Rediscovered £4 million car owned by Bucks aristocrat

5:32pm Wednesday 7th January 2009

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AN ANTIQUE car worth up to £4 million that sat gathering dust in a garage for almost 50 years was originally the property of a Bucks aristocrat.

The Bugatti Type 57S Atalante – one of the supercars of its day – was bought in 1937 by Francis Curzon, Earl Howe of Penn.

Earl Howe was a motorsports enthusiast, and the president of the British Racing Drivers' Club between 1929 and 1964.

He even won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 1931, having taken up racing at the age of 44 – relatively old for a successful driver.

Earl Howe kept the car for eight years. When it was sold it changed hands a number of times before being bought by Dr Harold Carr, a former army surgeon.

Dr Carr drove the vehicle for several years, before confining it in a lock-up garage in Newcastle, where it sat undiscovered until his death in 2007.

The car will be auctioned by Bonhams auctioneers in Paris on February 7.

James Knight, head of the Bonhams motoring department, said: “The Atalante is incredibly original and, although she requires restoration, it is restoration in the true sense of the word.

“From my perspective, save for some of the interior, all original parts can be restored or conserved in order to maintain originality.

“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.”

In its heyday the car – which was fitted with a supercharger some years after it was owned by Earl Howe - would have been capable of 130mph.

Only 17 were ever built.

Mr Knight said: “It has all the finest attributes any connoisseur collector could ever seek in one of the ultimate road-going sports cars from the golden era of the 1930s."