The 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante Coupe “Toit Ouvrant” Is Extremely Rare And Extremely Beautiful

When it goes up at auction on Labor Day weekend, this blue and black 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante Coupe will be of as much interest to art collectors as it is to car enthusiasts.

Previously featured at the famous Schlumberger Art Collection in Paris, it was deemed fit to sit in a museum by the man who bankrolled the restoration of the Palace at Versailles. This Bugatti‘s importance to fancy French folk, then, is second only to how it has captured the imagination of the automotive world.

Receiving perfect scores at the 2015 Amelia Island Concours and later awarded Best in Class at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, this Bugatti will make you the envy of every historic car expert on earth.

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Powered by a 3,257cc double-overhead-cam straight-eight engine, it has Stromberg twin-choke updraft carbs and a supercharger, which help it reach its peak power of 160 hp at 4,500 RPM. Thanks to its four-speed manual gearbox and its rear De Ram shock absorbers, it can get up to 120 mph, if you’re brave enough. That from a coupe that came out when most cars struggled to reach 50 mph surely makes this the hypercar of its day.

Its design, meanwhile, is as impressive. One of the finest Art Deco designs ever, this Type 57C’s coachwork is of significance to the entire design world, not just the automotive design world. Penned by Jean Bugatti, son of Ettore, the company’s founder, the Type 57 first hit the road in 1934. Just 710 were made. Few were Atalante Coupes. Fewer still featured the “Toit Ouvrant” (or rollback roof) seen here.

As rare as it is well-documented and universally adored, this Type 57C Atalante was restored after being imported to Texas in 2012 by its most recent owner. Carefully brought back to its initial glory by Bob Smith Coachworks, one of the finest in America, this Atalante is among the most historically and aesthetically revered cars on earth.

Being sold by Worldwide Auctioneers, online bidding is now open, with the sale set to end on Saturday, September 4 in Auburn, Indiana.