Bonhams
Lot 105
Offered from preservation within a single ownership for the past 51 years - The ex-Sir Robert Ropner/Rodney 'Connaught' Clarke/Bill Turnbull1937 Bugatti Type 57 Surbaisse 3.3-Litre Four-Seat Sports Grand Routier 'Dulcie'Coachwork by Corsica of Cricklewoood, LondonRegistration no. DUL 351Chassis no. 57503Engine no. 16S*Based from period upon the main rails of an ex-works team 1936 Bugatti Type 57G 'Tank' sports-racing car, lightweight chassis frame*The T57S - Bugatti's finest combination of performance, comfort and drivability*Only five highly capable and competent owners from new*The last known Type 57S with Corsica coachwork in remarkably original order*The vast majority of mechanical restoration complete and ready to run*The magnate's supercar based on works Bugatti 'Tank' streamliner chassis railsHere BONHAMS is delighted to offer not only one of the most significant Bugatti Type 57 Grand Routier cars to have survived from period, but also one with an outstandingly significant history.Most notably this uniquely important Bugatti has, in effect, been preserved for the past 51 years within the single ownership of an exceptionally well-qualified British-based engineer and Bugatti marque enthusiast – the late Bill Turnbull – and it has now been established that its distinctively lightened chassis – adopted as its basis by the Bugatti factory at Molsheim during the winter of 1936-37 - re-uses mainframe members of the type designed for the renowned works-entered Bugatti Type 57G 'Tank' streamlined sports-racing cars. These super-successful aerodynes dominated both the 1936 French Grand Prix and subsequent Marne GP before setting astonishingly high-speed class world records over a range of distances and durations.While this important car's long years in Mr Turnbull's ownership have seen it mechanically restored and rebuilt to his uncompromising personal standards – since he was Chief Engineer of the renowned JCB company's Hydrapower Division during this period – its British-built Corsica bodywork, dating from 1937, has been preserved virtually untouched. In fact '57503' as offered here is believed bodily to be the last surviving 'unrestored' Type 57S. Only some 42 of these Bugatti Type 57S cars were produced in their limited run at the Molsheim factory. They were powered by an unsupercharged 3.3-litre, twin- overhead-camshaft straight-8 cylinder engine with dry-sump lubrication, and magneto ignition.This power unit drove to the live rear axle via a two-plate clutch and 4-speed manual gearbox. The rear axle was mounted on the forward ends of two reversed quarter-elliptic leaf springs and, unique to this model, passed through two large apertures in the deep-section chassis side members instead of being slung beneath them. This feature lowered the car considerably, reducing its centre of gravity height and enhancing its roadholding compared to that of the far more numerous longer, taller and heavier standard Type 57 . In fact the 'S' suffix of '57S' is generally accepted to indicate 'surbaissé' – the French term for 'low' or 'lowered' - while the alternative 'Sport' is also widely applied. The hollow front axle was suspended upon two leaf springs, each passing through the axle tube in typical Bugatti fashion. However, the Type 57S front axle was built up from two halves, with a centreline joint featuring external left- and right- hand threads supported internally by a double-ended tapering mandrel. These two halves are joined by a double-threaded external collar, permitting a limited degree of independent rotation as the springs flexed.Highly efficient, sophisticated and complex De Ram shock absorbers damped suspension front and rear. Large-diameter finned brake drums housed cable-operated alloy brake shoes. Bugatti '57503's electrics were principally by Scintilla, the windscreen wiper motor a Bosch WS12. As delivered to its first owner ex-works in 1937 the car was equipped with Scintilla headlamps, Lucas front side lights, an Ace Cornercraft rear light box, and a chrome-plated Notek 'Drive Master' driving lamp. The car also featured a Ki-Gass starting system. As discussed by Turnbull correspondents (and fellow Bugattistes) Leonard Potter and Ronnie Symondson, it seems probable this system initially had only two jets adjacent to the carburetor, subsequently altered to four - as surviving on the car today.Factory records show that Colonel Sorel - Bugatti's UK agent based in Brixton, London - placed an order with the factory on November 7, 1936, to fulfil a sale just secured by Jack Barclay Ltd. A copy of the original Jack Barclay Sales Record Card survives in this car's accompanying history file – a rare provenance document indeed. Their new customer was Mr Robert Ropner (later knighted in 1959 as Sir Robert Ropner), 28-year-old scion of the Ropner shipping-line family.Bugatti shipped 'Chassis Nu' ('unbodied rolling chassis') '57503' to England on January 29, 1937, £850 being the invoiced sum paid by Jack Barclay Ltd on February 2. They took Mr Ropner's Mercedes-Benz 540K in part- exchange valued at £800, plus a balancing cheque of £450 9s 3d - Sir Robert's 1969 memory of the price having been £1,250 being correct to within a few shillings and pence.
