Forgotten Bugatti Type 54 surfaces at the historic hill climb
Third Chateau Impney Hill Climb meeting continues to secure exclusive debuts
ABugatti with a fearsome reputation and a veteran of the first F1 race were among the highlights of the Chateau Impney Hill Climb’s eclectic spread of contenders, ranging from pre-war aero-engined monsters to modern F1 via Group B rally cars and Fifties sports-racers. Bugatti Type 54 ‘They were built for big, high-speed circuits,’ said Tim Dutton of his monstrous Bugatti Type 54, which was making its first public appearance in Europe since the Fifties. ‘Only four works cars were built and this one, chassis 54208, was the last – essentially it combines a 5-litre twin-cam straight-eight from a Type 50 plus a shaft-driven supercharger in a Grand Prix chassis.
‘This is the only Type 54 not to have killed anyone – they were very fast and dangerous to drive but this one was a spare car that Bugatti cannibalised during the 1931 Grand Prix season.
‘It ended up at Molsheim in bits. It stayed there until the late Fifties when it went to the US with Ray Jones who put the engine from 54 Chassis 3 – the La Turbie Hillclimb winner – in it. It stayed in the US and was restored before coming over here. We’ve spent three months sorting out the steering.
‘It’s heavy with a lot of weight over the front wheels, so it understeers. It’s designed for big oval circuits, not changing direction quickly!’
Cooper MKIV
‘This was the first British-built car to race in F1, and the first rear-engined F1 car,’ said restorer Simon Frost of the ex-harry Schell Cooper MKIV (below).
‘Schell bought it for racing on the continent, and despite the stars-and-stripes livery it’s never been to America. It’s a long-wheelbase car bought with two engines – a V-twin for F2 and a 500cc for F3.
‘Schell raced it in the support race for the very first Monaco Grand Prix in 1950, winning the 500cc heat and coming second only to Stirling Moss in the final. After that came the F1 qualifying, so Schell put the F2 V-twin back in it and blagged himself an entry – hence its two claims to F1 fame. Unfortunately there was a big incident on the harbour that left fuel all over the track and led to a 12-car pile-up it got caught up in. After that it went on to beat the works Ferraris at an F2 race at Ais-le-bains. Afterwards Schell was offered works drives and gave the Cooper to his brother Philip.
‘It’s now owned by French collector Gilbert Lenoir. He bought it from a French car museum with various bits missing and I restored it for him.’ ‘This was the first car that could be bought from the factory with a supercharger,’ said Roy Tubby of his recently-acquired 1927 BNC (below). ‘It stands for Bonallack, Netter & Co, and was made in a factory down the road from the Montlhéry circuit.
‘Only seven supercharged models were made. A friend has a non-supercharged example that I really wanted to buy, which led to me sourcing this one. It had been restored in France but it’ll take a little while to sort out – I’ve managed to blow the head gasket already, so its weekend is over!’