There have been many articles about the day John Shakespeare loaded up 30 Bugattis to have them shipped to the Fritz Schlumpf in 1964. But none like our exclusive story below, told by David Gulick, who took the now famous photos. We asked artist Paul Chenard to create a painting commemorating the sale and we’ll send free poster to anyone who subscribes to VeloceToday.
John Shakespeare, prior to removing the prancing elephant hood ornament on the 1933 Royale. It was packed up for shipping along with the Breguet chronometer, also from the Royale.
By Pete Vack, with the help of David Gulick, Sandy Leith and Tom Clifford
Gulick and John Shakespeare
As photographer David Gulick scurried around trying to take photos of each and every Bugatti that was being loaded onto the railcars, he still managed to catch several telling portraits of this enigmatic collector. We asked Gulick about Shakespeare. “I only had conversations with him twice, at a hillclimb and then at Hoffman. He was a pleasant, ‘down to earth’ kind of person who never flaunted his family background & wealth.”
Gulick remember that Shakespeare also loved Ferraris. “Some members of our SCCA Southern Illinois Region had a certain social status & knew the County Road Commissioner and succeeded in having a little-used hilly road closed for the day. John brought a beautiful little Ferrari over to the hill climb and completely awed all the members as well as winning a blue ribbon. I also remember seeing him run at Lawrenceville, where the SCCA held races on the old WW2 airfield.” Shakespeare had also competed with a Ferrari as far back as 1954, when he drove a Ferrari 375 MM, S/N 0376 at Nassau. [Read more…] about John Shakespeare and the 30 Bugattis Part 2