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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Bugatti Gains Highest Price Ever
Rare Atlantic coupe reportedly sold for as much as $40 million in private sale to California auto museum.
The 1936 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic sold by Gooding is shown receiving the top Best of Show award at the 2003 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. (Photo: Gooding & Company)
The highest price ever paid for an automobile was reached last week when a 1936 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic was sold for something approaching $40 million, according to unconfirmed reports.
The curvaceous Bugatti coupe, considered to be the epitome of French art deco styling, was sold by California auction house Gooding & Company, which served as broker for this private sale.
The Bugatti sale eclipses the highest price ever paid at auction for a car: $12.2 million for a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa sold a year ago in Maranello, Italy.
Although Gooding would not reveal details about the transaction, the buyer of the Bugatti was reported to be the Mullin Automotive Museum of Oxnard, Ca., according to a Wall Street Journal report. The museum, dedicated to French deco style, was recently opened by noted car collector Peter Mullin.
Just before its opening, the Mullin museum made headlines when it paid $365,000 for the corroded remains of a 1925 Bugatti Brescia that was under Lake Maggiore for more than 70 years.
“I am extremely pleased to have found the new buyer for the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, one of the world’s most significant and valuable automobiles that has been in a private collection and rarely seen during the past four decades,” said David Gooding, president and founder of Gooding & Company.
Private treaty sales by auction houses often take place behind the scenes, with neither the sales amounts nor the sellers or buyers ever being made public.
The Bugatti Atlantic, the first of three built, was owned by the late Dr. Peter D. Williamson, a New Hampshire neurologist, and was the centerpiece of his renowned Bugatti collection. In 2003, the Atlantic won the coveted Best in Show award at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Most of the Williamson Bugatti collection sold after his death for a collective $15.5 million at a 2008 Gooding Auction at Pebble Beach.
The Atlantic, designed by Jean Bugatti, the son of company founder Ettore Bugatti, is known for its distinctive riveted construction that forms a pronounced ridge down the centers of its roofline, hood and fenders. The design came from the Aerolithe Electron Coupe, a 1935 Paris Auto Salon show car, which was constructed of magnesium and could not be welded.
Although the three Atlantics were built from aluminum, the riveted look created so much attention at the Paris show that Bugatti decided to keep it as a design element.
Meanwhile, another landmark price was reached Tuesday for the highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction, when a 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso, called "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," sold for $106.5 million, including buyer's fee, at a New York event.
The curvaceous Bugatti coupe, considered to be the epitome of French art deco styling, was sold by California auction house Gooding & Company, which served as broker for this private sale.
The Bugatti sale eclipses the highest price ever paid at auction for a car: $12.2 million for a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa sold a year ago in Maranello, Italy.
Although Gooding would not reveal details about the transaction, the buyer of the Bugatti was reported to be the Mullin Automotive Museum of Oxnard, Ca., according to a Wall Street Journal report. The museum, dedicated to French deco style, was recently opened by noted car collector Peter Mullin.
Just before its opening, the Mullin museum made headlines when it paid $365,000 for the corroded remains of a 1925 Bugatti Brescia that was under Lake Maggiore for more than 70 years.
“I am extremely pleased to have found the new buyer for the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, one of the world’s most significant and valuable automobiles that has been in a private collection and rarely seen during the past four decades,” said David Gooding, president and founder of Gooding & Company.
Private treaty sales by auction houses often take place behind the scenes, with neither the sales amounts nor the sellers or buyers ever being made public.
The Bugatti Atlantic, the first of three built, was owned by the late Dr. Peter D. Williamson, a New Hampshire neurologist, and was the centerpiece of his renowned Bugatti collection. In 2003, the Atlantic won the coveted Best in Show award at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Most of the Williamson Bugatti collection sold after his death for a collective $15.5 million at a 2008 Gooding Auction at Pebble Beach.
The Atlantic, designed by Jean Bugatti, the son of company founder Ettore Bugatti, is known for its distinctive riveted construction that forms a pronounced ridge down the centers of its roofline, hood and fenders. The design came from the Aerolithe Electron Coupe, a 1935 Paris Auto Salon show car, which was constructed of magnesium and could not be welded.
Although the three Atlantics were built from aluminum, the riveted look created so much attention at the Paris show that Bugatti decided to keep it as a design element.
Meanwhile, another landmark price was reached Tuesday for the highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction, when a 1932 painting by Pablo Picasso, called "Nude, Green Leaves and Bust," sold for $106.5 million, including buyer's fee, at a New York event.
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