Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic replica: as close as you'll get to the real thing
This near-as-damn-it Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic is one of many cars to be ‘offloaded’ by a kitchen cabinet millionaire. Simon de Burton lifts the lid
With its ‘new old’ mechanics, this Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic could be described as a continuation
Daren Schnabel/RM Sotheby's
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Followers of the classic car auction scene might recall 2007’s £7m sale of 60 cars owned by Gene Ponder, a Texan enthusiast who made his fortune as a manufacturer of kitchen cabinets. He offloaded the collection as part of a ‘life re-evaluation’ exercise after his wife overcame cancer.
No sooner had the last vehicles been transported to their new owners than Ponder set out on another buying spree, amassing an even more remarkable inventory of more than 140 cars, motorcycles and boats, and 1200 items of automobilia.
Ponder keeps the hoard at his estate in Marshall, Texas, where it is spread among a string of pristine motorhouses in the grounds – but now he’s having another clear out.
The only way to appreciate the full scope of the auction is to check out the catalogue – but one car that really stands out is this replica of a Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic. Bugatti fans will know that three of these spectacular, aircraft-inspired coupés survive, with the most famous being the multiple concours-winning example owned by fashion mogul Ralph Lauren.
RM Sotheby’s estimates the value of each of the three at around £33m, but the likelihood of any of them being offered for sale in the near future is slim. The next best thing, then, is Ponder’s meticulously crafted replica that began life in 1936 as a genuine Type 57 with Gangloff saloon bodywork.
Handmade aluminium body
Daren Schnabel/RM Sotheby’s
Crocodile pattern seats
Daren Schnabel/RM Sotheby’s
3.3-litre straight-eight engine
Daren Schnabel/RM Sotheby’s
It remained in that configuration until 1986 when it was acquired in usable but scruffy condition by a French enthusiast who subsequently handed it to Swiss Bugatti expert and engineering genius Erik Koux to transform it into the car shown here. Featuring a hand-made aluminium body, 3.3-litre, twin-cam straight-eight engine and four-speed gearbox, the components of the car are so precisely made that it could fairly be called a continuation.
Finished in an elegant dark blue and with blue and cream ‘crocodile pattern’ upholstery, it certainly looks ‘a million dollars’ but, as with the other lots in the Ponder collection, it is being offered for sale at no reserve.
Whoever buys it should feel no shame in the fact that it is ‘just’ a replica – not least since other examples of Koux’s incredible work are owned by some of the world’s top collectors.
Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic recreation
On sale with RM Sotheby’s, Marshall, Texas, September 22