Three new AutoCults just arrived.

First up the 1919 Bugatti Diatto Avio 8C by AutoCult. The unfinished chassis and engine languished for 100 years until restored with a recreated body in time for the Retromobile show in Paris in 2019. Its huge 14.5L 8-cylinder engine, originally developed for aviation use, is believed to be the forerunner of that used in the Bugatti Royales. A story about the car is here: https://www.prewarcar.com/the-lost-bugatti-bugatti-diatto-avio-8c-1919.

In the Avenue 43 series is this 1962 Sunbeam Le Mans coupe by Harrington. Here's what the harringtonalpine.org site has to say about this car: The Harrington Le Mans was introduced at The Earls Court Motor Show in October 1961. The Le Mans name comes from the Sunbeam win of  "The Index Of Thermal Efficiency" at Le Mans by the Harrington Alpine with registration number 3000 RW in April of that same year. The Le Mans introduced some radical new coach work that literally chopped the rear fins from the car. Drumming up on publicity from the win at Le Mans, Rootes targeted American buyers and sent as many as half of the 250 car production to the US shores. While the standard line of Harrington options were still available, the Le Mans did have more standardized production and was not offered on a per-order basis like the Harrington Alpine. This meant that they were offered as a Rootes product and not a "official conversion" and could be found on showroom floors... if a dealership was lucky enough to even get one! The Le Mans does not carry the Alpine name and is identified by it's unique finless design. All Harrington Le Mans cars were built on Alpine Series II bodies.

The AutoCult is nicely done with well-applied chrome-work. The las pic is of the Automodello Tiger for comparison, showing how the fins got loped off on the Harrington.

 The third arrival is both a Bentley and a woody, two of my favorites to collect. This is a 1949 Bentley Mk. VI Estate with coachwork by Rippon Brothers. This is an authentic replica of Chassis B91FU, registered EVH 831 and delivered in May 1950. Omitted were the somewhat tall fender-mounted rear view mirrors, which would have been rather frail if included. RM Sothebys sold the 1:1 in 2016 for $121,000.