Savannah Grand Prix. Hunter Air Force Base, GA. March 14, 1954.
Bugatti Type 41 Royale Coupe de Ville Binder.
The second Royale built, but the first to find a customer, is chassis no.41.111 Never actually delivered to the King of Romania due to the war, but it was hidden from the Nazis by storing it in the sewers of Paris
Sold in April 1932 to French clothing manufacturer Armand Esders.
Ettore's eldest son, Jean, fashioned for the car a dramatic two-seater open body with flamboyant, full-bodied wings and a dickey seat, but no headlamps. In this form it became known as the Royale Esders Roadster.
Purchased by the French politician Paternotre, the car was rebodied in the Coupé de ville style by the coach builder Henri Binder. From this point onwards, known as the Coupé de ville Binder
Briefly located in the United Kingdom after World War 2, and was then acquired by Dudley C. Wilson of the US in 1954.
Dudley Wilson was a sports car racer, and in 1948, won at Langhorne. This Philadelphia track was created in 1926, as the 1st dirt track built specifically for car racing.
On his death in 1961 it passed to banker Mills B Lane of Atlanta for $4500 before in 1964 taking up residence in The Harrah Collection at Reno, Nevada, bought at the then sensational price of $45,000 (approximately what the car had cost new).
Sold in 1986 to an American collector, home builder, and US Air Force General William Lyon, who offered the car during the 1996 Barrett-Jackson Auction by private sale, where he refused an offer of US$11 million; the reserve was set at US$15 million.
In 1999, the new owner of the Bugatti brand, Volkswagen AG, bought the car for a reported US$20 million. Now used as a brand promotion vehicle, it travels to various museums and locations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Royale
here it is before it was rebodied.
only half a dozen Royales were built, of which three were sold. One went to France, another to Germany and the third to England.
In chassis number order there’s the Coupe Napoleon (Ettore’s own car that has had five different bodies), the Binder Coupe de Ville (two bodies), the Weinberger (original roadster body), the Park Ward (original limousine body), the racy Kelner coupe (original grand tourer body) and finally (though possibly the first made) the Double Berline de Voyage (original body).
the Coupe Napoleon is in France’s Mulhouse National Automobile Museum, together with an authentic replica of No 2 with original roadster body. The Weinberger cabriolet now resides in The Henry Ford
Hunter AFB was distinctly unique in that it became the only U.S. military installation named for a living American, Major General (Retired) Frank Hunter. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_Army_Airfield
Many people do not know this. But Savannah, Georgia, is where the first-ever American Grand Prix Race was held. It took place on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1908. Savannah, at the time, was the center for racing.
ReplyDeletehttps://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/01/savannah-first-city-in-usa-to-have.html
DeleteYou mean, people who haven't bothered to see all the cool stuff I've already posted about? Yeah, they are not informed.
But those who have read through my archives, which are more interesting than the current stuff I've posted, already know about the 1908 Gran Prix in Savannah.
So.
Who's got egg on their face?
Next time you try to inform me of what most people 'don't know', first do a quick search to see if I've already posted about it.
M'Kay?
ewe
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