posted at the Cohort by monteverde3
Ever wonder what curbside car spotters noticed and shot in 1959?
How about a Bugatti Type 57, one of the all-time greatest classic cars ever. Just one problem: identifying this one specifically, as there were dozens of coach-built bodies on the Type 57. It’s clearly an early version, with the open fenders. But I can’t pin down that specific delicious coupe body. Can you? This isn’t like identifying a 1978 Bonneville coupe in mint green. Taking a time machine back to 1959 would be trip, but properly identifying the more exotic cars presents a challenge.
I, too, tried unsuccessfully to narrow it down, Paul. I might even be wrong about it being a Type 57. Could be on another chassis (Type 55?), but I was only nine years old when I made this shot and wasn’t taking notes! LOL!
P.S. First Bugatti I ever saw and it got me started as an old car fiend.
Back in the sixties, my Dad had a friend, an engineer, who rebuilt Bugattis in his workshop at home. Once he got one going, he thought nothing of tearing along the gravel track he lived on, bare chassis, open exhaust. His neighbours would just say “John’s got that old car going!” To most folk then Bugattis were just old cars, but he knew what he had, and he used them like they were intended to be.
Oh my God! That somebody back then would even be willing to take a Bugatti out in traffic. Today, its roll it out of the climate controlled garage, into the covered trailer, unload at the Concours, reload back into the trailer, and back into the climate controlled garage. With the value of the car verging on seven figures, you don’t dare drive them anymore.
Thank God for those days. Otherwise, back in 1968 at my first antique car show (Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg regional meet in Harrisburg, PA) I wouldn’t have been invited to take a Model J tourer for a few miles down the Pennsylvania Turnpike by the owner. And when I limited my speed to 55, he chides me that the car is certainly able to do better than that – which I did, while being incredibly nervous all the time.
Then again, the Duesey was only worth about ten grand in 1968. And the owner drove it to shows. In fact, all the cars at the ACD meet were driven there.
How times have changed. And in this case, not for the better.
A once in a lifetime opportunity, that is!
On viewing this photo, a friend pointed out to me that the license plate appears to be a Connecticut dealer tag, so that might put a slightly different spin on it. Still, driving something like this in Manhattan even back then……
You are correct on the plate: CT Dealer.
Your story about the Duesenberg is always great to hear. After my recent jaunt in the ’60 Jag, I can appreciate it even more.
I drove a highly maneuverable vw beetle in NYC in the sixties. I lived in Ct. and was scared the whole time I was in NY. Would never have driven one of these but that’s moot because I never saw one. Still haven’t in the metal.
VERY nice ! .
I just hope it survived……
-Nate
That makes two of us Nate. I suspect that it has since, even back then, people knew that these were very special cars. Still, things do happen….
Yes ;
Back when this pic was taken all over New England were these tiny private Auto Museums open to the Public…
I well remember amazing cars I’ll never see again , I wonder what ever happened to them all .
-Nate
That’s why attend as many vintage racing events as I can in the warmer months, Nate, to not only see these great old cars, but hear the music.
It has to have survived. Even back in 1959, Bugatti was in those rarified stratii with the A/C/D triplets, Lincoln Contenental Mark I’s, senior series Packards, etc. The antique car hobby existed back in the 40’s and 50’s; it just wasn’t as pervasive or socially acceptable as it is now. And the practitioners were definitely looked upon as odd ducks by the rest of society.
That Bugatti had to be worth more than just about any new car in 1959, with the possible exception of a Bently or Rolls Royce.
Well…..maybe not worth more than just about any new car. For example, this 1939 Bugatti Type 57C with incredible provenance was sold for the US equivalent of $275 in 1959: https://www.flickr.com/photos/askamel/752910865/
Holy cats.
I cannot identify the car, but it is eye-candy of the first order. Nothing else to say.
