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Young Man With Bugatti We couldn’t identify the young man but the Bugatti is the Atlantic S/N 57374. But only Jim Sitz could come up with a location and date of the photo. Read on.
From the VeloceToday Archives, July 2017
In 1949 Strother MacMinn took these photos of the Bugatti Atlantic/Aérolithe (S/N 57374) when owned by Bob Oliver. The photos were supplied by Dale LaFollette at Vintage Motorphoto and published here with the permission of Bob Ames. Below, comments from Jim Sitz.
Except for the very few who actually drove one…
Story by Pete Vack
Color photos by Dale Lafollette
There is a good reason Ken Purdy chose a photo of a Bugatti T57 Atlantic for the cover of his legendary book, Kings of the Road. For the dramatic Jean Bugatti-designed Atlantic (not to be confused with the T57 Atalante coupe) was indeed the King of the Road in the 1930s. All four of them. Or five. Or two.
And How! features open and innovative formats for notices, articles and posts.
Young Man With Bugatti
We couldn’t identify the young man but the Bugatti is the Atlantic S/N 57374. But only Jim Sitz could come up with a location and date of the photo. Read on.
In 1949 Strother MacMinn took these photos of the Bugatti Atlantic/Aérolithe (S/N 57374) when owned by Bob Oliver. The photos were supplied by Dale LaFollette at Vintage Motorphoto and published here with the permission of Bob Ames. Below, comments from Jim Sitz. [Read more…] about Strother MacMinn and the Bugatti Atlantic
Strange but beautiful concoctions…
By Wallace Wyss
The Pacific. Bids to start at $250K.
If you are an old hot rodder, you might remember when Terry Cook was the dynamo editor of Car Craft, and later Hot Rod magazines. Most of the time, these gearheads don’t “cross-over” to classic cars but this writer was surprised to find Cook is the name behind Delahaye USA. He’s now a full-fledged classic car aficionado, designing cars and having them created from scratch via a number of fabrication shops. True to form though, his self-styled classics still have hot rod underpinnings. Sounds like a dream come true and Cook agrees. VeloceToday contributor Wallace Wyss, assisted by photographer Richard Bartholomew, interviewed Terry Cook at the Palos Verdes Concours in September.
The Pacific on the street as photographed by Richard Bartholomew.
WYSS: I saw your stunning Bugatti-styled car at Palos Verdes Concours d’Elegance. Are you a fabricator yourself?
COOK: Never a fabricator or builder, and not a mechanic. I’m a designer/bullshitter. A world-class bullshitter. I went drag racing in early 60’s, then quit racing myself and concentrated on journalism. I never had writer’s block.
WYSS: Is it true that you were unaware of classic cars until quite recently, like seeing a Bugatti in a NYC show?
COOK: It was in 1995 that I saw Oscar Davis’ 1939 Shah of Persia Bugatti and its pontoon fenders. That glimpse of that car changed my life for the better.
WYSS: I can understand… the Bugatti of the Shah will be featured in my next Incredible Barn Finds book. But how did you acquire the name “Delahaye USA?” Did you buy U.S. rights to the name? What happened to the last vestiges of the company?
COOK: The Delahaye Company went out of business in 1953. I started using it 8-9 years ago and nobody sent me a cease-and-desist letter; been using it for years with no objections from anyone. I received lots of nice letters from people with the Delahaye name thanking me for keeping the memory alive, and treating it with respect. I also have been making fiberglass Zephyr and boattail bodies under the flag of DECO RIDES.
The Atlantic on the road during the Pebble Tour. It attracted as much attention there as it did on Ocean Avenue and on the lawn at Pebble Beach. Whatever one thinks about its provenance, this is one impressive piece of machinery. Credit: Dale LaFollette
Photos and Captions by Michael T. Lynch unless othewise noted.
[Read more…] about As We Promised–Bugatti Atlantic Update
Madam Holtzschuch poses with the T57S in its first iteration at the Juan de Pins Concours on Cap d'Antibes in 1937. Credit: Pierre-Yves Laugier Collection.
By Michael T. Lynch
Much of the breathless reportage in the business and popular press of the recent sale of a Type 57SC Bugatti Atlantic focused on its price and the supposed fact that there were only two — some said three — Atlantics built.
There were actually four cars. [Read more…] about T57S Bugatti Atlantic Reappears at Pebble Beach