Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante 1937, França
Fotografia
The first Type
57S debuted at the 1935 London Motor Show bodied with dramatic fastback
Aérolithe coachwork, a style which was eventually refined into the Atlantic
coupe. Eventually only 48 of the exclusive, sophisticated, rapid, and
beautifully constructed Type 57S Bugattis would be built, of which only 17 were
bodied with the beautiful, elegant, athletic Atalante coupe style.
Bugatti Type
57S, chassis no. 57551 with engine no. 30S, was completed on 23 July 1937 with
an Atalante body finished in black with pigskin upholstery. The body
configuration, with its low headlight placement between the radiator and front
fenders, was identical to the October 1937 Paris show car. It was delivered by
the factory just a week later to its first owner, Jean Lévy of Strasbourg,
Deputy Administrator of the family owned “Grands Moulins de Strasbourg,” a
successful grain milling company established by his father, which is still in
business today.
Lévy used his
Atalante until the beginning of the war and transferred it to Maurice Weber,
manager of the livestock feed operation at the Grands Moulin, in 1941,
presumably for safekeeping.
In 1946 the
Atalante was sold by Weber, ending up in the summer of 1947 with Pierre Pruvost
in Bezons. A year later it was acquired by a Paris owner and displayed at the
15 June 1949 concours in the Bois de Boulogne, now sporting modification to the
rear window, fenders, and added chrome flashing, work which may have been
carried out by Figoni et Falaschi.
Chassis no.
57551 passed through a known succession of owners in France before being
brought to the U.S. in 1959 by Colin Doane, a U.S. Air Force Officer. Doane
drove it 3,000 miles over the next two years, including a 500-mile trip from
Boston to Watkins Glen.
In 1961, Doane
sold the car into the fabled collection of casino magnate William F. Harrah.
While in the Harrah Collection it received a comprehensive restoration with the
chassis and running gear restored by O.A. “Bunny” Phillips, including the
installation of a replacement engine block (originally numbered 15S) and
correct gearbox, no. 357, and the body in Harrah’s shops. The engine was
upgraded to the most desirable Type 57SC specification, with the addition of a
late-production five-bladed supercharger. Several aspects of the Atalante were
returned to the original configuration, including re-creating the original pair
of small rear windows and removing some of the chrome embellishments that had
been added in France in the late forties. Completed in 1976, it earned the ultimate
accolade for quality, appearance, design, and performance: Best of Show at the
26th Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
It was
acquired during the disposition of the Harrah Collection by Dr. Herbert Boyer
and later was acquired from him by the current owner, a distinguished private
collector who continued to enjoy and maintain it carefully, until consigning it
to RM Auto Restoration in 2013 for a complete restoration to modern concours
standards.
The Harrah
restoration had been well maintained, thus the restoration team found the car
to be in very good condition. They were quite delighted to find much of the
original body wood intact, including the entire rear section, which was
retained and is still present in the car today. The result was returned to Pebble
Beach and, now exactly as it had first been delivered, was awarded Best in
Class, a superb honor. This was followed by Best of Show at both the Concours
d’Elegance of America and the Keeneland Concours in 2015.
It is one of
the most beautiful, desirable, and advanced of all Bugattis, with Jean
Bugatti’s lean, sleek, aggressive Atalante coachwork perfectly complemented by
the low Type 57S surbaissé chassis. One of four built in this style, it has a
well-documented history from new and is one of the most attractive, desirable,
and best-performing of all Bugatti road cars.
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