Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio Cabriolet (1938)

1938 Bugatti Type 57C Stelvio Cabriolet.

Made in Molsheim France.

Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a French car manufacturer of high-performance automobiles, founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The Type 57C was the most celebrated touring car developed by Bugatti and was considered the gold standard for touring cars of the 1930’s. It was an elegant and fashionable car that combined a coach-built body with an engine developed from motorsports.

Total of 684 Type 57’s were built from 1934 to 1939. That total included 96 Type 57C’s. There were four distinct body styles with the Stelvio being the most sought after of the four. The car in these photos is a Type 57C Stelvio which was once owned by Ettore Bugatti.

Bugatti Type 57C was powered by a 210HP, 3257cc supercharged DOHC in-line 8-cylinder motor hooked up to a 4-speed transmission. The 'C' in 57C signifies that the motor is supercharged.

As WWII approached, the Bugatti factory, which was located in Molsheim France, closed down in 1939. After the factory was destroyed during the war, a new factory was opened after the war in Levallois France. That factory closed down in 1952 Ettore Bugatti died in 1947.

This car was originally had a black two-door body. It was owned and driven by Ettore Bugatti and used as a show car in the Salon de I'Automobile in Paris. After WWII, the car was sold and the and the coachwork converted the car into a cabriolet. This car appeared in an issue of Road & Track in 1949 and in an issue of Motor Trend in 1950. The car was also used in the movie Captain Carey USA.