There’s already a lot of money in the Monterey Bay area, but more greenbacks flooded the Oceanside California city in the form of cool cars and hard cash. The cash showed up at the many auctions, including those held by Russo and Steele, RM Auctions, Bonhams and Gooding & Company.

Phil Skinner, ace auction reporter for Old Cars Weekly, reported that a 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante coupe sold at the Gooding & Company sale on Saturday night for $7.2 million dollars. Skinner said bidding was hot between a phone bidder and a bidder who was in the audience. The audience member nabbed the car for what very well might be a record price for a non-Royale Bugatti. Gooding reported the car sold for $7.92 million, a figure presumably determined after the buyer’s premium.

The car was one of 12 Bugattis offered from the Dr. Peter and Susan Williamson Collection. According to Gooding, a portion of the $15.5 million raised from the sale of the Bugattis will be donated on behalf of the late Dr. Peter Williamson to the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the Dartmouth Medical School.

Atalante coupes are a favorite of mine, and I find it noteworthy to mention a second Bugatti Atalante was sold in the sale for $850,000. This car was in better condition, but was not an SC. I’m writing this from a hotel room and far away from my library, but I believe an SC is a lower-slung (S) and supercharged (–C) model of Type 57, and a far more desirable model of Bugatti.

You can see complete results from the Monterey-area auctions on the pages of Old Cars Weekly.