A BUGATTI sports car that was found after 50 years gathering dust in a garage in England was sold for 3.5 million euros ($4.53 million) in Paris over the weekend.

The two-seat 1937 Bugatti Atalante 57S coupe was one of 17 vehicles of its type produced by the Italy-based racing-car manufacturer and was sold at the Retromobile auction held by London-based Bonhams on Saturday.

It had been estimated to fetch between 2.75 million euros and 4 million euros at the auction, including sale fees.

?This was the creme-de-la-creme of late 1930s sports cars,? said Simon Kidston, a Geneva-based classic car adviser, who attended the auction. ?Of the examples that have come on the market, this had by far the best history, prettiest body style and no one has seen it for 50 years. Nothing drives collectors more crazy than a car they haven?t been able to buy.?

Bonhams described it as ?one of the last great barn discoveries? in an e-mailed statement before the sale.

Harold Carr, a surgeon, owned the Bugatti from 1955 until his death in the spring of 2007. The reclusive doctor, from the northern English city of Newcastle, left his family a lock-up garage and its contents.

Carr?s nephew knew he owned an Aston Martin and a Jaguar E-type sports car and only discovered the partially dismantled Bugatti when he opened the building?s doors. The 130-miles-an-hour coupe has 26,284 miles on the clock, and the engine had not been fired up for more than 50 years, said Bonhams.

The car had originally been made for Earl Howe, a UK aristocrat who in 1929 was elected the first president of the British Racing Drivers? Club. Two years later, he won the 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans.

?People were taken aback by the condition,? said Kidston in an interview. ?It?s gone a bit too far. Whoever has bought it will probably be looking at a restoration bill of at least 500,000 pounds ($739,000). It?s a big job, but worth it. That car deserves to be preserved.?

The car was pursued by three telephone bidders and two bidders in the room, said Kidston. ?That price was about right. Both the seller and the buyer can feel satisfied.?

In August 2008, another 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante coupe sold for $7.92 million at Gooding & Co.?s auto auction during the annual Pebble Beach Concours d?Elegance in California. It was the highest price paid for an automobile at auction in the US. Scott Reyburn, Bloomberg