I suppose that it couldn’t be a type 50? link here for example
I thought it might be as well, SOITWW, because of the front fender shape and windshield/cowl design, but the Royale style wheels on the Type 50 made me have second thoughts. I suppose those would be easy enough to change over though.
If this turned out to be a Type 50, it would be even more unusual than a Type 57, right?
I did a fair amount of Googlong last night, trying to come up with a match. I also wondered if it really was a Type 57, but I’m now mostly convinced that it is, although obviously one of the earlier years (it first was built in 1934).
Keep in mind that there were many one-off bodies built for these cars. It was not at all uncommon for an owner to work with a coachbuilder to come up with a design he or she specifically wanted. And some owners changed their bodies more than once.
I’m fairly certain that this particular body design is likely a one-off, and the car may be in some museum now, and there just aren’t any images of it floating on the internet.
That works for me, Paul.
Cruella is somewhere to the right.
I could swear I’ve seen an article about it being a barn find. Owner was some retail store big wig, and the car had been put away when he died or couldn’t drive anymore.
Magnificent car even then, but absolutely unthinkable now. To drive such a car! Drive it! On the road! With the unwashed masses! Pfft.
In all seriousness, though, the risks are just too great for something that is both astronomically valuable and completely irreplaceable. Shows how far the values have risen, but then again, that was 55 years ago!
Now you’re making me feel old, Chris. Oh, wait. I am! 😉
Chris Said : ” Magnificent car even then, but absolutely unthinkable now. To drive such a car! Drive it! On the road! With the unwashed masses! Pfft.”
Why not ? Joe Harding drives his WO Bently and ’39 Lagonda on Public streets and not slowly either .
Another guy I know gave me a thrilling ride through Long Beach in his 1929 Blackhawk Roadster….
I didn’t like the running stop signs and power sliding through the dirt lots part but hey , if you’re gonna have it , might as well enjoy it .
-Nate
When he owned the Type 57SC Atlantic now in the Mullin Collection, the late Dr. Peter Williamson would drive it from time to time. Granted motoring through small towns in western New Hampshire is altogether different from doing the same thing in SoCal, but if he could do it in a car now valued at between $30 and $40 millions, why not take an occasional spin a more “mundane” Type 57? With the Mil-Bug (also his car) at Orford, NH c. 2001…
Saw in town today with flat camera battery a 31 Hispano Suiza V12, Cord roadster, Buick rag top,38 Lagonda V12 race car and 39 Packard woody station wagon they should still be on display somewhere over the weekend so I can get pic for yall.
That would be a pretty exotic group anywhere. Would love to see some pix.
Now I will have to remember where I read the story (Automobile Quarterly?) of the repair shop in Manhattan that worked on these vehicles and other classics, it might give some clues as to the history of this vehicle.
I found it!
The story is titled the Zumbach Motor Repair Company, story by Ralph Stein in Automobile Quarterly vol. 16 no. 3, Third Quarter 1978.
The company was located at 134-136 West 54th street New York, NY.
I reread the story tonight and see if a type 57 is mentioned.
🙂
Oh, to remember the cars that were driven and used, back when. Growing up in Gearhart Oregon, in the late 1960’s, the neighbor couple had: a Dual Ghia, and a Ghia (red one was a hardtop the other was a white convertible), a Jaguar XK150dhc (concours car), a white Rolls Royce convertible, and a Volvo wagon (to drive their dogs in). They were all kept in excellent condition, maintained by Ralph W., the owner of the Flying A station and my mentor. Unbelievable!! Many thanks for the most excellent pic– did you become a photographer?!
I was too young to even hold a camera back in 1959, but i jknow for sure that this was the year my dad bought a brand new XK150 coupe, black with red upholstery, and loaden with accessories. Wonder, why he did not choose an S… That car even had a Nardi steering wheel…
You’re welcome, stevee .Not a professional, but I’ve been photographing cars and trucks at shows for almost 40 years.
