1936 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante

Bugatti introduced the Type 57 at the Paris motor show in October 1933. It came powered by a straight-eight dual overhead cam engine that would endure throughout the Type 57 production with few modifications. Approximately 700 Type 57s were made from 1934 to 1939 when production ceased at the outbreak of WWII.

This Bugatti Type 57 was bodied as a Galibier Berline, and was delivered new to Leon Tiberghien in the north of France in 1936. In 1949, it was traded back to the factory by Paul Haeffele of Molsheim. In 1961, it was acquired as a bare chassis by Fritz Schlumpf and was kept in the Malmerspach reserve collection for several decades. In early 1964, Mr. Schlumpf acquired some 30 Bugattis from Illinois collector John Shakespeare, including a Bugatti Atalante that had been damaged in a road accident. The car (57686) was listed as 57618, due to an identity and chassis plate switch that had taken place at the factory after September 1939. This discrepancy was not discovered until decades later.

Once in the care of Mr. Schlumpf's collection, the Atalante body was removed from 57686 and spent many years in storage alongside the 57386 chassis. In the 1990s, Uwe Hucke acquired the 57386 chassis and the Atalante body from the Schlumpf reserve collection which was then held by the Musée National de l'Automobile in Mulhouse, France, in exchange for a large amount of unique Bugatti factory documentation that Mr. Hucke had amassed during a lifetime of collecting. The aluminum Atalante coachwork and steel front fenders were mounted by Mr. Hucke on the 57386 chassis. During this time, the Bugatti had its original engine number 281, original gearbox, differential, front and rear axles, and original chassis and patent plates. Initially finished in dark red, Mr. Hucke sold the 57386 Atalante to Guy Huet of Switzerland in 2003. While in Mr. Huet's ownership, the Bugatti was refinished in its current black and cream color scheme.

In 2015, the Bugatti entered the collection of Greg Manocherian, who commissioned Scott Sargent of Sargent Metal Works of Bradford, Vermont, to refine and upgrade the Atalante. This, along with other work, totaled some $350,000. After the work was complete, the car was acquired by a European collector.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019