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Bugatti Type 51 sells for just under €1m

2011-02-14 12:04

They say a new car loses half its value as it's driven off the forecourt.  Well, it all depends on which car, of course... classic models and longevity are, after all something to be cherished. No finer example of that than a pair of 1930s Bugattis which last weekend realized nearly well over €1 million at Bonham's auction in Paris.

The cars were from the astonishing collection of Lord Raglan, a descendant of the first Baron Raglan, whose command led to the ill-fated Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.  Although his ancestor's role in that infamous episode has been hotly disputed, there was no blunder in his great-great-grandson's purchase of these beautiful examples of engineering from the heyday of classic motoring.


^{The Bugatti cabriolet which sold for €333,500 last weekend (picture © Bonhams)}

Fitzroy John Somerset, the fifth Lord, died just over a year ago at his ancestral Monmouthshire home. His greatest passion was restoring and racing Bugattis; in fact he succeeded Earl Howe as chairman and later patron of the Bugatti Owners' Club, where he was immensely admired. One of his speeches to the Bugatti Trust was humorously referred to as 'the word of the Lord', and in a similar vein the Guardian described him as 'the pope' of the Bugatti-collecting faithful.

On 5 February this year his cars were auctioned off in a grand - almost ceremonial - sale, in the heart of Paris, and although some expressed dissatisfaction at the possibility of the cars leaving Britain, the fact is that both cars had strong connections with France.

The bar was set by Lord Raglan's 1930 Type 46 cabriolet (chassis no. 46331), which sold for €333,500.  Its original owner was Parisian Georges Combe, who was often to be seen driving it on the streets of the French capital as well as on family trips to the Pyrenees. During the war it was dismantled and hidden away, to be re-assembled in 1948. In 1951 the car participated in the Alger-Le Cap Rally, before later passing into Lord Raglan's ownership.

But this sale was just a taster for the main course, the Type 51 racer (chassis number 51153), acquired by Lord Raglan in Menton and personally restored by him between 1979 and 1982. 

At last week's auction, an incredible €943,000 was paid by a French private collector, appropriately returning it to its country of origin.

The Bugatti was built between 1930 and 1933, and enjoyed a long history of road racing.  It was probably this vehicle which came third in the 1933 Belgian Grand Prix, and second in the Dieppe Grand Prix of the same year. Following a spell in Britain after the war, it crossed the ocean to New York, and fell in with a succession of American owners before returning to France and being bought for the sum of $68,000 by Lord Raglan.

And the Monaco connection? Although the Historic Grand Prix is a recent fixture, classic cars have been raced at side-events to the Formula 1 race for a long time. In 1984, to the delight of the cheering crowds, Lord Raglan's Bugatti appeared on the streets of Monte Carlo to take first place in such a contest. Now that the car resides once more in France, perhaps we will be lucky enough to see it again.