If the Bugatti Veyron and Chiron are not quite exclusive enough or expensive enough for your taste, another Bugatti is about to go up for auction that might just fit the bill. It certainly won't give either of the aforementioned models a run for their money on the road, but the very first example of the 1931 Bugatti Type 55 certainly will at the auction block.
As one of the rarest and most coveted sports cars from the 1930s, this stunning two-seater is expected to go for between $4 million and $5 million dollars when it goes under the hammer at the Gooding & Co sale in Scottsdale, Arizona in January.
This particularly beautiful first-ever example of the Type 55 is stamped with the chassis number 55201, and boasts a number of unique features not found on later versions of the Bugatti. These include a GP-style hood with shortened louvers on the side, diagonal louvers in the top of the hood, and yellow-tinted glass on the headlamps.
Only a mere 38 units of the Type 55 were ever made by the Italian manufacturer between 1931 and 1935; it was proudly displayed at the 1931 Paris Motor Show, and has been confidently described as "one of the most coveted pre-war sports cars."
To further emphasize the difference between the Type 55 and something like a modern-day Chiron, the engine in this classic Bugatti is a supercharged, twin-overhead cam eight-cylinder with a four-speed manual transmission, which only develops a mere 132 horsepower.
Apparently, the example going up for auction in Scottsdale was previously owned by a prominent French aristocrat known as the Duc de le Tremoille, and then by Bugatti enthusiast Dr. Peter Williamson before it was later restored by a Bugatti specialist in 2012. As it has also been the winner of the French Cup at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, it's easy to see why the auction estimate is so high.
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