On October 29, Sotheby’s and Canada-based RM Auctions will present the second annual Automobiles of London auction at Battersea Park, featuring more than 75 vintage models, including a 1964 Ferrari 250 LM Berlinetta, the 27th out of only 32 examples produced. The best story of this year’s sale comes from a 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante (shown). The car began life as a Stelvio cabriolet before an early owner exchanged the car body with an Atalante coupé in an effort to combine the powerful supercharged engine with a rarer coupé body. The creation was owned by John W. Straus, grandson of Isidor Straus – the man behind the retail giant Macy’s department store – who drove it for years before parking it in his New York garage in 1962, where it remained for 45 years before being recently uncovered and cleaned. The fully restored Atalante is estimated at million. Other jewels include a 1938 Horch 853 Special Roadster; a 1924 Bentley 3/8 liter; and a 1929 Alfa Romeo, each estimated between 0,000 and million. (www.rmauctions.com)
—Alexandra Foster