Most expensive car sold! $40M

[k]

http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/2010/05/04/the-world%e2%80%99s-most-expensive-car-sold/

[Louis]

Crazy , ridiculous  ...

[cascadia]

Beautiful and really rare car, it's worth it.  Here's a link to some more pics of it, along with the other one in existence, Ralph Lauren's car, sinister looking in black.

http://www.webridestv.com/showgallery.aspx?gallery=46013

[66andBlue]

I am not so sure that the price is justified.
Yes it is beautiful and rare but the car is not completely original.  It was reconstructed by Williamson after it had been mauled by a previous owner.  The history of the three Atlantics is described here: http://www.supercars.net/cars/2705.html.
In contrast a totally original 1937 57S Atalante with 28K miles (or km?) was sold last year for about $4.6M: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/7807210.stm

[mdsalemi]

...but the car is not completely original...

Alfred, it is very rare indeed, when any of these restored classics are completely original.  A short visit to any number of museums that house them, or to the show fields the likes of Pebble Beach, Meadow Brook, Amelia, and you will see--look carefully.  Generally speaking, modern materials are often used; paint jobs NEVER came from any factory the way that a modern restoration paint job looks; chrome has replaced nickel in some cases for plating, and the chrome is deep and lustrous...the restoration creates things of beauty but is hardly original.  The Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg museum in Indiana has quite a few show-winning cars, highly restored, and some that have been left original.  You can see the differences by simply ignoring the condition and comparing similar cars that are in the same room.

Still...$40M?

[66andBlue]

Mike,
of course I agree with you about new materials (paint, rubber, etc) being used during a restoration. If the referenced source is correct however, then the windows on this car had been enlarged, that is, the chassis was changed and had to be redone.  Why should this car be almost 8x more than a true original like the Atalante?
Since this was a private sale we may never know for how much it actually sold. I cannot resist thinking that it is a PR ploy to talk up the values of either Mr. Mullins cars or those belonging to his associates, e.g., Kendall's Petersen Car Museum.

[mdsalemi]

Alfred--I think you are spot on here.  When tens of millions of dollars are involved there are all kinds of things going on that people like you and me (assuming you are somewhat like me in that there isn't such money in your wallet) don't necessarily understand.  Mr. Mullin and people like him are cut from different cloth.

[k]

The real takeway is that this just beats the highest Bugatti record that stood since 1989 bubble, and was not broken till now (inflation adjusted)