Bugatti – Type 57 S (1936)

Between 1933 and the outbreak of the war, the Type 57 was the only production vehicle from Bugatti. The 3.3 litre engine also provided the powerplant for the Type 59 – which went down in history as the last racing car from Bugatti. At the Paris Auto Salon in 1935, Jean Bugatti launched his masterpiece with the presentation of the Type 57 S. He unveiled an aerodynamically streamlined coupé body – the Atlantic. The chassis was optimised both for racing campaigns and for road trips speeding along country avenues. Everything about the 57 S model was directed towards high speed. The inline eight-cylinder engine tuned to generate power offered higher compression and dry-sump lubrication while the shortened, emphatically low-slung frame was fitted with De Ram shock absorbers and a vee-shaped radiator. Bugatti produced a total of 40 Type 57 S roadsters between 1936 and 1938. The roadster presented in the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este was given its body at the eponymous coachbuilder located in London’s Corsica Road. In this connection, it is interesting to note that an aero-body – similar to the Atlantic – was mooted in Bugatti’s order book. The first owner of the two-seater was famous British racing driver Nicky Embiricos. After the Second World War, the roadster won the first sports-car race at Silverstone, campaigned at Good- wood, Shelsley Walsh and completed the Prescott Hillclimb more than 1000 times. Its subsequent storied history is also fascinating. The car is now in the stewardship of only its third owner and all the essential components are still original today.