Wow. This brings up a few thoughts, for starters I saw a Bugatti type 35 (or similar) broken down on the side of the road a few years back I think near the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Also a story from a guy who fitted a new set of tyres to another type 35c that is regularly raced; a couple of days later he was driving along one of the small two lane 50mph roads when it zoomed past him.
What a marvelous car! My guess is a Type 46 (“Little Royale”). Design is pure Jean Bugatti “Coach surprofilé”. Most of these bodies were built at Bugatti’s own workshop at Molsheim, some were done by Gangloff in nearby Strasbourg.
There were a few “Coach surprofilé” on T57 chassis, but this car looks different to me. Type 50 had a more powerful engine, and came with light alloy wheels.
Good call. Found this T50 Touring online, the rear window in monteverde3’s pic makes me think its a fastback, as opposed to the notchback/fastscreen body that also appears online. From what I can tell, these were factory bodies.
Sure enough. Here’s the details: New motor and chassis from Estate of EB. Carrosserie coupe profile by Jean Bugatti (used – restored as new by Rich and Son 1952-59). First registered owner-driver Andre Rheault, USA.
And here it is in the former Schlumpf Museum, with the alloy wheels it got later in life.
IIRC, the “notchback” was called “Coach Profilé”, and the fastback Surprofilé
That’s gotta be it! This website seems to think that this very car is Chassis #46482, now part of the Schlumpf Collection in the French National Automobile Museum: http://www.bugattibuilder.com/photo/thumbnails.php?album=632
This style of body was instantly familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure it out through Google either. Nicely done, Chief tin cloud – and monteverde3… to see this parked on the street must have been incredible.
Never knew before that they snagged my photo and researched it. Thanx for the link, Sean.
I see monteverde3’s shot also appeared in Hemmings where he gave the location as near 5th Avenue. One of the Bugatti sites mentions that 46482 was an American export that was restored in the mid-’50s and when this was taken, I bet it probably belonged to (or was being serviced at) a dealership nearby that specialized in cars like this. Theoldmotor.com ran a bunch of vintage shots from there a few years back : http://theoldmotor.com/?s=Alden+Handy
From there it somehow ended up in a private collection in France. Interesting story about how that collection became the museum it currently resides in: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cit%C3%A9_de_l%27Automobile
Another Bugatti parked on E64th Street in 1951:
That’s an easy one: T57 or T57C, 2nd series (1936-1938) coach Ventoux. This was a “factory” body style, which does not mean that another coachbuilder like Gangloff could have built it.
Great research everybody! Thanx! And yeah Sean, it was a life changing event to this nine-year old’s eyes. Instantly made me a classic car addict.
These pix are making me swoon ! .
Sadly I have nary a pic. of Pop’s 1937 Bentley Coupe .
He said it was a St. James , I vividly remember riding it in around Boston and upstate new York when he lived in Rochester at 390 Wellington Av.
Amazingly the car was _junked_ after my idiot middle brother left water in the cooling system in January and it punched a 1/2″ hole on the cylinder head .
-Nate
Oh! That hurts! 😉 Was it a James Young, maybe?
Yeah ;
Being the youngest Child in a non Gear Head Family sucks at times .
Pops liked cars but knew _nothing_ ~ he couldn’t even manage to maintain them for the most part .
Idiot Brother ruined many wonderful oldies in the 1960’s through basic ignorance and stupidity .
Interestingly , he’s a Machinist and like almost every other Machinist I’ve ever met , cannot do Mechanical repairs .
-Nate
Well, you know the old saying, Nate, “You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick your relatives.” 😉
What a great period photo, thanks for posting it! The period when magnificent exotic Classics could be encountered casually parked on the city street is now decades ago. How arresting it must have been for those who knew and appreciated what they had come across through pure serendipity!
What a modern and contemporary looking car! It’s got the requisite blunt front end for pedestrian impact protection, and the tipped-back windshield that suggests aero efficiency. Like a Ferrari cabin plopped on top of a tugboat. Who knew that the present future would look so much like the past?