Most expensive car yet displayed
2010-08-10 09:02
If you thought a Bugatti Veyron was expensive and exclusive, well…
The Mullin automotive museum has put the world’s most expensive car on public display.
One of only two surviving 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic models, owned by the late Dr. Peter Williamson, went on display at the Mullin’s institution last week.
The only other Type 57SC Atlantic in existence is owned by fashion designer and Porsche collector Ralph Lauren and is finished in black
An anonymous buyer bought the Type 57 on display from Williamson’s estate for between $30-40m in May - making it the most expensive automobile purchase of all time.
Styled by Ettore Bugatti son, Jean, the Type 57 Atlantic is an elaborate blend of aeronautic architecture and classic 1930s tear-drop curvature.
Power is courtesy of an elegant 3.3l in-line eight producing 156kW. Performance is entirely respectable too, thanks to the Type 57’s aluminium surfacing and wood/steel hybrid chassis tallying a kerb weight of only 953kg.
The 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic on display at the Mullin museum is one of only three ever made and was first purchased by Lord Victor Rothschild of London.
In 1939, it was returned to the Molsheim factory for a retrofitted supercharger.
Due to its rarity and value the Type 57’s new owner has only released it for a limited stay at the Mullin’s museum.
If you would like to see the most expensive car (which also happens to be one of the most beautiful), a pilgrimage to the Mullin’s museum in Oxnard, California, should be on your petrolhead to-do list.
