1937 Bugatti Type 57 Atalante Coupe

The Bugatti Type 57 was produced from 1934 to 1940, with a total of 710 examples built. Power was from a twin-cam, 3.3-liter inline 8-cylinder engine from the Type 59 Grand Prix cars, offering 135 horsepower in naturally aspirated configuration. With a Roots-Type supercharger installed, output rose to 160 horsepower. Cars in this configuration were known as the Type 57C.

Many Bugatti automobiles were influenced and, in many cases, designed by Ettore Bugatti's son, Jean, including the Type 57. The styling of the Atalante coupe featured a distinctive curved beltline molding, a favorite design touch of Jean, and a roofline that swept up from a sharply raked windshield. The design was first presented in French newspapers in the spring of 1935, with the first ten examples described as Faux Cabriolets before the name Atalante was embraced. Approximately thirty-three examples of the Atalante by any name were produced between April 1935 and December 1938.

This 1937 Bugatti Type 57C Atalante was ordered on May 20, 1937, and completed on August 13. Upon completion, it wore a black exterior with brown velvet upholstery. Its headlights were mounted between the radiator shell and the crowns of the front fenders, and a spare wheel and tire were concealed fully within the tail rather than in the typical Atalante position set down into the surface of the rear deck.

The car's original owner was Baron Louis Sers of Paris, France. It was registered in the summer of 1937 with Parisian plate '8244 RL 2,' and remained with its first owner until May 1939, when he traded it on a used Vanvooren-bodied coupe. A month later, it was sold to Roger Morand of Paris, and it is believed that the present supercharger, numbered 57, was likely installed in this period.

Mr. Morand passed away in 1945, and the Bugatti was sold around this time but remained in storage in Paris until resurfacing, still with its original registration, in 1955. It was purchased by Gaston Docime, who kept it briefly before selling it to international Bugatti traders Jean de Dobbeleer and Gene Cesari, who in turn sold it to Marland F. Langley of Concord, New Hampshire, in 1957. Mr. Langley later sold the Bugatti to Jim Stickley, then of Brookline, Massachusetts, who sold it through Ed Jurist's Vintage Car Store in Nyack, New York, to Christopher Owen. While in Mr. Owen's care, the Bugatti was given some restoration work before it was sold in 1979 to Thomas Perkins of Belvedere, California. Mr. Perkins had the car completely restored by Phil Reilly and Company, then was judged First in Class at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 1981.

When the Bugatti was sold into new ownership, the car moved to Japan where it remained in a collection for fifteen years. In 2004 it returned across the Pacific to the United States and was purchased by J. Peter Ministrelli of Detroit, Michigan. After owning the car for two years, it was sold to John O'Quinn, from whom it was bought by the Academy of Art University in August 2009.

The Bugatti was shown at the San Francisco International Auto Show in 2009 and several times at Western concours d'elegance.

Along with the restoration by Phil Reilly, it was cosmetically re-freshened in the early 2000s by the former Alan Taylor & Co. Currently, it has 19,911 miles.

This Bugatti has its original chassis plate, the original front axle stamped 809, and the original engine with its original chassis and engine number stampings. The cam boxes, however, are not original and were replaced during the early 1950s. An original Stromberg UUR2 carburetor is fitted, and the Scintilla generator box retains its original tag. The gearbox casing is also marked 409, as is the rear axle. Many of the body panels are stamped with their original number 20.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2023