Bugatti – Type 59 Sports (1934)

Ettore Bugatti was regarded as a visionary traditionalist and an idiosyncratic aesthete, as impressively embodied by this Type 59 Sports. At the same time, the car marked the passing of a unique era as the last grand-prix racing car produced by the automaker based in Alsace.

This racer rolled up to the starting grid with drivers like René Dreyfus at the wheel as part of the works team, competing in the new 750 kilo class during the years 1934 and 1935. However, competition in the form of significantly more powerful cars made life increasingly difficult for the Bugatti racing car, even though it still succeeded in gaining a victory at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa. In fact, 1938 saw the King of Belgium Leopold III take ownership of this car as a well-known aficionado of Bugatti, now with black livery rather than blue. Only four other owners lined up over the almost 90-year history of this former grand-prix campaigner, which then joined a Swiss collection in 2020. The racecar still bears all the traces of its eventful life, which have never been erased by a restoration. This lends the car an extraordinary authenticity imbued with a magnificent aura.