Description
This car is Lot 126 to be auctioned by Bonhams|Cars at The Bonmont Sale on 29 June, please see the Bonhams website for full details.
Public Viewing:
Available Friday 27 June from 13:00 until 19:00, Saturday 28 June from 10:00 until 18:00 and Sunday 29 June from 10:00, at The Golf & Country Club de Bonmont.
Lot 126
1936 Bugatti Type 57 Berline
Registration no.
Chassis no. 57414
Matching engine, gearbox, rear axle and chassis numbers
Known history
Extensive recent restoration
Swiss registration document
The Type 57 was presented at the October 1933 Motor Show as a four-door pillarless saloon, named "Galibier". After three prototypes, built for this presentation, 38 production cars came into circulation in 1934, then the Bugatti coachbuilding atelier retired this type of chassis until 1936. Indeed, it produced only one saloon, chassis 57292, in 1935, before coachbuilding 13 in 1936. After a break in production in June 1936, the third series of Galibier saloons would not be revealed until October 1938, this time more aerodynamic and lighter, thanks to the use of aluminium.
In 1935, the clients of the factory who wished to acquire a four-door saloon on a Type 57 chassis had to turn to the coachbuilder Vanvooren in Courbevoie. From the end of the 1920s, Vanvooren offered saloons on 3 and 5L chassis, then two-door sedans on chassis 49. A system mounted on silent blocks ensured a silence and comfort appreciated by their wealthy clientele. Vanvooren coachbuilt a first Type 57 Saloon, chassis 57175, in June 1934, then presented 57230 at the October Motor Show, producing a total of 13 automobiles up to the end of 1935, before producing three last saloons in 1936, chassis 57380, 57414 and 57418.
For its part, the Gangloff workshop in Colmar would produce, between 1936 and 1938, a total of around 24 sleek and exclusive saloon models. The first of these, known as "aerodynamic", chassis 57421 and 57445, were presented at the October 1936 Motor Show.
It would seem that only 5 of some 17 Vanvooren Type 57 Saloons remain, including 57224 and 57338, which can be found in the Musée Schlumpf's inventory, then 57291, 57380, and our model, chassis 57414.
Chassis 57414, fitted with engine 212, came into circulation in April 1935 before being delivered to Vanvooren to receive its saloon coachwork. It was on 14th May 1936 that the finished car was delivered to Otto Graf. It was already registered as of 27th February 1936 under number 6396 HR 1, in the name of Otto Graf, 5 rue du Château d'Eau, Dôle (the address of Graf's factory). Its purchase price was 15, 000 ff, plus the exchange of his old car, a 1935 saloon, chassis 57233, for 30, 000 ff.
Otto Graf (1898-1978) came from a Swiss family originally from the canton of Bern; his father Gottlieb (1865-1940), a cheesemaker, settled in Pontarlier in 1915. In 1917, Gottlieb founded a cheese factory in Château Poiset in Dôle, with his elder sons, Gottlieb, born in 1888, and Emile, born in 1889, using the recipe for processed cheese from Gerber in Switzerland. Otto was born in Corgemont, in the canton of Bern, on 26th May 1898. He received his foreign national's identity card in 1917. In 1918, the company Graf Frères et Cie was set up. The Graf brothers were the first to produce "Crème de Gruyère", soon followed by the cheesemaker Leon Bel of Lons le Saunier, where Emile Graf had completed an apprenticeship in 1920-1921. He would say that he was the genitor of The Laughing Cow. In February 1922, the company would take the name S. A. des Anciens Etablissements Graf Frères. Its head office was at 5 rue du Château d'Eau. Otto Graf was head of production and lived at Villa Bellevue, while his brother Emile lived at the Villa des Rochers, the business prospered, and Otto was able to partake in his various interests. He had his horse, Crésus, take part in the races, notably winning the 1934 Prix de Londres, but he also used to sponsor different sports, both football and rugby.
Above all, the Graf brothers were great automobile enthusiasts and were close to the Bugatti family. Emile was himself a friend of Ettore and bought a 5-litre and two Type 57s new. Gottlieb had a driver for his Hispano and his Type 49. Otto, for his part, first acquired a second-hand Type 43 in 1930 before acquiring, from new, a Type 49 in 1931, a 46S Million Guiet in 1932, a Type 57 in 1935, and finally his Vanvooren Saloon chassis 57414 in 1936.
The historian Michel Renaud tells us that Otto Graf's passion for automobiles even led him to open a garage in 1935 named "Au Grand Garage", at 3 avenue de la Gare in Dôle, then to have a petrol station built at 3 bis avenue de Paris.
