London - A highly-coveted model of a 1930s Bugatti racing car has been discovered in a garage in Britain where it was left by its now deceased owner some 50 years ago, reports said Friday.

Surgeon Harold Carr had left the Type 57S Atalante - believed to be one of only 17 that were ever made - in his lock-up garage in Newcastle, north-east England, since the late 1950s.

After his death in 2007 his nephew discovered the rare 1937 model under a layer of dust. It is expected to fetch up to 6 million pounds
(8.6 million dollars) at auction.

A spokesman for London auction house Bonham's, which is planning to offer the Bugatti for sale at a Retromobile car show in Paris in February, said: "It is absolutely one of the last great barn discoveries." (dpa)