Stunning 1938 Bugatti that once formed part of the collection of the heir to Macy’s to be auctioned with a guide of £1.4 to £1.6 million
A 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante owned for the majority of its life by John Wendell Straus (1920 – 2008), the heir to Macy’s department store fortune, is undoubtedly one of the star lots at RM Sotheby’s Driven by Disruption sale on 10th December in New York.
Owned by Straus – whose grandparents founded the department store chain before perishing on the Titanic in 1912 – from the early 1950s after he saw it on offer at Zumbach Motors on West 54th Street in New York, the Bugatti was put into storage in 1962 and remained there, covered in dust, until the mid-2000s. Auctioned as a “barn find” and in largely original condition with a guide of £198,000 to £263,000 ($300,000 to $400,000, €280,000 to €373,000) by Christie’s in 2007, the car has now been completely restored and is now on offer for a staggering £1.4 million to £1.6 million ($2.2 million to $2.5 million, €2.1 million to €2.3 million).
Described as being of French Art Moderne in terms of its design style and being the personification of “the country of France on wheels: bright, modern, spectacular and proud”, this particular Bugatti was exhibited at the 1939 New York World’s Fair and has won awards at Pebble Beach, the Saratoga Invitational and the Lake Mirror Classic since being restored.
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