• Year of manufacture 
    1937
  • Car type 
    Other
  • Lot number 
    150
  • Condition 
    Used
  • Location
    United States
  • Exterior colour 
    Other

Description

  • Retains its original chassis, engine, gearbox, differential, and body
  • One of eight Type 57S examples bodied by Corsica, and only two four-seat tourers
  • Only 16 Type 57S Bugattis delivered with open coachwork
  • Known and fascinating ownership history
  • Formerly of the Judge North and General Lyon collections
  • Documented in Pierre-Yves Laugier’s and Bernhard Simon and Julius Kruta’s seminal books on the model

THE IDEAL EXPRESSION OF ‘PUR SANG’

The cars of the great Ettore Bugatti came in many shapes and sizes, from petite, highly effective grand prix racers to large, elegant touring cars—to say nothing of the enormous Bugatti Type 41 Royales. All shared a reputation for precision engineering and craftsmanship often, and not unjustifiably, compared to that of the finest Swiss timepieces; their chassis served as canvasses for some of the most beautiful automotive designs ever created.

Arguably no Bugatti model expressed each of the marque’s celebrated qualities as effortlessly as the Type 57S. Introduced at the Paris Auto Salon in October 1936 alongside the supercharged Type 57C, the 57S was an evolution of Jean Bugatti’s successful Type 57 design. Built upon a completely re-engineered chassis that was both shorter and lower (the S standing for surbaisse, French for “lowered”), the Type 57S used a front axle that was articulated in halves, while the rear axle passed through the frame rather than under it for a lower overall stance. A magneto-driven ignition was mated to the specially tuned 3.3-liter dual-overhead cam inline-eight-cylinder engine, which featured a higher compression ratio of 8.5:1 and was positioned low in the frame; a dry sump oiling system helped achieved proper road clearance. This low-slung chassis was then fitted with an equally low-mounted radiator that wore a handsome V-shaped grille in the classic Bugatti motif for, as might be presumed, its aerodynamic effect at high speed.

This potent combination added up to a significant increase in both horsepower and overall performance over the typical Type 57 engine and chassis. The 57S now boasted 175 horsepower versus the standard Type 57 output of 135 horsepower, and when adding the available “C” specification Roots-type supercharger power output was raised to 200 horsepower. This enabled a top speed of some 120 mph, making Bugatti the fastest French production car of the period and further burnishing the marque’s reputation for thoroughbred performance.

The Type 57S soon proved itself in competition, claiming three victories during 1936 (the French Grand Prix, La Marne Grand Prix, and the Comminges Grand Prix). Bugatti’s greatest success on the track was soon to come when a groundbreaking aerodynamic version of the 57S called the 57G “Tank” won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1937. Overall victory at Le Mans was later repeated by a second incarnation of the Tank in 1939, among many other competition successes.

If there is one further quality shared by all Bugatti automobiles, it is the unusual passion they have inspired in those who have pursued them. This as is true of those who first commissioned their construction at Bugatti’s Molsheim works—a process that more closely resembled the classic artist/patron relationship than it did the typical automaker/client transaction—as it is of those later enthusiasts who have gone to great lengths to preserve the Pur Sang legacy. This special dynamic is evident in the story of the car presented here: Chassis number 57512, a 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Tourer by Corsica.

BUGATTI CHASSIS NUMBER 57512

Excellence in competition was, of course, only one facet of the Type 57S’ appeal; as a luxurious, high-performance road car, the Type 57S would benefit from some of the greatest coachbuilt designs of all time. While most bodies were supplied by French firms such as Gangloff (a favorite for carrying out some of Jean Bugatti’s best-recognized designs), Vanvooren, or Bugatti’s own Works, British coachbuilders such as Vanden Plas and Corsica also applied their trade to the 57S with perhaps as many as 15 chassis slated for delivery to England. Ultimately, only 16 Type 57S chassis would be built as open cars, with this Tourer by Corsica being one of them.

Corsica Coachworks was established at Kings Cross, London, in 1920 by Charles Stammers and his brothers-in-law, Joseph and Robert Lee. A relatively small operation, the firm claimed not to have employed designers, preferring instead to directly carry out its customers’ devices and desires. Because Corsica was small and could intimately cater to its customers’ whims, the workshop attracted many of the sporting crowd. While little is known of the early 1920s Corsica output, a good deal of it is believed to have involved Bentley.

