1934 Bugatti Type 54 Roadster

From 1931 to 1939 Ettore Bugatti evolved a range of different grand prix cars in his continuous search for more power and speed to try and offset the rising might of the Italian Maserati and Alfa Romeo teams and the ultimately dominating German governmentaided Mercedes-Benz and Auto Unions.

The Type 35B had proven to be all-conquering in the late 1920s, and its replacement, the Type 51, was competitive in tight closed-circuit racing such as Monaco, but lacked straight-line speed on the more open and faster circuits of Europe. His efforts to deal with this opposition resulted in a few special-engined cars, all of which were in the concept and pedigree of the original Type 35. The most brutish and powerful of them all was the Type 54, which used the eight-cylinder 4.9-liter Type 50 touring car engine of the configuration used in the 1931 Le Mans team cars.

This first of the twin overhead camshaft designs with its alloy crank case and cylinder head had a compression ratio of 6:1 and a large Roots-type supercharger linked to two Zenith carburetors. The engine produced 300 bhp at 4,500 rpm, making it the most powerful Bugatti at the time. The chassis was a developed Type 45 16-cylinder frame which was subsequently used for the production Type 55 model and had similar cast-alloy wheels of the Type 51, but with larger brake drums. The general layout and style was similar to the Type 51 race car, but larger and heavier. It was extremely fast and very powerful, but proved to be difficult to handle.

The first outing was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 1931 with Chiron and Varzi, who finished 3rd. As a result of extreme handling problems, the engine was relocated and the cars were completely rebuilt, with the first five customer cars being delivered in time for the 1932 season.

The first chassis, 54201, was delivered to Swiss agent Bucar in Zurich, for the Czechoslovakian driver Prince Christian Lobkowitz. Tragically, Prince Lobkowitz was killed at the Avus circuit when he crashed his Type 54 in April 1932. Following the crash, the prince’s friend, Zdenek Pohl, acquired the wrecked Type 54 and commissioned Oldrich Uhlik to construct a strikingly handsome roadster body in steel with an aluminum bonnet for the racing car.

According to The American Bugatti Register and Data Book by Sandy Leith and Kees Jansen, the example offered here was built from components sourced from Bugatti parts collections. These include its Type 55 chassis frame, no. 33, which shares the same wheelbase dimensions as a Type 54, its engine, no. 1, which originated in a Type 50, and its coachwork which is the aforementioned Uhlik-constructed roadster body from 1932.

The project was completed in the early 1990s by Michael Giddins of Robin Engineering in Sonoma, California for then-owner Skip Berg. Following its completion, the Type 54 was awarded the Chairman’s Cup at the 1991 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® and was granted chassis no. BC70 by the Bugatti Owners Club. It also received Best of Show honors at the Newport Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The Mullin Collection acquired this Bugatti at the Christie’s Pebble Beach Auction in 1992 and regularly used it on club rallies. With its striking Roadster coachwork, grand prix-style dashboard, dual spares, external oil filler, and supercharged dual overhead cam inline eight-cylinder engine, this Type 54 is sure to provide its next owner with enjoyment whether on a concours field or club rally.