Having one rare pre-war Bugatti in your barn should be reason enough for anybody not to have to endure a life of hardship since these cars can fetch millions at auction. It’s, therefore, a bit of a mystery why a man from Belgium who had three of them (yes, that's right, three) kept them despite by all accounts living under the poverty line for many years.

August Thomassen, now 95 and a sculptor by trade is the owner of these three Bugattis and according to De Telegraaf, he acquired them while working in France in the 1950s and 1960s at a time when they weren’t as sought after and prices were low - back then, it was the racing Bugattis that got everybody talking.

However, Mr. Thomassen held onto the cars for many decades, and he even instituted a family-wide ban on talking about the cars - family members were not permitted to tell anybody that they owned them.

But in spite of going to great lengths to hold on to the cars for this long, even when money was scarce in his family, the owner finally decided to try to sell them. Several auction houses were contacted and, by the time all were informed, they were apparently “fighting over” this find. In the end, French auction house Artcurial was chosen, and the three lost Bugattis are now set to be auctioned off on February 8 at the Salon Rétromobile in Paris.

The cars are a 1937 Type 57 Cabriolet, a 1932 Type 49 Faux Coupe Gangloff, and a 1929 Type 40. Out of the three, the Type 57 is unquestionably the most valuable, and it is expected to fetch well over $570,000 / €500,000. The Type 49 is the next most precious, probably worth $340,000 / €300,000, and the Type 40 should still sell for upward of $91,000 / €80,000.

Further reading

Read our full review on the 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante.