- "1925" Bugatti T35 Grand Prix by Gilles Fournier, Chassis n° 4467
Estimate € 300,000 - 500,000, No reserve
- 1929 Bugatti T40 Roadster Gangloff, Chassis n° 40488,
Engine n° 387
Estimate € 350,000 - 450,000
- 1930 Bugatti T40 Grand Sport, Chassis n° 681 / 40655
Estimate € 160,000 - 240,000 €
- 1934 Bugatti T57 Galibier, Chassis n° 57140, Engine n° 35,
Carrosserie Galibier n°18
Estimate €250,000 - 350,000, No reserve
- 1936 Bugatti T57 Stelvio Gangloff, Chassis n° 57395,
Engine n° 275
Estimate € 600,000 - 800,000
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"1925" Bugatti T35 Grand Prix by Gilles Fournier, Chassis n° 4467
- Magnificent quality of execution
- Numerous original parts
- Sold for the benefit of the France Parkinson association
"Track record between the 24th January 1926 to the 19th September 1926 - 503 wins - Over 2 victories per day - 351 First Prizes - 47 Records" are the words written in the Bugatti catalogue in 1926! This enlightening list of achievements, which was expected to increase significantly in years to come, was largely due to what many considered to be THE masterpiece of Ettore Bugatti: the Type 35. Its first official appearance was on the 3rd August 1924 during the Lyon Grand Prix and even if the results were not instantly there, the essential part was there: a narrow horseshoe radiator in the extension of which you can find a profiled bodywork finished with a Bordino tip, gorgeous cast aluminium rims integrating the brake drums and a brilliant 8-cylinder in-line 2L engine derived from the Type 30. The overall quality of execution is simply incredible, the car is stable and fast and it didn't take long to establish itself worldwide.
The 35 evolved in accordance with regulations, seeing its cylinder capacity in-crease (35T-2,300 cc) and its power increase thanks to the fitting of a compres-sor (35 B and 35 C). These developments also led to some discreet aesthetic modifications such as a more enhanced radiator. That being said, the 35 "Grand Prix de Lyon" remains the first milestone in this exceptional history and still has a special place in the hearts of enthusiasts. It was also the case for Gilles Four-nier, renowned expert on the Amilcar brand, author of many reference publica-tions, whose passion for pre-war racing cars (and the Bugatti brand in particular) had led him to start looking for Bugatti 35 parts from the early 1980s, with the aim of building a Grand Prix as similar as possible to the original. In the early 2000s, he was joined by a friend, Emmanuel Cognet, who also wanted to build a 35.
Both friends will then commit themselves to this objective with an extremely me-ticulous approach. They carried out numerous trips to see authentic cars, pro-ducing as many parts as possible with the help of old factory blueprints, while those from other sources were systematically discarded.
The chassis and engine's build were entrusted to the excellent Laurent Rondini who made a 2.3L engine powered by two Solex 40 carburettors. Once the rolling chassis was completed, the bodywork was created at the same time of its sis-ter's one at Jean-Luc Bonnefoy in Orval, where Gilles Fournier met E. Cognet every Wednesday to work together on both cars. Numerous pictures show the chassis being assembled.
The twin Bugatti cars were completed in 2005 and instantly took part in a rally of more than 1,500 km, with no mishaps. The historian Pierre Yves Laugier told us that he went hunting for a Bugatti aboard this 35, on a cold November 1st along-side its owner. After a few back and forth to the village in-between walls where you could hear the 8-cylinder engine resonate, the owner of the Bugatti they were looking for appeared and accepted to show them his car.
18 years later, the inspection on Gilles Fournier's car demonstrates the quality of works carried out, unanimously recognised in the circle of Bugattists, profes-sionals included. Thanks to the amount of kilometres covered but also to original parts that were fitted, the patina on this particular car can only be described as an exceptional achievement. A list of original parts of that time had been drawn up by its owner: radiator (which came from Germain Lambert) and its cap, front axle and bearings, steering gear, steering wheel, water pump, carburettors, gearbox housing No 157, axle housing (other source) 13x54 No 105, helical feed system, Bosch magneto, instruments on the dashboard, hand air pump and vari-ous small parts. Administratively, the car has a type 30A collector's registration, chassis 4467. At the time, type 30A was used as the administrative designation for the type 35 in 1924 / 1925.
It was with undisguised pleasure that we went behind the wheel of this Bugatti, after carrying out our usual checks with Frederic Novo. With the exception of the starter which will need to be checked, absolutely everything is in working order and the car is very pleasant to drive. The power and sound of this 8-cylinder en-gine makes you want to keep going forever and take the road to the next Grand Prix.
Following the wishes of Gilles Fournier, this masterpiece will be sold for the benefit of the France Parkinson association.
France Parkinson is the only national association supporting patients and carers affected by Parkinson's disease. France Parkinson is primarily financed by do-nations and legacies and we would like to express our deep gratitude to Gilles Fournier's family, whose generosity will contribute to the achievements of our social and research missions.
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1929 Bugatti T40 Roadster Gangloff, Chassis n° 40488,
Engine n° 387
- Original chassis, engine and body
- Very low number of owners, known history
- High-quality restoration
This Bugatti Type 40 is remarkable in many ways: for its exceptionally well-preserved condition and its extremely clear history.
That history began in June 1927, when its chassis, no. 40488, equipped with engine no. 387, was assembled at the Bugatti works, at the same time as the chassis with engine nos. 377-401. The chassis was then delivered on 20 August 1928 to the coachbuilder Gangloff in Colmar; the invoice from the factory dated 27 July 1928 also covered chassis nos. 40612, 40563 and 40567. The invoice mentioned a price of 40,000 francs, higher than the 31,000 francs for a standard Type 40. These four Type 40 chassis included the reference "sp mod pr special", which may have meant "special modification, special price".
The factory delivery booklet is marked in pencil with the letter 'W', corresponding to 'Wiederkehr', the name of Gangloff's previous owner. As of 19 August 1928, the same booklet indicates that these chassis were to be supplied to 'W', i.e. Gangloff. Gangloff then fitted the Type 40 which concerns us here with an attractive roadster body with a spider tail, before it was delivered to Stand Auto in Paris, an official Bugatti agent run by Robert Sénéchal and Jean Bilovucic, with its head office at 182 boulevard Pereire and a showroom in the Galerie des Portières at 144-146 avenue des Champs-Elysées. The Type 40 doubtless remained there for a few months before it was sold to a customer from south-west France.
On 3 September 1929, it was officially registered for the first time, as 3898-JV (corresponding to the Lot-et-Garonne department), in the name of Jean Joseph René Marc Dupont. Born on 20 March 1893 at Marmande and married twice (in 1920 and 1946), Dupont began his studies in medicine in 1913. Appointed an assistant physician during the First World War, he qualified in 1920; he also had a diploma as a pharmacist and in 1924 opened his own clinic. A chief physician in the Second World War, he was taken prisoner in 1940 and was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur the same year. Actively involved in his town, he became a town councillor in 1937, and again in 1949 and 1950. A street in Marmande is named after him.
To come back to the Bugatti 40, with the new registration system which came into effect in 1950, it was given the number 86 X 47, still in the Lot-et-Garonne and possibly still in the name of Marc Dupont.
Two years later, around 1952, it was sold to Roger Berthaud, who lived in Les Essards, a village of fewer than 200 inhabitants in Charente. The recollection of the family is that the car was bought in Bordeaux, which may suggest that it was sold through a garage.
Roger Berthaud was a close friend of André Bouchard, Bugatti's sales representative for the Dordogne region. They regularly went on trips together in their Bugattis, and Bouchard looked after the maintenance of Berthaud's cars, a Type 44 and then a Type 40. The Berthaud family owned the grocery and tobacconist's in the village, of which Berthaud was mayor for several years. His first Bugatti was a Type 44 Vanvooren saloon, which he bought in July 1937 and kept until 1960, when it was sold to L. Mette and then, in 1962, to F. Lecorché in Clermont-Ferrand.
In 1952, Berthaud gave the Type 40 to his daughter Marguerite, who was then 25. According to her husband, Michel Maignan, Berthaud originally bought the Type 40 specially for his daughter, as at the time he used the roomier Type 44.
Registered as 507 AT 16, the Type 40 can be seen in a photograph in front of the Framezelle Bugatti garage in Paris, and also at Les Essards, with François Berthaud, a sculptor and Marguerite's brother, sitting in the back. During its time with Marguerite, whose training as a graphic designer enabled her to join the magazine Elle, the Type 40 was registered 533 HZY 75 at her Paris home at 22 rue Pernety in the 16th arrondissement. She used it regularly until 1986, in particular to go on holiday in the south of France.
In 2011, Marguerite and her husband realised that the car needed a thorough restoration and decided to sell it. It was bought on 14 November 2011 by Bruno Vendiesse and at the time was red with grey wheels. Vendiesse sold it shortly afterwards to the Belgian collector Bernard Marreyt, from whom its current owner bought it.
Today, the car has its original chassis and engine, as well as its original body, which has been restored in dark green, respecting the car's integrity. The complete high-quality restoration was carried out by Gubso Garage in Denmark, a specialist Bugatti restorer. The interior is dominated by the magnificent four-spoke steering wheel with a wooden rim and the dashboard is complete with all its instruments, mounted on a metal plate on a wooden panel. Under the bonnet, the engine compartment displays the mechanical beauty typical of Bugattis.
The car has its original plate from Stand Auto, as well as that from Gangloff. It should be noted that it is the only known survivor of this roadster body produced by Gangloff.
This Type 40 is remarkable for its exceptionally well-preserved condition, its rare and appealing body, its original parts and its very low number of owners, listed in a well-documented history drawn up by the historian Pierre-Yves Laugier, making it one of the most desirable examples still in existence.
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1930 Bugatti T40 Grand Sport, Chassis n° 681 / 40655
- Built to a high standard
- Numerous original parts
- Reliability improved to cover long distances
At the start of the 1960s, a collector from the south of France was able to buy a collection of parts for a Bugatti Type 40 from the brother of the famous racing driver Charles Martin: they included a chassis, some of the running gear, an in-complete engine, gearbox and various other original parts. They were exchanged
untouched a few years later, then sold to a well-known collector from Avignon around 1976. As he confirmed to us, he set about rebuilding the car with great care, making provision to fit a supercharger when the engine was re-stored, although this was never actually done. The splendid complete car moved on to another collector from Avignon, who registered it in 1998, and then, in 2005, it was bought by Bernard Hunault. He took part in numerous rallies with it, adding an electric fan to cope with modern traffic. As he wanted to drive the car over long distances and reduce the engine speed, he ordered an overdrive from the Bugatti specialist Ivan Dutton in April 2007.
This equipment was adapted mechanically to fit, but still needs to be connected up, which in no way prevents the car from being driven. A detailed examination of the car shows the following: the chassis is genuine, with the frame number 681, which must belong to a car with a number above 40750, built around spring 1929. The lower part of the crankcase is also genuine and has been restamped with the number 40655, although an older stamping, which appears to be 4044?, can be made out beneath it. The gearbox cover is genuine and numbered 538; the gearbox housing ap-pears to be from the period but has been restamped later with the same number 538. There is no number on the axle housing. The identification number 40655 found on a manufacturer's plate and the registration document correspond to a Type 40 delivered in Grenoble on 30 May 1930.
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This Type 40 to Grand Sport specification is therefore a rebuild, produced to a high standard, partly using genuine components. Attractively presented and with the patina of the miles it has covered, it has been maintained to be driven, and the hood was restored two years ago. With its particularly sporty appearance and an added touch of elegance thanks to the colour of its paintwork, this Type 40 is sure to appeal to enthusiasts keen to enter the Bugatti world.
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1934 Bugatti T57 Galibier, Chassis n° 57140, Engine n° 35,
Carrosserie Galibier n°18
- First-series Galibier saloon, built by the Bugatti works
- Known history, low ownership
- Remarkably well-preserved condition, original engine and body
The origins of the model
In 1932, aged 23, Jean Bugatti found himself on his own managing the Bugatti factory with Méo Costantini, as his father was now living permanently in Paris.
They spoke regularly on the phone and in a letter at the start of 1932, Jean told him of his desire to produce a model with independent front suspension.
Ettore categorically refused, but this did not stop Jean from going ahead with his plan.
The design for a chassis with independent suspension and a 3.3m wheelbase was recorded as "Design no. 37, type 57" and dated 15 July 1932.
The drawing for the four-door Galibier body on this chassis, numbered 1056, was signed by Joseph Walter and dated 18 August 1932. The side view shows a saloon with a swept-back radiator grille and alloy wheels.
The two prototypes with independent front suspension
The body was fitted to the Type 57 Galibier saloon with engine 2 in mid-February 1933, while the Type 57 chassis with engine 1 only left the workshop on 30 June 1933.
These two prototypes had independent front suspension and alloy wheels with a central nut, as on the Type 50T, their exact contemporary.
The only existing photograph of one of these two cars is reproduced in the book Bugatti Magnum by Conway and Sauzay, and was taken at the Grand Prix de Berne in July 1934. It had a registration plate of convenience, that of the first Type 44, which was assigned to the Type 57 with engine 1.
The two cars were still at the factory, as can be seen from a note dated 7 May 1936, stating: "Type 57 engines 1 and 2, saloons, independent front suspension ... to be stripped down".
One of the two cars was given the code name 'Crème de menthe' by the Aumaitre J. Bugatti Costantini team, in order to avoid arousing suspicions in conversations.
In September 1937, just before the Paris Motor Show, and after covering more than 250,000km in five years, its timing chain snapped, shattering the valves, pistons and casings. It ended up on the scrapheap. The other car was certainly broken up before this.
This marked the end of the project, which had already come to nothing by the time the Type 57 was officially presented at the Grand Palais in October 1933. The solid rear axle demanded by Ettore Bugatti was fitted to the model as it went into production.
The first three Type 57 Galibier production saloons
The Galibier with engine 5 left the workshop on 3 October 1933, followed on 7 October by that with engine 4 and on 9 October by that with engine 6.
The Paris Motor Show opened on Thursday 5 October.
The saloon with engine 4 and the registration certificate for a Type 49 was hastily dispatched by road to the show on Saturday 7 October. The Galibier with engine 6 followed the same route with the registration certificate of another Type 49 on Tuesday 10 October. It may be assumed that the car exhibited at the show had engine 4, cleaned after its mad dash to Paris, as a major feature by Charles Faroux in the daily newspaper L'Auto dated 10 October shows a picture of the Galibier on display, which could not have been the model with engine 6, since that only left Molsheim that morning.
Bugatti only sorted out the registration documents on 16 November, when he requested three licence plates for chassis 57101-57103: 5263 NV 2 was assigned to chassis 57101 with engine 5 and 5265 NV 2 to chassis 57103 with engine 6. There is no written link between 5264 NV 2 for chassis 57102 and an engine/chassis.
The grey and black Galibier saloon with engine 5 was used as a demonstrator by Toussaint until the spring of 1935, after it had been sent to the Brussels Motor Show in November 1934 and to the Amsterdam Show in February 1935.
Production of the Bugatti Galibier from 1933-1934
After the two prototype bodies in 1932 and the three pre-production models in October 1933, production of the Galibier bodies, referred to as "Conduite Intérieure" in the coachwork register, lasted just one year.
In February 1934, five bodies were ready to be fitted to chassis.
Two of these were fitted in March, with the last three of these and another three in April, followed by six more bodies in May, four in June, six in July, seven in August and five in September, before the series came to an end in November with the Galibier for the Bishop of Strasbourg, Mgr. Ruch, and the old Galibier with engine no. 6, which received a new, larger body and a new engine on 30 November.
Only 41 bodies were therefore produced between October 1933 and November 1934, and no other Galibiers would be built by the Bugatti factory until the aerodynamic aluminium-bodied model on the third-series Type 57 chassis, which was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October 1938.
The survivors
Among the Type 57 saloons from 1933-1934, just ten cars have survived with their original Galibier bodies, and 57140 is undoubtedly the only, and the last one to remain untouched for nearly 60 years.
Conceived in 1932, this model led to Bugatti's only production family saloon with a twin-cam engine.
Now extremely rare, it is of great historical importance and deserves our full attention.
In October 1933, Bugatti presented the Type 57, which, with its DOHC engine, was the only touring model in the range. The very first chassis of this type, built in October 1933, was fitted with a 'four-door Galibier Saloon' body to be exhibited at the Paris Motor Show that year. The car corresponded to design no. 1056, dated 18 August 1932, produced by the stylist Joseph Walter. From October 1933 to November 1934, the Bugatti works built only 41 'Galibier Saloons': the three prototypes from 1933, then 38 bodies produced between mid-March and the end of November 1934. Production then stopped until October 1938, when the second series of 'Galibier Saloons' left Bugatti's workshops. Between 1935 and 1938, some four-door saloons were built by Gangloff and Vanvooren, but none by Bugatti.
The archives compiled by the historian Pierre-Yves Laugier provide some valuable information regarding this Bugatti Galibier.
The list of bodies from the Bugatti works shows that chassis 57140/engine 35 was fitted with the 18th Galibier body built; the wooden sections and aluminium body panels are, moreover, marked with the number 18. It was the first of four 'C-I' ('Conduite Intérieure') models to be fitted with bodies at Molsheim in June 1934. It was completed on 7 June, followed by the Galibier 57168/41 on 14 June, the Galibier 57144/44 on 23 June and the Galibier 57157/47 on 29 June, i.e. one Galibier body per week.
In the works invoice ledger, 57140 appears on 1 June 1934 for the sum of 61,695 francs, billed to the 'Société Marseillaise', the business run by the Bugatti agent Gaston Descollas at 42 avenue du Prado in Marseille. The retail price of a Galibier was 76,000 francs in October 1933 and 79,800 francs in October 1934, leaving a generous profit margin of 14,000 francs for Descollas.
The works shipment records state that car 57140 was sent by train to Marseille on 8 June 1934.
The monthly delivery records show: "Marseillaise. 57140/35 C.I 8/6/34." The delivery records for June 1934 are even more precise: "8/6/34. 57140 - 1056 - Marseille Storione", where '1056' was the code corresponding to the Galibier body. This is the only document to give the name of the first owner, M. Storione, which is corroborated by the following Marseille police records: "Bugatti Type 57 chassis 57140, Conduite Intérieure. Registered new with the number 1034 CA 7 on 14 June 1934, in the name of Jean Storione,11 Rue Saint-Jacques, Marseille."
The Storione family was well known in Marseille. The son of Italian immigrants, Michel Storione (Jean's father) began working in 1883 at the Société des Minoteries de Marseille before setting up his own flour-milling business. This grew rapidly, making the family very comfortably off. The business remained a family concern and, incidentally, introduced at the start of the 1980s the 'Banette', a type of French baguette which met with considerable success. In 1987, the business was sold to the 'Champagne Céréales' group.
Jean succeeded his father Michel in the business. A bachelor, he liked cars and had Delages before turning to Bugatti. His chauffeur, Marius Rey, took him to Mont Ventoux at weekends to watch the hill climbs.
He bought all his Bugattis through Gaston Descollas and they were maintained by the Menonni garage in Marseille. Before acquiring the Type 57 Galibier, he used in turn a 16-valve model, a Type 44 'Torpedo', a Type 49 and a Type 55 roadster. After he sold the Galibier in January 1936, he bought a 57 Atalante and then a 57 C Gangloff cabriolet.
In the works service records, it is noted that on 20 October 1934, the engine no. 35 from the Galibier was sent to Molsheim with the following observations: "Overhaul of engine no. 35: the crankshaft, engine block and one con rod were broken. No. 1 piston seized. Adjustment required for con rods 4 and 78 ..."
On 24 January 1936, the Bugatti thus changed hands and was registered in the name of Gustave Cousin, a doctor in Marseille. The police records mention that a duplicate registration certificate was issued to Cousin on 16 October 1944, doubtless following the loss of the original document during the war. On 24 December 1954, the car was registered in the new system with the number 7983 AQ 13.
Antoine Raffaelli, a 'historic car hunter' (notably for the Schlumpf brothers) and the owner of a garage in Marseille, recalled the first time he saw this Galibier, when it was still owned by Dr Cousin: "I went to see the car at the Paraglo garage at 268 boulevard Baille in Marseille, around 1960. The car was being serviced for Cousin and the mechanic was in the process of making some special brake linings to improve their performance. He had also changed the camshaft covers so that the engine looked more like that of an Alfa 8C! The car was black, with blue side panels. Dr Cousin was a friend of the pharmacist M. Alloud, who owned the Renault garage I have managed since 1960."
The Galibier remained in Cousin's ownership for 30 years, from 1936-1966. On 29 November 1966, it was sold to Jean Brignone, a 'film agent' who also lived in Marseille, and who sold it the following year to Antoine Raffaelli. On the back of a photograph showing the car in front of Raffaelli's garage, it is noted that it belonged to Rodolph Brignone, no doubt Jean's brother. The doctor's insignia in the form of a staff can be clearly seen to the left of the windscreen.
In spring 1967, Raffaelli sold the Galibier to Daniel Guidot, an architect living in Le Pecq (in the western suburbs of Paris), who registered it as 71 GU 78 on 17 March 1967. A member of the Bugatti Club de France (founded in 1966), Guidot also owned a Type 46 Vanvooren 'Coach' and a Type 35 A.
Around 1974, he sold the Galibier to another member of the Bugatti club, Jean Vilette, whose home address was in Paris but who worked for the mines at Hettange-Grande in Lorraine, not far from the German border. This is probably why the car later showed up in Germany, and in 1989 the German Bugatti club recorded the Galibier no. 57140 as belonging to Walter Metz from Moodbrunn. It was subsequently bought by Feierabend Klassik Technik and offered for sale at the Essen Motor Show in November 2007. It was sold there to Roland d'Ieteren, the Belgian collector and owner of the restoration business Auto Classique Touraine, based outside Tours. The Galibier was intended to be used as the basis for a project to build a Type 57 S, commissioned by Jean-Jacques Strubb. It remained untouched, however, and when Strubb died in April 2010 at the wheel of his Bugatti 51, the Galibier lay forgotten at the back of the workshop.
Around 2013, it was offered to a true Bugatti (and Ferrari) enthusiast from near Le Puy-en-Velay, José Piger. He was well acquainted with Bugatti ,as his father had bought a 57 Ventoux 'Coach' in 1946, while he himself had owned, among other models, a Type 55 roadster and a Type 37 A. Won over by the Galibier, he bought it from Auto Classique Touraine and undoubtedly saved it from being converted.
After a few years, he in turn sold the car to its current owner.
Today, the car is very well preserved and has been practically untouched since the 1960s, a fact accounted for by its low number of owners, one of whom (Dr Cousin) kept it for 30 years. The body is that of a four-door Galibier built by Bugatti, and the car has its original seats and interior. The dashboard is also original, with its Jaeger instruments with black dials. An enamelled badge has the wording 'Deutscher Jagdschutz Verbrand', a hunters' association of which Herr Metz was most likely a member.
Some of the aluminium body panels, including the bonnet, are stamped with the number 18, corroborating the factory coachwork register mentioned above. The dashboard has the original chassis plate with the reference "57140 Bas-Rhin 19 CV", while the left-hand engine mount bears the factory stamp "35-57140". The camshaft covers are those modified in 1960 by Paraglo in Marseille. Apart from this, no changes to the car's original specification can be seen.
Among the 41 first-series Galibier bodies built by the Bugatti works between October 1933 and November 1934, fewer than a dozen have survived. This Galibier 57140/35, whose history is fully documented by the historian Pierre-Yves Laugier is one of the best preserved examples of all the cars with this initial design, the first produced by the stylist Joseph Walter for the new Type 57 chassis.
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1936 Bugatti T57 Stelvio Gangloff, Chassis n° 57395,
Engine n° 275
- Superb, rare design by Gangloff
- Long and well-documented history
- Extensive recent work
This most attractive cabriolet has an interesting history which deserves to be told, traced by historians P. Y. Laugier et K. Jansen. It began in January 1936, when the Type 57 chassis fitted with engine numbers 273-283 were assembled at the factory. On 28 February 1936, chassis 57935/engine 275, which concerns us here, was sent by road to the coachbuilder Gangloff in Colmar.
As Bugatti's sales records for February 1936 confirm, it was ordered by the Bugatti agent in Toulouse, Ets Leyda, on behalf of its customer, José Soler-Puig. The agent was invoiced for 46,630 francs.
Another Type 57 cabriolet was sent to Gangloff for another of Leyda's customers: chassis 57403, which is now kept at the Schlumpf museum in Mulhouse. With their identical mouldings and side styling, the two bodies were produced at the same time and assigned the build numbers 228 for chassis 57935 and 231 for chassis 57403, which went into the body shop a week later.
Gangloff took a month or so to produce the body. Soler-Puig's car was registered new on 31 March 1936 with the number 2499 FS 4, in the name of his company, the 'Société de Tricotages de l'Ariège et Bonneterie de la Garonne réunis'.
A Spanish immigrant who arrived in France in 1915, Soler-Puig gradually built up a small textile empire in south-west France. A lover of fine cars, he had owned two Renault 40 CVs, two Hispano-Suizas (H6B and H6C), a Bugatti Type 46 cabriolet, a 5-litre Bugatti which drew attention on Vanvooren's stand in 1933, and an Alfa Romeo 1750 bought for his son's 18th birthday ... Sadly, Soler-Puig was scarcely able to enjoy his Gangloff cabriolet as he died on 3 July 1936 after a short illness. His wife, son and daughter continued to run the business, but parted with the Type 57, which was sold in Paris and re-registered as 7924 RL 1.
At the start of the 1990s, the historian Pierre-Yves Laugier met the daughter of Fernande Roux, Maurice Mestivier's former partner. In her parents' archives was a photograph of the Bugatti in Paris around 1938, with its RL 1 registration. At this time, it had duotone paintwork, whereas it had originally been dark blue. It was also fitted with running boards, which were no longer present in a photo taken in Brussels around 1956.
The person who can be seen in the photograph from Paris appears not to be Mestivier, the supposed owner of the Bugatti in 1937-38, who was working for Amilcar at the time.
The handsome Gangloff cabriolet remained in Paris during the war and escaped being requisitioned. A second, unknown Parisian owner registered the car in his name on 5 June 1945, before it left for Lyon to be consigned to a garage where it was discovered by Pierre Cros, who was originally from Bergerac. A Bugatti enthusiast, he bought it on 12 December 1945 and registered it as 6006 EG 4. Cros lived at the Château de Panisseau, which belonged to his father-in-law Noël Quennesson, a businessman and politician. He had the Bugatti maintained either by Charles de Cortanze's garage in Paris, or by Ernest Friderich in Nice, where he sometimes stayed. It was to Friderich that he sold 57935 in April 1948, when he bought another Type 57 from de Cortanze, this time a 1937 model with 'coach' bodywork by Gangloff, which he kept until 1953.
As for the cabriolet, which had arrived at Friderich's garage on the Côte d'Azur in 1948, it turned up again at the end of the year in Wallonia, in the hands of the Belgian architect Georges Dedoyard, who lived in Liège. In the January 1949 issue of Bugantics, the Bugatti Owners' Club magazine, the caption of a photo showing him next to his Type 49 cabriolet states that he also owned a Type 57. Dedoyard was a prominent architect and town planner at the time, and a key figure in the modernist movement.
It was apparently during his ownership of the car that its engine was replaced by a Type 101, re-numbered 57395/275, and that the front axle was changed in 1952 for an unnumbered Type 57 S component.
In 1956, the Gangloff cabriolet was sold to the garage in Brussels run by Jean de Dobbeleer, who registered it as 11879 before it was exported to the USA, to Julian Sano, a Bugatti mechanic in New Jersey. A note from de Dobbeleer states: "Bought in Belgium, sold to Sano. Type 101 engine except for manifolds".
It next belonged to a Mr Becker, and then, from 1962, to Henry Schafer from Princeton (New Jersey). Schafer kept the car for 44 years and took part with it in many rallies on the East Coast of the States. He had the car completely restored, after which it was sold to Gene Cesari in 2006 and then to Evan McMullen of Cosmopolitan Motors.
It is thanks to its current owner, a Bugatti connoisseur and collector, that 57935 returned to this side of the Atlantic. He carried out a restoration of the car which was completed in 2023. The bodywork was stripped bare to return it to its original shade of dark blue, which sets off its elongated design with sweeping rear wings, the ends of which are elegantly set apart from the body. The hood was also restored. The engine was serviced and runs perfectly. Its Type 101 sumps would, if needed, allow a supercharger to be fitted, improving its already excellent performance. The gear wheels and gearbox bearings were replaced as necessary. All the car's equipment was checked, the brakes overhauled and the tyres replaced.
This noble motorcar with its enthralling sound will delight its new owner as he successfully competes in the most prestigious concours d'élégance, takes part in the greatest rallies and drives along the most beautiful roads.
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