The early 1930s brought some of the best-known Corsica coachwork, including a low-slung sports body for the Double-Six 50 Daimler and an open two-seater for Donald Healey’s 1935 Triumph Dolomite, by which time the Works had moved to Cricklewood. In addition to traditional British marques, Corsica also worked on Continental chassis, mainly Alfa Romeo and Mercedes-Benz. Later on, more than a dozen Type 57 Bugattis were bodied by Corsica, including a 57S roadster style body for Sir Malcolm Campbell, the Grand Prix driver and land-speed record holder, and the monumental 57S roadster created for Colonel Giles, who affectionately referred to this masterpiece as “La Petite Suzanne.” Like many of the bespoke builders, Corsica closed its doors during World War II, never to re-open.

Corsica built a total of only eight bodies on the Type 57S chassis, including four two-seat roadster bodies (including the Sir Malcolm Campbell and La Petite Suzanne cars), two closed car bodies (of which one example no longer survives), and two four-seat tourer bodies. Chassis 57512 was the second four-seat tourer commissioned, with each being uniquely constructed to show obvious variations from one chassis to the other. The first chassis, no. 57503, abruptly ends the curve of the fenders just behind the wheels, while proudly displaying the oil tank just behind the left front wing.

The example offered here extends the length of the fenders front and rear to gracefully hide the oil tank and visually lengthen the car for a dramatic finish to the rear profile. The configuration of the side-mounts was also treated differently for both examples, with the spare suspended mid-flank on 57503 rather than carefully crafting the side-mount into the extended driver side fender as is seen on this car.

A WELL-LOVED AND FORTUNATE TYPE 57S

The history of this 57S begins with the delivery of its chassis on 8 March 1937 to Colonel Sorel at the Bugatti agency in London for Mr. Hubert Papworth, known for running a Bugatti tuning service in Fulham, London. The chassis was then taken to the Corsica Coachworks to have the open four-seater tourer body fitted. Soon after completion, 57512 was delivered to its first owner Mr. Maurice Fox-Pitt Lubbock, who registered the Bugatti in London with license DXP 970 in March 1937. Maurice Lubbock’s name was listed in the March issue of Bugantics when he joined the B.O.C. Club, which also congratulated him on the purchase of his new Type 57S Bugatti.

Mr. Maurice Fox-Pitt Lubbock was a close friend of Jean Bugatti, who frequently drove him along the tight vineyard roads in Alsace at a very high rate of speed each time Mr. Lubbock visited the factory. Perhaps due in part to Jean’s driving inspiration, Maurice also enjoyed exercising his new Bugatti in a spirited manner, even when carrying the family at speeds of 100 mph or better. One can imagine the heartbreak Maurice Lubbock experienced when he was forced to sell his prized Bugatti after being elected president of Rolls-Royce, approximately 10 years after he first took delivery. It is around this period that a photograph was taken of the car surrounded by eight other Bugattis including three additional 57S models in front of the Continental Cars Ltd. garage in Surrey.

By the time 57512 was sold directly from Lubbock to its next owner, Leonard Potter, the car had been fitted with a factory Roots-type supercharger. Some historians, including Julius Kruta, have reported that the car was upgraded to 57SC specifications at the factory in 1939, while others, such as Pierre-Yves Laugier, suggest it may have been supercharged while in the service of Continental Cars. At any rate, 57512 was upgraded to the ultimate supercharged specification early in its life. Only two cars are known to have been fitted from the factory during production with superchargers, rendering them 57SC examples. The vast majority of Type 57SCs were upgraded to supercharged specification sometime after their initial delivery, with a number of examples being retrofitted decades later.

The car was sold once again by a London garage called “Speed Models,” as was reported by The Autocar magazine dated 24 February 1950. The car was shipped to a Mr. Thomson in New York, who administered the sale to an advertising executive named Walter Stocklin. While in the hands of Stocklin, 57512 was raced at Long Island, Bridgehampton, and Watkins Glen during the early 1950s. By 1955, Stocklin apparently decided he would like for his Bugatti to possess all of the characteristic of a Grand Prix race car and had the original Corsica coachwork removed and replaced with a simple two-seater racing-style body constructed by Hiram Hillegas. Stockton used the car sparingly after the modifications took place and the car was sol


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Mr
First name 
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Sabatie-Garat

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