1934 Bugatti wins Pebble Beach “Best of Show” award

Monterey Car Week 2024 On Sunday, its signature event, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, came to a close. This year’s event drew 214 cars and their owners from 16 countries and 29 states to the 18th fairway of Pebble Beach Golf Links to compete for dozens of awards. This was the tenth time since the event first took place in 1950 that the top prize, Best of Show, was awarded to Bugatti (tied with Mercedes-Benz for the most Best of Show wins). But the 1934 Type 59 sports car that owner Fritz Burkard drove to victory amid a shower of yellow and white confetti was different from the other winners.

For the first time, this year’s top exhibit came from one of the event’s two preservation categories: L-1: Pre-War Preservation and L-2: Post-War Preservation. A 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sport from the Pearl Collection in Zug, Switzerland, won first place in its individual category, beating out a 1938 Mercedes-Benz 770 Pullman limousine and a 1928 Aston Martin Sport “Feltham Flyer” Bertelli two-seater. It went on to beat out a 1948 Talbot-Lago T26 Grand Sport Saoutchik fastback coupe, a 1934 Packard 1108 Twelve LeBaron Sport Phaeton and a 1970 Bertone Lancia Stratos HF Zero concept car.

To reach the top, the Type 59 Sport had to not only survive nearly a century, but also withstand the dangers of motorsport. According to Bugatti, it is the first of six existing Type 59 Sport race cars and was initially built on a Type 57 chassis; this was soon replaced with a new chassis designed for the next series of Grand Prix races. After taking third place in the Monaco Grand Prix and fourth place in the French Grand Prix in 1934, the car was converted into a sports car at the Bugatti factory, becoming the only Grand Prix car in the company’s history to be converted in this way.

To completely transform it into the new chassis number 57248, engineers tweaked the exterior by adding motorcycle fenders, a small windshield, low-mounted headlights, and side doors. They also removed the supercharger from the 3.3-liter inline-8 engine, gave the engine a new twin-pump fuel tank, and installed a synchronized four-speed manual transmission.

Despite these changes, more races awaited the Type 59. “La Grand Mère” (The Grandmother), as Bugatti’s mechanics in Molsheim, France, called it, won the Algerian Grand Prix Final and the Marne Grand Prix in 1937.

Originally blue, the body was repainted black with yellow stripes – the colour of Belgian racing cars – before being given to its next owner, King Leopold III of Belgium. In 1967, a Belgian collector bought the car and kept it for about 20 years without restoration. Subsequent owners also retained its racing scars and worn leather seats. The most recent owner, Burkard, used light touch-ups in preserving this piece of Bugatti history, sealing areas of paint that had developed patina and gently repairing damaged parts.

That restraint helped this Bugatti cross a different kind of finish line as a winner once again, decades after its official track career ended.