An unrestored 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports was voted Best of Show at the 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance which ran on Sunday and closed out this year’s Monterey Car Week.
The car marked a couple of firsts for the prestigious awards as it was the first time a preservation car was given top honors. It was also the first time the winner’s owner is from overseas, in this case Swiss resident Fritz Burkard, owner of The Pearl Collection. The collection, based in Zug, Switzerland, includes a number of Bugattis, both old and new.
The Type 59 Sports, which bears chassis number 57428, is one of the real stars. It is widely regarded as the most significant and original Bugatti race car, having earned its drivers a number of historic wins and pole positions. But what was also important in the eye of judges was the car’s condition, which remains virtually the same as when it was owned by King Leopold III of Belgium, who acquired it in 1938. The scuffed leather, the marks on the steering wheel, and the rough paint are all battle scars left from years of racing.
The open-top two-seater was built in 1934 as a Type 59 Sports with a Type 57 chassis, and originally with blue paint. A short time later, it received a custom chassis for the next series of Grand Prix races, where it would be driven by Bugatti factory drivers, including legends like René Dreyfus, Robert Benoist, and Jean Pierre Wimille.
1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports bearing chassis no. 57248
After 1935, Ettore Bugatti decided to retire from grand prix racing and sold the company’s collection of Type 59 Sports. However, chassis no. 57428 was converted into a sports car, something Bugatti did with no other race car. The process involved changing some of the body work, including the installation of mudguards originally designed for motorcycles. The engineers also removed the supercharger and integrated a new oil tank with two-pump lubrication and installed a four-speed dry sump fully synchronized transmission with central shifting.
As a sports car, chassis no. 57428 would continue to be raced by Wimille and other factory drivers, until finally at the end of the 1937 season it received a request for purchase from long-time Bugatti customer King Leopold III of Belgium. The car was then repainted black, with some of the original blue still visible in various scuff marks.
King Leopold III managed to hold onto the car during the Second World War and also after he abdicated in 1951. He eventually sold the car to a Belgian collector in 1967, after which it changed hands a few more times, with each subsequent owner choosing to maintain it in original form. Burkard is thought to have acquired the car at an auction in 2020.
A total of 10 Bugattis have now taken home the Best of Show award at Pebble Beach, meaning Bugatti is tied with Mercedes-Benz for having won the award the most times.
