Close your eyes and imagine opening a deserted garage door, only to find a forgotten four-wheeled treasure sitting there in perfect condition. What would it be? We have a feeling we'll get all sorts of answers in the comments section, but for many enthusiasts, the answer would be, without hesitation, the Bugatti Type 57S Atalante. And that's exactly what the children of the late (and appropriately named) Dr. Harold Carr found in their father's garage.

The Atalante is among the most beautiful, the most coveted and the most iconic of Bugattis ever produced. Not to be confused with the even rarer Atlantic, of which only two of the original three remain in existence, the 57S Atalante was made in a limited run of 17 examples, and a quarter of them are housed in a museum in rural France. This one went missing half a century ago, only now to be found again. It was originally owned by Earl Howe, first president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, and changed hands several times before the reclusive Dr. Carr mothballed it. Estimated values for the car are all over the map, with values as high as £6 million (about $8.8M USD) being discussed. Naturally, as rare as it is for a classic like this to change hands, its real value will be determined by how much a well-heeled collector is willing to pay for it when it rolls onto the block in February at Bonhams' "Retromobile" auction in Paris. Follow the jump for all the details.


[Source: UK Telegraph; Bonhams]

Click image for photo gallery of the Bugatti in Greenwich

Don't go quoting us on this, but this has got to be one of the most expensive barn finds we've ever seen. Christie's sold this 1938 Bugatti for a staggering $852,500 at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance earlier this summer, more than twice the highest pre-sale estimate and close to the price of a new Bugatti.

The car was admitted to the Pebble Beach preservation class, and when its new owner gets it up to spec, it'll undoubtedly be the beauty it once was. The 1938 Type 57C you see here is actually a bit of an amalgamation of two Bugattis that were both owned by the same pre-war collector. The chassis itself belonged to a Type 57 Stelvio cabriolet with bodywork by Gangloff, a coachbuilder based in Colmar near the Bugatti factory in Molsheim in the French region of Alsace. In time for display at the French pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair in New York, the body was switched for that of the Type 57C Atalante (not to be confused with the more rare and iconic Atlantic).

Now of course there's value in classics, but as far as vintage motorcarriages go, this one's in pretty bad shape. Having sat in storage since 1962, the paint is chipped and faded, the chrome is rusty, the tires are history, the engine's grimy and the leather is worn out. A handyman's dream, let's call it. An $850k handyman's dream.

[Source: AutoWeek, Photos: Alex Nunez]