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JAN 28th 2020

Bob Murray

Bonhams’ banquet of big‑money Bugattis

A veritable banquet of Bugattis is being served up by Bonhams at its auction in Paris on 6th February during Retromobile. The seven pre-war classics – which together could be worth over £10 million – will be the undoubted stars of the sale in the French capital’s Grand Palais, where many of them were first unveiled 80 or more years ago.

Any pre-war Bugatti is special and the magnificent seven amply demonstrate why they hail from a golden age of French car-making. We have picked out our three favourites, a Bugatti for every occasion: a two-seat sports drophead, a two-seat coupe and a four-seat cabriolet.

1931 Bugatti Type 55 Supersport, estimate of €4-7 million (£3.4-5.9m)

With its grand prix engine and chassis and one-off Figoni drophead bodywork, this special T55 was as much the pin-up poster car of its day as the Veyron or Chiron are today. Powered by a detuned GP supercharged straight-eight engine, it could do 0-60mph in 13 seconds and hit 115mph – unheard of for a road car at that time.

Only 38 Type 55s were made and this is one of the 29 that survive. It began life as a works car in the 1932 Le Mans, driven by future French champion, Louis Chiron. Only after it was subsequently sold to a magazine publisher in Paris was its lightweight racing body replaced by more touring-friendly road-car bodywork by renowned Parisian coachbuilder Giuseppe Figoni. Its waistline-level doors offered proper more cockpit than Bugattis of the time usually offered.

For 56 years until his death the Bugatti was owned and enthusiastically driven by Britain’s leading Bugatti enthusiast and racer, Geoffrey St John. He paid £750 for the car in 1963. He must have paid a lot more than that for the 5,000-hour restoration that was needed after a drunk and uninsured driver in France in 1994 crashed into it…

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1938 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante Coupe, estimate of €1.5-1.8 (£1.3-1.5m)

If you missed out on buying the Atalante coupe that sold for £1.5m at Bonhams’ Goodwood Revival sale last year fear not – here’s another one up for grabs. There were only ever 34 of these coupe versions of Bugatti’s quintessential grand touring T57, so when the next will come up is anyone’s guess.

Like other Type 57s, the Atalante was powered by a 3.3-litre double-overhead-cam straight-eight engine, ensuring competition-grade performance to go with touring comfort and luxury to match Rolls-Royce, Delage or Delahaye. The distinctive coupe bodywork, here with several unique styling features, was the work of Jean Bugatti's preferred carrossier, Gangloff.

Hidden away during the Second World War, it later came to the UK and served as an official car at the French Embassy. Later it disappeared from view and was in fact sold as a “barn find” in 1987 before going to the US where it underwent a 100-point professional restoration.

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1939 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio cabriolet, estimate of €1.35-1.65 (£1.1-1.4)

This is another Type 57, with all that infers in terms of Le Mans-winning pedigree, but in supercharged form and clothed by a beautiful four-seat cabriolet body from Gangloff. Named after the Italian Alpine pass, only 40 Stelvios were delivered between 1937-39 and this is the last of them, the 1938 Paris Motor Show star – and the among the last pre-war Bugattis ever sold.

Claims to fame do not end there. The 100mph open-top tourer has had only three owners from 1939 to 2017, and its mileage of 47,000km from new is believed to be accurate. Bonhams says its condition, and its originality, all reflect that. As does the million pound price tag!

Images courtesy of Bonhams.

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