Otto was arrested on 3rd July 1944 by the Feldgendarmerie, as a Resistance network was operating from one of the Graf residences. He was deported to Germany via Belfort in a convoy of 29th August 1944, prisoner number 43582, with his nephew Robert, aged 19. He returned from deportation in February 1945, freed thanks to his brother Emile's connections with the president of the Helvetic Confederation. He returned to live in Dôle and married Marguerite Thurillet on 27th July 1951. He died in Dôle on 2nd September 1978. The Graf factory was sold to the Bel Group, known for Apéricubes, Babybel, The Laughing Cow, etc., in 1960.
As for 57414, it was sold by Otto Graf on his return from the camps. An application for a certificate of vehicle lien release (certificat de non-gage) was made on 20th August 1945, and a sale was made on 9th October to an enthusiast from Lyon who registered the vehicle under number 4498 PG 3.
The car was sold again on 28th January 1946 to a businessman from Alsace by the name of Albert Riegel, 2 rue Saglio in Strasbourg. It was registered under 3752 NV 5. Albert Riegel was known for his concrete building components business, Zavagno-Riegel et Cie.
57414 then came into the hands of Strasbourg hôtelier Henri Meurdra, himself known for having owned 11 Bugattis between 1931 and 1955. While no sale was registered between Riegel and Meurdra, we can see 57414 in photos in front of the latter's hotel: "Henri".
On 23rd June 1954, the high command of the 48th Battalion, medical section, of the US Army, authorised John Bayard Britton (1925-1995) to acquire the Bugatti from Meurdra, with a certificate of sale by Riegel to Meurdra. The authorization for import into the military zone in Germany was signed on 25th June and the official sale took place on 30th June between Riegel and Lieutenant Britton, resident in Bruchweg 10-B 2 in Mainz am Rhein. The certificate of registration in the Europe-US zone dates from 18th March 1955. We were able to trace a registration in the US dating from 27th April 1959 in the name of Dr Britton of Charlottesville, Virginia. The car was also mentioned in the 1962 Bugatti Register published by H. G. Conway, described as a "pillarless saloon, purchased in 1954 from its owner, a Strasbourg resident" and stating that it was in the hands of Dr John Bayard Britton, resident at 34 North 14th Street, Ferdinanda Beach, Florida.
Britton kept the car for over 40 years, until his tragic death in 1994. Britton, a doctor who worked with women in difficult situations, practicing legal abortions at his clinic, he had worn a bullet-proof vest and carried a . 357 Magnum revolver since the murder of his predecessor. That was not enough to prevent being murdered, him and his bodyguard by Paul Jennings Hill on 29th July 1994.
In 1995, Jim Stranberg accompanied the Britton family to sell the Bugatti to a couple named Laverne and Marlene Johnson at 1000 Three Miles Road, Grosse Point Park, Missouri.
The Bugatti was then restored and painted two-tone brown and green. It was then presented at various concours d'élégance, such as that in Meadowbrook in 1999 or in Cranbrook in 2005. On the death of Laverne Johnson in 2013, his wife Marlene sold 57414 to the dealer Jack Braam-Ruben.
In 2017, 57414 was acquired by its current owner, and was then registered in Switzerland on 17th March of the same year. This latter undertook an extensive restoration of the car, which is now painted shades of black and white after a complete disassembly and paint stripping.
Today it is in possession of all its original mechanical parts. The chassis plaque, engraved 57414 19CV, is the original. The front axle, the engine, the gearbox and the rear axle all bear the number 212. The engine is mounted on silent blocks. The dashboard is that of the 1936 model with all its instruments on a single central panel. It has cable brakes and is fitted with optional Houdailler front shock absorbers and Repusseau rear shock absorbers. Additionally, 57414 has a retractable roof and chrome wheels, which were also factory options. The frame is that of the car with engine 212.
The coachwork does not appear to have been modified, its lines are similar to those of 57380, another surviving 1936 Vanvooren saloon. The two-tone painted coachwork was originally monochrome black. The woodwork bears number 2682, which appears to correspond with the series of Vanvooren models assembled. The signature plaque of the Courbevoie coachbuilder can be found on the lower portion of the two front wings.
Saloons on Type 57 chassis are rare, regardless of the coachbuilder. They have unfortunately vanished for the most part.
This model, registered in Switzerland, will be sold with its registration document, various images from its past, and its historical report by Pierre-Yves Laugier. Prior to the sale, the vendor did a general overview of the mechanical components of the car, including the brakes, fuel lines and suspension.
Bonhams Cars thanks Pierre-Yves Laugier for his contribution to the catalogue
All lots are sold 'as is/ where is' and Bidders must satisfy themselves as to the provenance, condition, age, completeness and originality prior to bidding. Visit the Bonhams|Cars website for all pertinent auction information.
