Collection Classics: Blue Atlantic
June 1, 2008
A later owner fitted the ex-Rothschild Atlantic Type 57S with a supercharger in 1939, along with hydraulic brakes. After several owners—including longtime Bugatti enthusiast, Robert Oliver, who had a Cotal electro-magnetic gearbox installed in Paris—the Atlantic sported bright red paint. Following Oliver’s death, it was sold in 1971 by Sotheby Parke Bernet in Los Angeles, for the then-astronomical sum of $59,000. The buyer was Dr. Peter Williamson, who still owns it.
The second car sold—and the first to bear the Atlantic name—57.473, was purchased in 1936 by Monsieur et Madame Jacques Holzschuch, who won the top prize in a Concours d’Elegance at Juan-Les-Pins before trading it for another, presumably more comfortable and conventional Type 57. After a checkered history, which included multiple owners and alterations to the streamlined headlamps, doors, and rear fenders, possibly by Figoni et Falaschi, this car was virtually destroyed by a train when it stalled in 1955, at an unguarded level crossing near Gien, France. Its owner, Antoine "René" Chatard, purchased the car in the name of his mistress to conceal its existence from his wife; at the time of the accident he was teaching yet another attractive lady how to drive.
After years of legal wrangling with French authorities, dealing with disgruntled heirs, and two less-than-accurate rebuilds, the star-crossed coupe is undergoing a meticulous re-restoration by Paul Russell and Company in Essex, Mass., using as much original metal as possible. When completed, the third surviving Bugatti Atlantic could be another Pebble Beach Best of Show winner.
The third and last customer car, 57.591, was sold to an English buyer, Mr. R. B. Pope, in March 1938. A tall man who usually wore a hat, he insisted on an additional inch of headroom. Bugatti also cut ventilation slots above the split windscreen to facilitate driving in warm weather and retrofitted it with a supercharger. This particular Atlantic passed through three owners before being purchased by Ralph Lauren, and, following a comprehensive restoration by Paul Russell and Company, it won Best of Show at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 1990.
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Scott Sargent, responsible for much of the bodywork on Williamson’s ex-Rothschild Atlantic, likes to say that if you peek under the fenders, "you can still see the faint hammer marks of Bugatti’s artisans." Sargent and Jim Stranberg, the principal restorer, studied original cars and old photographs in an effort to preserve minute construction details and, most importantly, replicate the exact Bugatti factory fit and finish.
"We received this car in running condition," Stranberg recalls, "but it was very tired. Over the years, some bodywork had been changed. The rear windows had been enlarged; a set of external directional indicators were added; the headlights had been faired to the fenders; Lockheed hydraulic brakes, and a super-charger had been fitted by the factory."
"At first we drove it on the Colorado Grand," adds Williamson. "During the 1,000-mile trip we cruised along at over 100 mph; the Atlantic performed remarkably well at that speed."
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