A treasure in the garage

A classic Bugatti car, which gathered dust in a Tyneside garage for almost 50 years, may fetch up to £3m ($4.35m) when it goes under the hammer.

Relatives of reclusive Newcastle doctor Harold Carr found the 1937 Type 57S Atalante in a garage after he died.

Now the classic car, thought to be one of just 17 built, is to be sold by Bonhams in Paris next month.

It was originally owned by Earl Howe - first president of the British Racing Drivers' Club.

Dr Carr, a former army surgeon, left the contents of a lock-up garage to his family when he died in 2007.

As well as the Bugatti, his nephew also discovered a classic Aston Martin, and a Jaguar E-type in the lock-up.

From the BBC. Note that the article mentions that the car's whereabouts had been, in fact, known to specialists for some time.

"Oldest tortoise" an impostor?

A giant tortoise that has been dubbed the world's oldest living creature may actually be an imposter, living under an assumed identity, it has emerged.

It had been reported that Jonathan, a present-day resident of St Helena, was living on the remote British island when Napoleon was exiled there back in 1815.

From the BBC.

PS Of course, the claim to be the oldest living creature is absurd. Even the oldest tortoises do not approach the longevity of the humble quahog.

Looted Etruscan votive deposit recovery

Italian police have found the long-sought "treasure of Satricum" in a farmer's bookshelf, they announced at a news conference in Rome this week.

Consisting of more than 500 delicate miniature pots crafted about 2,600 years ago, the "treasure" was discovered during a police investigation in the countryside near the village of Campoverde di Aprilia, some 25 miles south of Rome. . .

Meticulously stored in a bookshelf in the farmer's house, the miniature jars were made of Italo-Corinthian pottery and Etruscan bucchero pottery, a kind of ceramic made in the Etruscan region between the 7th and 5th centuries B.C.

They were thrown into the lake, which is fed by a perennial spring, as votive offers during ritual festivities.

Full story here.