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Yes, I’m a cynical bastard. I didn’t get where I am today– happily marooned on an island of incredulity– by taking what I’m told at face value. Now I know for a fact that there are shenanigans aplenty within the rarified world of high end automobile restoration, collecting and competing. Counterfeits, insurance scams, forgeries, kited checks, lies, deceit, deception, conspiracies by so-called experts– it’s like the fine art world only someone gets a prize at the end. So when I read of a “barn find” of 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante, allegedly garaged by a surgeon since 1960, my BS detector went off. Now I’m not saying it is anything other than what the Reuters and The Daily Mail says it is: a rare and wonderful car owned by eccentric aviator/doctor stored in a Newcastle “lock up.” But the whole story seems somehow… pat. And there’s this: “The car was originally owned by the first president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club Earl Howe. ‘I have known of this Bugatti for a number of years and, like a select group of others, hadn’t dared divulge its whereabouts to anyone,’ James Knight, head of Bonhams’ motoring department, said in a statement. ‘It is absolutely one of the last great barn discoveries.'” So how can it be a “discovery” (a.k.a. barn find) if Knight already knew where it was? And square that with this: “Media reports said it could fetch up to six million pounds ($8.7 million) when it is auctioned at Bonhams‘ [emphasis added] Retromobile sale in Paris on February 7, which would make it the most expensive car to go under the hammer.” 

The team behind the Eliica is currently seeking corporate sponsorship so they can build this car at an estimated price tag of $225k. That buys you a 0-60 mph time of four seconds, and a 0-100 mph of seven seconds flat. Oh yeah, and eight wheels. Because six wheels is weak sauce and 10 wheels is just plain ostentatious. (via Jalopnik)