A prized 1936 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic, from a private New Hampshire collection, sold for between $30 and $40 million last week in a transaction brokered by Santa Monica, Calif.-based Gooding & Company.

The Wall Street Journal calls this Bugatti "a heartbreaking piece of European automotive sculpture, considered the epitome of French Deco styling."

The Mullin Automotive Museum, which opened to the public in April, in Oxnard, Calif., was revealed as the buyer.

Vintage cars are making inroads into fine art museums, too. Designer Ralph Lauren, for instance, who owns a similarly elegant 1938 Bugatti 57SC Atlantic, had his vintage car collection on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 2005.

The previous most expensive car was a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, which sold in Maranello, Italy, in May 2009 for $12.2 million.