Artcurial organizes auction of vintage cars at Retromobile, Paris

January 15, 2011 Mademoiselle VIP

For collectors, amateurs of beautiful cars and beautiful mechanical Artcurial organizes a sale of vehicles of exceptional charm, which goes well with the Retromobile in Paris, February 4, 2011,Porte de Versailles, Hall 7.3, Paris .

One of the true beauty that will be exhibited from 2 February will be an extraordinary 1937 Bugatti Atalante 57C, which belonged to Jerome Medrano.

Let us talk Artcurial, which has a auto department, led by Mathieu Lamoure and specialist Pierre Novikoff:

“At the end 1931, it became necessary to create a successor to the Type 49 and its design owed much to Jean Bugatti, convinced he had to adopt modern solutions (…). On the first point, Jean did not win case, but he imposed his father distributing two overhead camshafts per head cascade of pinions with two spark plugs per cylinder (appeared on the powerful Type 50 of 1930), the motor-clutch box with single-disc dry And relief from the chassis. Ettore Bugatti had maintained the architecture to eight cylinders in line and the non-detachable cylinder head, the front axle rigid and (temporarily) the brake cables. Presented at the Paris Motor Show 1933, the Type 57 seduced the fanatics of the mark. The power gain compared to the Type 49 engine capacity was equal to 25 hp, but torque and higher revving faster or allow a smooth and relaxed, a distinctly sporty driving. Three body styles were defined by the plant: the four-door sedan without a rebate Galibier, the coach Ventoux and the Stelvio cabriolet .(…

At the Salon of 1935, the Bugatti 57 benefited from variousimprovements on the chassis whose qualities of rigidity and handlingwere universally accepted despite the two rigid axles. And as theengine seemed likely to be developed, the manufacturer, with its experience in competition, the endowment of a Roots compressor onthe Type 57 C in October 1936. With 160 hp, the “57“ now reached175 km / h and Jean Bugatti preached in favor of more sportingversions. Already late 1935 he had added to the catalog bodyAtalante, a strict two-seater lighter bodywork that reached the sublimeto the chassis lowered 57 S appeared in 1936 .(…) At the Salon of1937, the 57 was proposed with Lockheed hydraulic brakes andhydraulic telescopic shock absorbers. The majority of Atalanta weretherefore 57 or 57 C (not lowered) built by the factory from 1936 to 1938,(…). A client interested in Atalanta could thus enforce his bodyfrom Gangloff, bodybuilder Official Bugatti, or retrieve an existing fund.It is this second solution chosen by Jerome Medrano, first owner of thecar offered here. “

This beautiful car legend, which is also part of a glorious chapter in the history of the prestigiousFrench Auto, which has recently beenresurrected brilliantly, is estimated between 500,000 and700,000euros.