1934 Bugatti Type 57 Galibier Pillarless Four-Door

Bugatti built 710 examples of the Type 57 motorcar and this particular example wears coachwork by Carrosserie Vanvooren. The chassis was completed in September of 1934 and its coachwork in October. It wears a pillarless four-door Galibier body commissioned by Bugatti and upon completion was sent to Swiss agent Bucar in December of 1934, and used as a demonstration model. The inline 8-cylinder dual overhead camshaft engine displaces 3,257cc and breathes through a single Stromberg carburetor delivering 135 horsepower at 5,000 RPM. There are a four-speed manual gearbox, four-wheel mechanically operated drum brakes, and a live axle in the front and rear with semi-elliptical leafs in the front and reversed quarter-elliptical leaf springs in the back.

By 1938, the car was owned by a Zurich lawyer named Walter Badertscher, before being acquired by Walter Messerli of Autoabbruch Kaufdorf-Riggisberg, Switzerland, and subsequently by an enthusiast named Mr. Eckert. In 1963, Fritz Schlumpf purchased the car from Mr. Eckert for 2,000 francs, and the Bugatti joined the Schlumpf Collection. The Galibier was acquired from the Schlumpf Reserve Collection by the Mullin Automotive Museum in 2009.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2021