The relatives of Dr. Harold Carr had no idea what was in store for them when they were gifted an old house  with a garage filled with old cars. They soon found out that it was the home of a fleet of classic cars such as a Jaguar E-Type, an Aston Martin, and the Bugatti Type 57S Atalante. All of these cars should fetch a hefty sum for the family when they are sold at auction but the Bugatti is the one that probably be entering the recordbooks for the most expensive car ever sold, toppling the Bugatti Type 41 “Royale” which was sold at auction for £5.5 million according to Forbes magazine.

Dr. Carr had a passion for his work as an orthopedic surgeon as well as a love for cars that started from a very young age; he obtained the Bugatti over sixty years ago for only £895.  Towards the end of his 89 year life he started becoming somewhat of a recluse, keeping mostly to himself inside his property. The fantastic condition that the cars are in (although it has not been registered for the road for 50 years) can be thanks to his careful selectiveness of who he let enter his house and his refusal to sell the car even after many offers were forced upon him.

This Bugatti Type 57s was one of the original supercars and this particular configuration is only one of 17 ever made.  It’s powered by a 3.3 liter inline eight engine that is rated at 135 horsepower (that’s why it has such a long front end!). With this motor powering a body of approximately 2100 lbs, this big coupe can reach a top speed of 130 MPH; while a Toyota Camry might give it a run for its money on today’s roads, remember that the average top speed during the time was aruond 50 MPH. Knowing that bit of information helps put the power of this Bugatti’s power into perspective.

It’s being prepared for the Bonhams Retromobile auction in February as we speak, where it will have a reserve price of £3 million and an estimated sell point of around £6 million. Should be interesting to see how much a modern day Bugatti Veyron or a McLaren F1 will fetch at auction many years down the line and will we end up considering them as having tame top speeds when family cars are easily capable at cruising over 200 MPH?