Considered by many to be the finest racing car of its period and one of the most enduring automotive designs of all time, the Type 35 Grand Prix is the definitive Bugatti.

Unveiled at the 1924 Grand Prix of Lyon, Ettore Bugatti’s Type 35 was immediately hailed as a modern marvel, combining advanced engineering with masterful aesthetic design. Equipped with an overhead-cam, eight-cylinder engine, the original Type 35 produced 95 hp, an impressive figure for a naturally aspirated two-liter machine of the era. The car’s extremely lightweight chassis showcased Bugatti’s revolutionary hollow front axle and cast aluminum wheels with integrated brake drums, while the main mechanical components were clothed in a streamlined two-seat aluminum body that was both elegant and purposeful. The entire car was beautifully made, from its horseshoe radiator to tapered tail, with scraped or polished metal finishes and fine detailing throughout.

Bugatti built several different variations of the Type 35 through 1931, when the model was replaced by the Miller-inspired twin-cam Type 51. Early Type 35s generally followed the pattern set by the original Lyon cars, while more powerful supercharged models of varying engine capacity appeared in 1926. Altogether, the Bugatti works at Molsheim built approximately 350 Type 35s.

A credit to their technical achievements and versatile performance, Bugatti Type 35s dominated racing throughout the late 1920s and early 1930s, with over 1,000 wins in a variety of competitions. It has been said that the Type 35 averaged 14 race wins per week and, by the close of 1926, the model set 47 individual speed records. The Type 35 took the Grand Prix World Championship title in 1926, won the Monaco Grand Prix three times, and the Targa Florio five times. Bugatti’s success attracted the most famous drivers of the day – Nuvolari, Varzi, Divo, Costantini, Chiron, Dreyfus, and Williams all contributed to the legend of the Type 35 Grand Prix.

The Bugatti presented here is a Type 35B – the designation for a 2.3-liter, eight-cylinder model fitted with a Roots-type supercharger. As noted in historian Hugh Conway’s definitive reference book Grand Prix Bugatti, this car, chassis 4817, was originally equipped with engine no. 126T. According to an extensive history report on file by historian Pierre-Yves Laugier, this Type 35B was sold to Giraud & Hoffman for 135,000 FF on March 16, 1927. Five days later, it was driven to Marseille by Marius Giraud and Louis Chiron, the legendary Monegasque driver who won nearly every significant European Grand Prix during his extraordinary three-decade career.

Owned by Giraud, and then listed under Hoffman’s spark plug business, Société Nerka, the car was invariably driven by Chiron. Out of 10 races and hill climbs in the 1927 and 1928 seasons, he won or achieved the fastest time of the day in all but one, in which he placed 2nd. Perhaps the highlight was the 1928 Antibes Grand Prix, where he won ahead of the significant competition of Grover Williams and Rene Dreyfus. The race was immortalized by Geo Ham in an instantly recognizable piece of artwork depicting Chiron being chased along the French coastline. The successes were frequently attributed in the press to Nerka’s spark plugs, turning them into something of a promotional tool as well.

After two years of service for Giraud, Hoffman, and Nerka, Chiron was then driving more often for the Bugatti Works. Chassis 4817 was then used or sold to Guy Bouriat and then to Louis Decaroli – although it was not registered to him until July 1929; it appears that he had use of the car also in advance of its purchase. Decaroli’s entries in Provençal hill climbs and minor circuit races provided initial success, winning at the Domaine Rothschild Hillclimb and Alpilles Hillclimb, but he did not race it through 1930, despite occasional entry listings. Starting in 1931, it was campaigned by Roger Morand of Nice on and off for the next four years, despite only officially acquiring the Bugatti in June 1932. Next followed a series of custodians: Alphonse Guillot, Suzanne Reitz, and Joseph Louis Cesari, who are each listed as new owners, yet all resided at Morand’s address. Morand was similarly successful in various events in the south of France. The Bugatti continued to reside in Nice through its next ownerships under Maurice Blot and René Brooke-Beer, then moved to the Var with Casimir Brarda for a matter of months, before returning to Nice and Marceau Seassau, then Mahoudeau. Only then did it head east to two Montpelier ownerships, that of René de le Beaume and Alfred Wegener.

