La Vie en Bleu 2019
The famous Gloucestershire hillclimb came over all Gallic in May to celebrate the genius of Ettore Bugatti
Astaggering collection of Molsheim’s finest machines turned out at Prescott Speed Hill Climb on 25-26 May to mark the Bugatti Owners’ Club’s 90th anniversary. The historic gathering was the star feature of Prescott’s traditional La Vie en Bleu weekend, incorporating La Vita Rossa, which drew a marvellously eclectic group to mix with the exotic Bugattis around the Cotswolds venue.
At lunchtime on Sunday, all eyes were on the parade of more than 60 Bugattis, ranging from chaindrive Edwardians to the latest Chiron hypercar, as they gathered on the course for a special photo. Parked around ‘Ettore’s Loop’ on the Long Course, the wondrous set mixed coachbuilt road cars with voiturette racers and Grand Prix greats. Together with the competing Bugattis, and counting the different cars that attended each day, the total was 89 but club chairman Charles Trevelyn is confident that an early visitor was missed off the list. “Members really pushed the boat out,” he enthuses. “The Marks family brought six cars and Neil Corner kindly came from Yorkshire with two. I’m counting the Wimille Type 50B and the Type 35A chassis in the Trust, of course, and the three ‘Baby Bugatti’ electric racers present. I parked mine in the paddock and allowed any child under six to sit in the cockpit – the youngsters loved it!”
The event also honoured marque founder Ettore’s talented son Jean, who died aged just 30 after a testing accident on 11 August 1939, with a special display in the Bugatti Trust museum. As well as two Type 55s, it featured the Fiacre-style 1928 Type 40 coupé that Jean designed for his sisters L’ébé and Lidia. Meanwhile, one of the most beautiful Bugattis present at Prescott was a 1939 Type 57 Atalante, the model
Jean styled late in his short career.
Guests at Prescott included a member of the famous family, Ettore’s grandaughter Caroline, who owns a Type 43. Also on hand was Jean-robert Aumaître, the son of the famous pre-war Bugatti chief race mechanic Robert, who was present on the day of that fatal evening test. Other visitors with strong Bugatti family connections were Lord and Lady Howe.
Fresh from a dramatic outing in the SF Edge Trophy at the Goodwood Members’ Meeting, the oldest Bugatti at Prescott was the spectacular 5-litre, chain-drive Type 18. This Edwardian titan was driven by a 30-year-old Ettore at Le Mans and Mont Ventoux, and later painstakingly restored by the late Nigel Arnold-forster. Its advanced specification for 1912 included three valves per cylinder and a four-speed gearbox, and this great car was clocked at 108mph during the 1981 VSCC Colerne sprint. The spartan, black-painted two-seater contrasted dramatically with the modern Bugatti supercars headed by a 260mph W16 Chiron, two Veyrons and a pair of EB110S from the Romano Artioli era.
Bugatti specialist Tim Dutton brought along a few choice racers including a wonderful unrestored Type 35C. Chassis 4871 was originally a works team car built for the 1928 Targa Florio, where it was driven by Louis Chiron and Guido Foresti. First owned by Mme Jannine Jennky, who used it as a road car, the racer was then sold to Ricardo Bernasconi, who painted it Italian red at Ettore’s instruction. In 1958 this wonderful machine was discovered in an old shop in Marseille by the legendary Bugatti hunter Antoine Raffaëlli. Dutton’s team has rebuilt the mechanicals but carefully preserved the rest of the timewarp machine. “We reckon it’s the most original Type 35 in the world,” says Dutton.
Another respected specialist, Charles Knill-jones of Tula Engineering, turned up with two much talked about cars: a superb Type 59 replica and the ex-hamish Moffatt Brescia. Fresh from a restoration for new owner Nick Mason, the popular Type 13 has been returned to authentic Coupe des Voiturettes style, but many missed the distinctive mud-spattered trials machine.
Never one for the intense motorsport of hillclimbing, enthusiast Neil Corner made a surprise visit with his Type 57S (C&SC, August 2018) as a tribute to BOC legend Ronnie Symondson. The sleek, Corsica-bodied roadster made its Prescott debut in April 1938 and completed 2000 climbs before Symondson’s retirement aged 80 in 1984. Corner is just the third owner, and rates it the fastest pre-war sports car he’s driven.
Another famous Bugatti with long links to the venue was Mike Preston’s magnificent Type 50 Le Mans team car. Rebuilt after its 1935 24 Hours crash, the car was imported by Jack Lemon Burton in 1937 and first competed at the opening Prescott meeting, driven by Jack Crowther in May 1938. It won the over-3-litre supercharged sports car class with a 55.31 secs time on the newly finished course. Just the day before La Vie en Bleu, Preston drove the T50 to Wales and back for a friend’s wedding; next up after Prescott was Ireland for the International Bugatti Rally, which he co-organised.
Since its foundation in December 1929, the Bugatti Owners’ Club has had strong ties with Molsheim. Ettore gifted the club a Type 51, and in 1939 the factory sent a works-prepared Type 59/50B monoposto from Alsace to Prescott for Jean-pierre Wimille to challenge the hill record. Supported by Jean Bugatti and two mechanics, Aumaître and Lucien Wurmser, and with the car wearing twin rear tyres, Wimille gave his all to beat the 1938 record, but was pipped by Raymond Mays in ERA R4D by just 0.55 secs on his first-ever visit.
Both cars were present to mark the 80th anniversary of Wimille’s run, with the highly original Type 50/59B on loan from the Schlumpf Collection for display in the Bugatti Trust. Nick Topliss competed in the legendary black ERA, setting a 52.07 secs best in slippery conditions. The fastest Bugatti during the event was Bo Williams’ T35B at 57.84 secs, while FTD went to Pete Tatham’s OMS 25 Hayabusa with a sensational 40.21 secs, both on the drier track on Saturday.