Fashion mogul Ralph Lauren owns one of the world’s rarest and most expensive cars. It is a 1938 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, one of only four ever made. It is a miracle that it survived over all these years, considering the tragic fate of its siblings. One of them was gone missing, and another was hit by a train.
The Bugatti Type 57 Atlantic is widely described as the Mona Lisa of the automobile collector world. Bugatti rolled off the production line only four such iconic automobiles between 1936 and 1938. The luxury automaker followed all of them closely over the years, providing spare parts and information whenever necessary. Only three are known to have survived, with one of them having a third-degree encounter with what could have been the end.
Known as the Rotschild Car, chassis #57374 was the first of its kind to roll off the production line in Moselheim, France, back in 1934, and is the only surviving Aero Coupe, a designation given to the first two cars and it currently resides in the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California. The model used to belong to Dartmouth neurologist Peter Williamson, owner of the greatest collection of Bugattis in the world.
Chassis #57453 was Jean Bugatti's personal car, which disappeared off the radar suddenly, without a trace, around 1938 and has never been found again. Jean, the son of the company’s founder, Ettore, was actually the one who designed the model.
Chassis #57473 was the most controversial of them all. The family that bought it in 1936 sold it back to the factory in 1937. The model was destroyed in a train crash in 1955. None of the two occupants survived. The wreck remained at the train station for nearly ten years then sold to a junkyard.
The Bugatti was rebuilt with spare parts despite the fact that everyone thought that was the end of it. The incident prompted collectors to joke bitterly that the model must have been cursed. Of the four made, just three survived, with one needing a complete rebuild.
Photo: A8C100 | YouTube
Meanwhile, chassis $57591 belongs to Ralph Lauren and has been on display at the world's greatest car events. The 84-year old has a net wroth of $6.9 billion and a car collection to match those numbers. He also owns a 1938 Alfa Romeo Mille Miglia Spyder, a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing, a 1929 Bentley Blower, and the $70 million Ferrari 250 GTO.
According to experts, each of the Atlantics still in existence could be worth north of $100 million. That goes for Ralph Lauren's car as well. The innovatively low stance and opulent curves have turned the Bugatti 57SC Atlantic Coupe into the peak of the Art Deco automobile design.
The vehicle was purchased by British tennis player and car collector Richard B. Pope in 1937. It changed hands several times until Ralph Lauren set eyes on it in the 1980s, purchased it for an undisclosed price in 1988, and commissioned a full restoration on it, choosing to keep Pope's EXK6 number plate.
Ralph Lauren's Bugatti won the "Best in Show" title at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este back in 2013. It was the last time the fashion mogul was seen in public driving his super exclusive Bugatti. In 1990, it had gone home with the "Best in Show" title after competing at Pebble Beach.
The model is now painted in black, at Ralph Lauren's request, and features a black leather interior, but back in the late 1930s, when it rolled off the production line, it was Rich Sapphire Blue.
Photo: A8C100 | YouTube
It is known as the Pope Atlantic, a nickname it got during its first ownership when it belonged to Richard B. Pope, even though it has been with Ralph Lauren since the late 1980s.
The designer had it restored with the help of Paul Russell of Essex, Mass. it took him over 9,600 hours over two years to have it look like it does today. The Buggati is currently stored in the fashion icon's collection but, considering its estimated value and exclusivity, it might as well be stored in a safe,
Peter Williamson’s Bugatti Atlantic was auctioned in May 2010. The final price has never been disclosed, but it is believed to have been over $40 million.
Even though it is one of the most expensive cars in the New York-born billionaire's collection, currently estimated at over $600 million, he once said he had no favorite. "They are like children. They all have different personalities."
The Type 57 Atlantic is powered by a 3.3-liter (198.8-cubic inch) inline-eight that generates 210 horsepower sent to the rear wheels through a four-speed manual transmission.
A Bugatti Type 57 has recently popped up for sale. But the model failed to sell the first time it was auctioned off because the reserve was not met. The bidding stopped at $176,600.
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