Most likely hidden during the war, by 1951 it became the property of a young Pierre Bardinon, a name now synonymous with Ferrari for the extraordinary collection that he amassed and his Mas-du-Clos race circuit. In this period, Bardinon’s father Jean corresponded with his friend Count de Boigne, the husband of Lidia Bugatti, to access some parts from the factory. Having undergone a rebuild, the car was in fine fettle – until, in the days leading up to his wedding, it was involved in a crash on an icy road in January 1952. Although not documented, the car must have been repaired and subsequently sold to a Parisian friend, François Guerineau, in March 1953. Retaining the car for two more years, he sold it to “le Haras des Purs Sang de l’Auto” – or, “the thoroughbred stud farm” – which was run by Francis Mortarini and Armand Beressi, who clearly specialized in “la marque.” The pair of thoroughbred traders would funnel a number of Bugattis to America, usually through Bob Estes and Otto Zipper in Los Angeles.

The car’s condition at this point is unclear; however, its later history suggests that the engine had likely been exchanged with that of chassis 4939, and that its chassis plate was retained by Mortarini and Beressi. For a time, the car was identified solely by the only visible evidence of a chassis number – 4939 stamped on the engine bearer. Estes and Zipper sold the car to Dr. Milton Roth, who only owned the car briefly before he passed it on to Bob Hammel, also in Los Angeles. It is listed with him in a 1962 American Bugatti Club Register as chassis 4939, with engine 194T. Hammel is believed to have restored the car, replacing much of the bodywork – which must have been well worn by this stage of its life. He used it for a few years before selling it to Dr. Peter Williamson of Lyme, New Hampshire in 1964. It would reside with him for the next 44 years, resting inside one of the greatest Bugatti collections ever amassed. It included Grand Prix cars, two type 57S Atalantes, and the incomparable 57SC Atlantic. Restorations over this period are reported to have been carried out by Bunny Phillips and later by Don Leffert’s Vintage Auto Restoration.

Upon Dr. Williamson’s death, the majority of the collection was sold at Pebble Beach in 2008, where Mitchell Rasansky acquired this Type 35B Grand Prix. By now, with the advent of increased knowledge and the incredible active participation of a number of Bugatti archivists, its engine and identity switch were fully apparent.

Always curious and keen to improve a car in its detail and research, Mr. Rasansky commissioned Pierre-Yves Laugier to produce a comprehensive report on 4817. This produced not only a race history in its absolute minutiae, but also two other aspects emerged. By visiting the widow of Armand Beressi (former owner of the car) one year during the Paris Rétromobile show, the original brass chassis plate for 4817 was discovered and acquired, confirming that more than likely it had been removed by them before it left France.

Secondly, a quest to retrieve the car’s original engine began, with Mr. Rasansky tracking this down to Roger Howard in Canada, whose own Bugatti Type 35 was powered by that unit, no. 126T. After years of negotiations and tentative agreements to make an exchange, Howard was never able to commit, and would pass before this took place. By chance, the correspondence on file was enough for his estate to reach out to Mr. Rasansky – and while they would not entertain a switch – he was able to acquire the car outright and facilitate his goal. Jim Stranberg carried out this work, which included fitting a brand new crankshaft and rebuilding the original engine, with the two cars returning to Dallas, and 4817 now proudly wearing its original chassis plate and matching-numbers engine casing. The ex-4939 unit from that point on has lived in the ex-Howard car, also offered in this sale (Lot 189).

During the 17 years of his custody, Mr. Rasansky has truly enjoyed his ownership of the Type 35B, displaying it at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® in 2009 as well as at the Harry Miller Club Meet in Milwaukee on occasion. With its classic horseshoe radiator, pointed tail, and alloy wheels, there is no mistaking 4817 for anything but the quintessential Bugatti Grand Prix car, one of the great icons of prewar motoring. As an original Type 35B, it represents the ultimate evolution of Ettore Bugatti’s original, groundbreaking design.

This Type 35B possesses a brilliant racing history, winning at almost every event it contested in the hands of the legendary driver Louis Chiron. The car’s postwar history is well established, having been owned by Bob Hammel and Dr. Peter Williamson from the 1950s to 2008.

Unlike many Bugatti competition cars, it remains in fundamentally original order, surviving over 90 years with its original chassis and matching-numbers engine intact. It is presented in proper, period-correct Grand Prix specification and is well documented, both in various books and club registers, as well as in reports produced by the leading marque historians. This Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix is, quite simply, one of the most desirable automobiles of all time.