Mick Walsh From the cockpit
Britain has long had strong links with Bugatti. As well as the connections with famous racers, Land Speed Record legends and aristocratic owners that Le Patron Ettore always valued, English enthusiasts were the first to form a dedicated Bugatti owners’ group. Brits were among the soonest to restore Bugattis after WW2, while Hugh Conway’s research and books later set the standard, recording history when memories were still fresh and key figures survived.
No country raced vintage Bugattis with such verve, headed by memorable characters such as Hamish Moffatt and Geoffrey St John, hands-on fanatics more focused on performance than matching numbers. And no Bugatti-only race has matched the spectacle of 25 of them battling at the 2014 Goodwood Members’ Meeting.
Years ending with nine are always special for fans of the Molsheim masterpieces because they mark the anniversary of the marque and the Bugatti Owners’ Club. I’ll never forget ‘The Amazing Bugattis’ exhibition staged by the Design Council at the Royal College of Art in 1979, the first display to combine the remarkable artistry of three generations of the Italian family. Father Carlo’s bizarre but beautifully made Art Nouveau furniture was in the spotlight, along with sons Ettore’s cars and Rembrandt’s brilliant animal sculptures, while Jean’s elegant automotive styling highlighted a third generation. Bugattis also gathered in Hyde Park for a parade.
Prescott, although discovered by Tom Rolt of the Vintage Sports-car Club, will always be associated with the BOC because it held the first true hillclimb at the picturesque venue on 15 May 1938. Jack Lemon Burton and Arthur Baron battled for fastest time in Type 51s, with the latter’s 50.70 secs quickest by 0.04 secs.
As proved at La Vie en Bleu last month, where 90 Bugattis visited over the weekend for the club’s anniversary event, Prescott is still at the heart of matters Molsheim, not least the Trust’s wonderful Visitor Centre. Much more than a museum, the packed building encourages all generations with research, lectures, educational workshops and even drawing classes.
Angela Hucke, the Trust’s curator, grew up around Bugattis because her father, Uwe, was a dedicated and generous connoisseur. “I have many rich memories with these amazing cars and the wonderful characters we met,” enthuses Hucke, “but the trips out in Dad’s 4WD Type 53
will never be forgotten. We lived close to Mont Ventoux and La Turbie and would drive to the famous hillclimbs for fun. Its roadholding was remarkable. The temperature would be baking hot at the bottom of Mont Ventoux, but by the time we reached the top it was freezing. Once, halfway up La Turbie, we met a group of Tibetan monks in their burgundy robes. They stopped everything to admire the Bugatti.”
Other highlights include testing the ex-hellé Nice Grand Prix Type 35 for C&SC. “If there was a life-changing drive, that was it,” she says.
Hucke became a director of the Bugatti Trust in 1999 and has been a driving force ever since: “We’re a small team of three but have a core of wonderful volunteers. The Trust is a registered charity dependent on donations and not connected to the club, but members are very generous. We’ve been given René Dreyfus’ 1934 Belgian Grand Prix cup, while historian Max Tomlinson regularly makes models for us.”
Links with the Alsace region continue with the loan of the timewarp Type 59/50B monoposto from the Collection Schlumpf in Mulhouse to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the works entry at Prescott for Resistance hero Jean-pierre Wimille. The display also highlights the life and work of Jean Bugatti, who supported Wimille at Prescott on 30 July 1939 but was killed in a road accident just 12 days later close to the factory.
Open all year round on weekdays, the Trust is a must-visit. See www.bugatti-trust.co.uk
‘As proved at La Vie en Bleu last month, Prescott is still at the heart of matters Molsheim, not least the Trust Centre’