The advantage of this example is that it does not need to be repaired – the car is in good condition and does not require any repairs.

Ship of Theseus

This impressive 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante won its class at last year’s Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and will be auctioned by Gooding & Company at Monterey Car Week next month.

Company Bugatti produced only 42 Type 57S models Only 17 of these chassis received the Atalante body designed by Jean Bugatti and built in Molsheim between autumn 1936 and spring 1938. The name Atalante comes from the name of Atalanta, a huntress heroine of Arcadian Greek mythology who was equated with Artemis.

1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante / Photo: Bugatti

This particular Atalante is chassis number 57573 It is one of the last built – Completed in September 1937. After completion, it was exhibited at the Salon de l’Automobile in Paris and the Earls Court Motor Show in London and was sold to Bugatti collector K. Ian Craig, heir to a wealthy Irish family.

1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante / Photo: Bugatti

Craig repainted the Atalante in the black and white scheme he used on his other racing cars, including the Type 51, Type 54 and Type 59. Craig, along with his wife Marcel Moody, regularly drove the Atalante between the UK and St Moritz, Switzerland and even competed in the 1939 Lewis Speed ​​Race.

He later sold the car to another British Bugatti enthusiast, David L. Griffith-Hughes, who repainted the car two shades of grey and upgraded it to 57SC specification, installing a Roots supercharger originally fitted to Lord Rothschild’s Bugatti Atlantic, increasing the output of the straight-eight to 200 horsepower.

1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante / Photo: Bugatti

1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante / Photo: Bugatti

After several more owners, the Atalante found its way to the United States, where it was owned by Charles Glore of Chicago, who sent the car back to Bugatti for a full restoration. It was purchased in 1963 by car collector Vojta Mašek, and two years later sold to Dr. Peter Williamson, president of the Bugatti Club of America. In the late 1990s, the Atalante was restored again, and in 2006 it was sold to a British collector, who repainted it in black and white in honor of its original owner.

1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante / Photo: Bugatti

It was later purchased in 2013 by a private collector in Atalante, California, who sent the car to Sargent Metal Works in Vermont for an “extraordinary, cost-effective restoration” that “encompasses all cosmetic and mechanical aspects” to return the car to its original 1937 specification year, but with a modernized supercharger left intact. The restored car made its debut at the Pebble Beach Concours, where it finished first in its class, beating out two other Type 57Ss.

1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante interior / Photo: Bugatti

Still in a newly restored condition, with the same chassis, body and engine numbers, this vehicle is probably one of the finest examples of the Type 57 in the world. A luxury car with dark blue paint, well-marked chrome and a magnificent brown interior. The car featured a lowered “surbaissé” chassis, with the rear axle passing through the frame rather than under it, offering different proportions, a lower body and a shorter wheelbase.

Price

Gooding’s Auctions is offering this Atalante for auction for the first time, and the company has priced it From $9,000,000 to $11,000,000Two years ago, a similar car sold for 10 million, so it wouldn’t be surprising if this one costs a lot more.