1936 Bugatti Type 57 Coupe

The Bugatti Type 57, introduced in 1934, was the first new model built under Jean Bugatti's direction. It incorporated many new features, including a vastly improved twin-overhead camshaft 8-cylinder, 3.3-liter engine based on the previous Type 49. A total of 680 Type 57s were built before the model ceased production in 1940, and many were bodied by French coachbuilders.

This coupe body on this car was mistakenly attributed to Gangloff for years, but intensive research at the Bugatti Trust in England during the car's recent restoration confirms that it was designed by the Parisian Carrosserie of Henri Binder, who is famous for the Coupe de Ville coachwork he created for the Bugatti Type 41 Royale. Today the car is exactly as it was when it was delivered in 1936.

This 1936 Bugatti Type 57 was purchased in 1968 from an ad in an AACA publication for $1,850. The transaction was completed via U.S. Mail, as there was no phone number in the advertisement. The owner still has the publication and corresponding letters confirming the transaction. It was then transported from Costa Mesa, California, to Dayton, Ohio. It was in rough but operational condition and was driven occasionally. In 1976 it was taken to a shop in Cincinnati, Ohio for restoration until the late 1980s when the restorer suffered a stroke and could no longer work. With all the wood framing and some of the metalwork completed, the car was then transported back to Dayton and then to Competition Motors in 1994. The restoration was completed in 2016.