mail reports:
When eccentric doctor and compulsive hoarder Harold Carr died at the age of 89, his relatives faced a daunting task to sort through his possessions.
His home was packed with piles of medical machinery, 1,500 beer steins, thousands of receipts and even a World War Two spy drone.
But all the effort became worth it when they opened the door of his garage – and struck gold.
Inside they found a 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante, one of only 17 ever made.
The historic automobile with only 26,284 miles on the clock still has 99 per cent of its original parts.
It will be sold in Paris next month and is strongly tipped to surpass the £4.7 million (US $6.8 million) world record for a car at auction.
Auctioneers have put a reserve price of £3 million (US $4.34 million) on a two-seater described as one of the ‘ultimate road-going sports cars from the golden era of the 1930s’.
And despite the credit crunch it could fetch anything up to £6 million (US $8.69 million).
Fifteen of the 17 Type 57S Atalantes still exist. This particular model was originally owned by Earl Howe, a leading figure in the early days of British motor sport.
It has a 3.3-litre, eight-cylinder engine, four-speed manual gearbox, can reach 60 mph in ten seconds and has a top speed of 130 mph.
Dr Carr, an orthopaedic surgeon who served as an army doctor during World War Two and also became a keen flier, bought the vehicle in 1955 for £895 – the equivalent of £15,500 (US $22,447) today.
He drove it for a few years before leaving it in the garage near his home at Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne. The last tax disc expired in December 1960.
He never married and eight relatives are to share the proceeds of his estate.
. . .
James Knight, international head of the Bonhams motoring department, said Dr Carr’s Bugatti was ‘one of the last great barn discoveries’.
He added: ‘I have known of this Bugatti for a number of years and, like a select group of others, hadn’t dared divulge its whereabouts to anyone. It offers a truly rewarding project to the new owner – who will join a select list of distinguished owners – to play such an integral part in bringing this wonderful motor car back to life.’
The current auction record of £4.7 million (US $6.8 million) was paid in 1987 in London for another Bugatti, a 1931 Royale.
I’m trying hard not to drool on my keyboard at those pictures. When restored, this will be one of the great cars of history . . . and a very rare specimen indeed. I somehow doubt that the ‘credit crunch’ will have any effect on its value. When something this rare becomes available, those who have the money will be there. They know they’ll likely not get another opportunity like this during their lifetime!
Peter
Peter,
That estimate by whoever first threw out that number is wildly optimistic. Several type 57s Bugattis have sold recently. Most recently (last fall I think) a fully restored sister of this car went for just over 1.3 Million US. I understand that this car, while it has most of it’s original parts, has been restored at least once, and is need of more work. How they expect to get triple the going rate for a type 57 Bugatti is beyond me. Keep in mind that part of the value of this car is it’s rarity. Adding a ‘new’ one to the very small pool of available cars would dilute that value substantially.
BTW, Lot 221 RM Auctions type 57 660,000 pounds Oct 29th, 2008. London, England
Best regards,
PeterT
(this sounds just like the newspapers reporting the multi-million dollar drug busts!)
Part of the value of this car is that it doesn’t need to be ‘restored’, merely washed and waxed.
Original is always better.
That is one of the last great barn cars!
And we just thought the ’63 Vette in the barn was the prize!