Location:
Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance, 2017
Owner: Oscar Davis | Elizabeth, New Jersey
Prologue:
Image Source 1-5, 7-22: Nikon D750 (24.3 MP)
Image Source 6 by E using a Canon CMOS (20.3 MP), originally framed in square format, then repositioned, stitched, and edited by the author
For some while, I've had it in mind to compile high-contrast, black-yellow studies of the Bugatti Type 55, Lancia Belna Eclipse, and Peugeot 402 Darl'mat Coupe. One-third of the way through, I can say that the process has been tiresome. I somehow found the will, holding on to the significance of the Type 55 in terms of a Bugatti portfolio. In the process, I finished some of my favorite portrait images yet. I should stress that my workflow isn't determined at the shot, but requires decisions in terms of how to place and light the subject after the fact. The original stock excited me enough to jump into the project, and most of the decisions fell into place, even among similar compositions. The result is not the most exhaustive Type 55 gallery, but hopefully more artistic than most in its inside-out demonstration.
References:
- RM Sotheby's: Chassis #55219 sold at Pebble Beach in 2022. RM documents the history and, as they do, provides a nice 63-image gallery.
- UltimateCarPage: We check our technical specifications against the megasite, with some deviation for this chassis.
- Coachbuild: The forum offers a look at the Type 55 as it appeared with Pritchard et Demollin coachwork.
A conglomeration of Grand Prix components, the Type 55 combines a Grand Prix chassis derived from the Type 54 with the supercharged 2.3-litre, DOHC, straight-8 motor from the Type 51. Many refer to the car as "the Jean Bugatti Roadster." Then 22 years old, Jean Bugatti steered the Type 55 toward road-going sports car specification, and also penned the coachwork.
Chassis #55219 sold to a notary in Luxembourg through the Swiss Bugatti agent in Zurich. The notary, one Edmond Reiffers, took delivery of a bare chassis with a temporary seat. One of his sons immediately raced the car before his father could send it out for coachwork. Belgian coachbuilder Pritchard et Demollin soon completed the Type 55 as a four-seat cabriolet. Reiffers' sons continued to race the car and drive it on hunting trips. Sold on, the car survived the war hidden in Luxembourg, emerged in 1945, and shortly suffered an accident that damaged the front end. A life of hard use and some bad luck relegated chassis #55219 into a donor role by the time the car came to California. To keep the car rolling on its own wheels, Ray Jones of Birmingham, Michigan later rebuilt #55219 in the 1970s with fresh coachwork.
Not until 1988, when Oscar Davis purchased the chassis, did the pieces begin to return home. Over four years, Davis located and acquired chassis Type 55 #55229 and Type 51 #51127 in order to reconstitute #55219 with its original components. Today, the car still wears its re-creation body from the 1970s, and it is a complete, mostly original automobile with a replacement chassis plate issued by the Bugatti Owners Club.
In sum, the Type 55 is too rare to pass up an opportunity to rebuild and save an original example. The Oscar Davis car is fortunate in that its second body beautifully represents the factory Jean Bugatti design, and that so many scattered components could be reunited.
Motor: 2,262 cc straight 8-cylinder, cast-iron block and head
Valvetrain: dual overhead cam, chain-driven, 2 valves per cylinder
Aspiration: single Zenith 48k carburetor
Power: 135 bhp @ 5,000 rpm
Drivetrain: 4-speed manual gearbox, rear-wheel drive
Front Suspension: solid axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and friction dampers
Rear Suspension: solid axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and friction dampers
Architecture: steel ladder-frame chassis with steel coachwork
Kerb Weight: 800 kg (1,763 lbs)
Wheelbase: 2,750 mm (108.3 inches)
Top Speed: 180 km/h (112 mph)
Etymology:
Bugatti numbering follows sequential factory projects. The Type 55 debuted in 1931, placing the dual overhead cam eight-cylinder motor from the Type 51 Grand Prix into a chassis similar to the Type 45 16-cylinder Grand Prix and Type 54 Grand Prix. By all accounts a Grand Prix car in technical specification, 22-year-old Jean Bugatti penned the road-going coachwork; his influence led to the car's moniker, the "Type 55 Jean Bugatti Roadster."
Figures:
Bugatti built 38 original cars. Many reproductions followed. Mr. Oscar Davis brought chassis #55219 back to life by reunited parts that had been donated to #55229 and Type 51 #51127, purchasing all three.
Value:
Chassis #55219 appeared at RM Sotheby's Paris auction in 2023 with an asking price of €1,800,000 (approximately $1,964,986).
Good Faith: Reconstructing the Jean Bugatti Roadster
The coachwork crafted in the 1970s copies Jean Bugatti's design very closely. Coves scooped from the bonnet, flanks, and deck provide the steel canvas for high-contrast paint. Effectively a Duesenberg sweep panel design, Bugatti captured the trend in a much smaller package. Using the divides created by symmetric sweeps creates a false sense of structure, color in relief of a black skeleton. This approach is more than ornament, but intrinsic to a broader theme that lightens the entire car. How the coves play against the cut-down cockpit and bulkhead relate to the position of the driver, the view out front, and the perspective from behind. One sits right in the middle of open-closed contrast.
Grand Prix: Type 55 Attributes of the Racing Bugatti
Like many before, the Type 55 uses safety wire to lock the panels tight, with familiar single-cast eight-spoke aluminum wheels and brake drums. The Type 55 looks all of a Bugatti Grand Prix, plus running gear, windscreen, and a top.
Last Updated: Feb 10, 2024
