A classic car is sold

In early January I wrote about the discovery of an extremely rare Bugatti car in England.

Today comes the news that it's been sold . . . not for as much as the heirs hoped, but still a sizeable sum.

A car abandoned in a garage for 50 years by an eccentric doctor who was a compulsive hoarder has been sold at auction for more than £3 million.




The 1937 Bugatti Type 57S was found at the home of Dr Harold Carr amid piles of medical machinery, 1,500 beer steins, thousands of receipts and even a World War Two spy drone.

His family made the profitable discovery as they sorted through his possessions following his death.

The vehicle was bought by a telephone bidder when it went under the hammer at Bonhams' Retromobile car show and sale in Paris for £3,043,293 [about US $4.5 million].




The car was originally owned by racing enthusiast Earl Howe, who was the first president of the British Racing Driver's Club.

He took delivery of the sporty two-seat Atalante after it was completed in 1937 and kept it for eight years.

After Earl Howe sold it, it changed hands a couple of time before Dr Carr bought the car in 1955 from Lord Ridley, a member of the Northumberland gentry.

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 [US $1,324] - the equivalent of £15,500 [US $22,940] today.




He drove the car for the first few years but in the early 1960s it was parked in his garage where it remained for nearly 50 years until his death.

What a beauty! I hope someone will publish pictures, and maybe a video clip, once it's been fully restored. It's one of only 17 of its kind in the world.

Peter