Bugatti

This Bugatti Type 57 was partially assembled by marque restorer Ray Jones in the 1970s using a collection of factory components purchased in the late 1960s and a handmade re-creation aluminum body in the style of the works Type 59/50B “monoposto” driven by Jean-Pierre Wimille in the 1939 Prescott Hill Climb. Utilizing a shortened Type 57 frame of unknown identity along with engine number 295, the car remained unfinished under subsequent ownership before being sold in the early 80s to Los Angeles-area French car collector Jim Hull, who completed the project with the assistance of specialist David North. Upon completion, the car was shown at the 1981 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and participated in the Monterey Historics for four consecutive years through 1984. It was then purchased by Peter Mullin and kept in storage in Colorado for several years, during which various parts were removed for use on other Bugattis in Mullin’s collection. In 2017 it was sold to its current owner, who commissioned David North to perform a refurbishment that included an overhaul of the 3,257cc DOHC inline-eight and the installation of a ZF four-speed manual transmission with overdrive. Finished in blue, the car also features quadruple Solex carburetors, finned four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes with ventilated rear units, reproduction De Ram-style friction shock absorbers, 18” wire wheels, a brass radiator with an electric cooling fan, custom four-into-one exhaust headers, and tan leather upholstery. One week after the completion of the refurbishment, the car returned to California to participate in the 2018 Monterey Historics, which it again contested in 2019. Additional appearances following the project included attendance at the 2020 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance with a dual-rear-wheel setup in the style of Wimille’s 1939 hill-climb car. This Type 57-based monoposto is now offered in Easton, Maryland, by the seller on behalf of its owner with invoices from the 2018 refurbishment, invoices from 2019 and 2020, historical photos, and a clean California title describing it as a 1935 Bugatti. The original Type 59/50B by which this car was inspired was built in 1939 on chassis 50180 as the final evolution of Bugatti’s Type 59 works race cars powered by variants of the Type 50B eight-cylinder engine. The car was best known for its appearance at the 1939 Prescott Hill Climb, where works driver Jean-Pierre Wimille piloted it to a second-place finish with a supercharged 4.7-liter engine sending power to a four-wheel rear axle. This build’s re-creation bodywork is said to have been fabricated by Bob Moser in the 1970s as part of Ray Jones’s build, which also included shortening of the Type 57 frame to replicate the Type 59’s shorter wheelbase. The portion of the frame containing its number stamping was removed around this time, and the history of the frame prior to the 1960s is unknown. The aluminum bodywork was finished in French racing blue during the initial competition of the build in the 1980s and was repainted during the refurbishment performed by North Street Garage in Easton, Maryland, in 2018. Design features include a centrally hinged louvered hood panel, a headrest fairing, a horseshoe-shaped grille flanked by yellow Marchal headlights under stone guards, a Brooklands-style windscreen, bullet-style side mirrors, and a roll hoop. A crack in the finish on the right-front panel is shown up close in the photo gallery below along with other imperfections. Chrome wire wheels are secured by two-eared knock-offs and are wrapped in 5.50/6.00-18 Dunlop Racing tires. Stopping is handled by four-wheel hydraulic brakes that incorporate dual master cylinders and 1939-style finned aluminum drums at each corner with ventilated units at the rear wheels. Suspension incorporates semi-elliptical front leaf springs, inverted quarter-elliptical rear leaf springs, and four-wheel reproduction De Ram-look shock absorbers with friction-plate internals. The monoplace cockpit is trimmed in tan leather over the seat with matching perimeter coaming. Additional features include walnut lattice flooring, walnut knobs atop dual shifters for the gearbox and overdrive, a black Simpson lap belt, a fire extinguisher, and electrical and fuel cutoff switches. The wood-rimmed steering wheel sits ahead of a machine-turned dash panel that houses a 9k-rpm tachometer with a tricolor face flanked by Smiths instrumentation monitoring vacuum, voltage, amperage, coolant and oil temperature, oil pressure, and fuel pressure. An odometer is not present, and total mileage is unknown. The 3,257cc inline-eight was rebuilt by Leydon Restorations in Lahaska, Pennsylvania, in 2018 using the aluminum crankcase of Type 57 engine number 295, which according to information in the Bugatti Register, was originally assigned to chassis number 57410. Replacement components included a reproduction block machined by High Mountain Classics in Fort Collins, Colorado, a Crower two-piece crankshaft, Carrillo connecting rods, and forged Arias pistons. Additional features include a cast aluminum finned oil pan, dual overhead camshafts beneath aluminum cam boxes, a Type 57S-style horizontal-shaft magneto, a nickel-plated Scintilla starter, quadruple Solex carburetors, four-into-one exhaust headers, and a 5” brass radiator with an electric cooling fan. Power is sent to the rear wheels via a ZF four-speed manual transmission with overdrive and a rear axle that was rebuilt by High Mountain Classics in 2018 using later Type 57S webbed aluminum differential housing castings. A chrome-plated Bugatti front axle was installed, and the steering box, front hubs, and control arms were rebuilt. Metallurgy analyses of the front axle are included in the gallery below. The clutch and pressure plate were rebuilt by Leydon Restorations in 2019 utilizing a Kevlar disc lining. Engine number 295 is shown stamped on the crankcase above along with number 57410. According to the car’s Bugatti Register entry, the engine number was previously interpreted as 410, leading the chassis being referred to as number 57564, to which engine number 410 was originally attributed. It is not known which chassis number was originally associated with this car’s frame. The car’s entry published in the 2018 Bugatti Register prior to the refurbishment can be viewed in the gallery below. The car is shown above participating in the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca following completion of the refurbishment. Additional images in the gallery below show the car during the 1981 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and at the 1982 Monterey Historics as well as a photo of the car at Laguna Seca in the early 1980s with its then-owner Jim Hull and North Street Garage proprietor David North. Photos of the car after being removed from long-term storage prior to the 2018 refurbishment are also presented, as are invoices from the project and images of the engine during dynamometer testing. The refurbishment reportedly total over $520k including the purchase of the car. Also included in the gallery below is an advertisement for the car in a 1979 issue of Road & Track. The car is referred to as chassis number 57564, including in its Bugatti Register entry, however, that number does not appear on the car itself. The car’s title lists its identification number as 57410, which is stamped on the crankcase.