1927 Bugatti Type 35B Boattail Racer

- One of approximately 37 Type 35Bs constructed by Bugatti in Molsheim
- Named by the factory 'Type 35TC (Targa Compressor), it became known as the 'Type 35B'
- Originally used as a touring car until it was purchased for racing in 1934, chassis 4849 primarily raced at Brooklands and Donington, then the only two English racing circuits at that time

Drivers:
- Charlie Martin
- Jack Leith
- Duncan Hamilton

Formerly owned by Le Mans winner Duncan Hamilton.

An excerpt from Duncan Hamilton's autobiography Touch Wood, where he recounts a particularly challenging preparation session for a hill climb:

'We worked all weekend to get it ready for a meeting at Shelsley. I was so anxious to road test her when we had finished that I did not take into account the fact that we had fitted twin-rears in readiness for the hill climbs. I arrived at the exit doing perhaps fifty miles an hour, only to find that though my front wheels passed through safely enough, the gap was too narrow to accommodate twin-rears, and I left the entire back axle assembly behind. There was nothing for it but to begin all over again. We worked all day-various odd friends lending a hand from time to time -- and then right through the night; it was not until ten-thirty the next morning that she was ready for the road once again. I was so tired that I completely forgot about the twin-rears and proceeded to execute a repeat performance of the previous day's happenings. Once again the back axle assembly and the car parted company, to the astonishment, not only of myself, but of all the well-wishers who had gathered to lend a hand and to offer encouragement.

Ownership History
This Bugatti Type 35B has led a long and active life spanning nearly 80 years. It served its first owner as a road car and then began an active racing career that endured into the 1950s. It was most notably driven by Jaguar LeMans winner, Duncan Hamilton, in the mid-1940s and remained competitive even during that period. It later found a home at the Harrah's Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada where it was restored to its former glory. Since the mid-1980s it has been in the William Lyon Family Collection. It is as much a piece of automotive history as art.

Bugatti Chassis No 4849 was one of only two Type 35B's imported new to England. It was unusually delivered by road under its own power from Molsheim to London. No 4849 was received in May of 1927 by Alexander Keiller, a member of the Scottish family business famous for jams and marmalades. Keiller was not a racing driver but rather an enthusiastic owner who enjoyed driving his cars on the public highway, notably in his native Scotland. Like the Type 35 he owned previously, Keiller had No 4849 painted black. He kept this car for no less than seven years before trading it to Thomson & Taylor's the Brooklands-based racing car specialists. After years of road use No 4849's racing career would begin in earnest when it was purchased by CEC (Charlie) Martin in 1934.

Martin was an active racer, having campaigned a Type 37 throughout 1932 and 1933. He recalled the car fondly in the January 1937 issue of Bugantics, the Bugatti Owner's Club Magazine, where Martin provided a very detailed account of the modifications he made to the car and his racing successes. At some point during Martin's ownership, he repainted No 4849 blue. Having ordered a new Type 59 from the factory, Martin sold No. 4849 at the end of the 1935 season to the Hon. Jack Leith. Leith raced the car with a fair degree of success throughout 1935 and the start of the 1936 season, like Martin, principally at Brooklands and Donington, then the only two English racing circuits. He also entered events at other venues, notable at Shelsley Walsh and in Ireland for the Mannin Moar race where he unavoidably collided with an errant Alfa Romeo on the second lap. At some point during his ownership of the car, No 4849 was repainted red. Though it appears possible that No 4849 may have had another owner briefly, in 1936, it passed to Andrew Leitch who made his debut appearance with it at the Brooklands Whitsun meeting held on June 1, 1936, when he also drove the Type 37 in which he had competed during the previous season.