1938 | Bugatti Typ 57 S

1938 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio Cabriolet
A Matching numbers car with original engine number 496 in situ.
- Chassis # 57679 USA Registered.
- Engine # 496
- Ordered New By Francis Curzon, The 5th Earl Howe
- Featuring A Rich History & Unique Gangloff Design Attributes
- Complete Mechanical Restoration Completed by Klopper Engineering
Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, more formally known as the 5th Earl Howe, was born on May 1st 1884 in Mayfair, London. As a benefactor of a well-healed family with close ties to government, Francis Curzon followed family tradition and joined the Naval Reserve immediately following his education. There he served until the end of World War I, and in 1918 began his career in politics through 1929. Throughout all of this, there was a keen interest in motorcars but his duty to Queen and Country kept him focused. It wasn’t until 1928, at the age of 44 that his racing career started. The Irish Grand Prix introduced Lord Howe to the sport in a Bugatti Type 43, and with such close ties to the Bentley Boys, Lord Howe was soon racing for the Bentley Factory Team. Between 1929 and 1935 Lord Howe entered the 24 Hours of LeMans 6 times. The pinnacle of Lord Howe’s career came in the way of back-to-back wins behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo. The first in 1930 at the helm of an Alfa Romeo 6C 1750GS where he took a class win at the LeMans 24 hour race. Again in 1931, he was victorious with co-driver Henry Birkin in an Alfa Romeo 8C 2300LM for the overall win. Even though an accident in 1937 rendered him unable to continue racing, he continued his motorsports career in a more political fashion. Lord Howe took a great interest in educating, promoting, and supporting all things motorsport. He became VP of the FIA, delivered numerous speeches at the House of Lords, and even remained president of the British Racing Drivers Club which he co-founded until his passing in 1964.
During his lifetime, Lord Howe was behind the wheel of many interesting cars. Some he owned and kept on his estate, some he simply piloted to victory. Vintage & Prestige has the unique opportunity to offer Lord Howe’s 1938 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio, with coachwork by Gangloff. Chassis # 57679 was invoiced to Whitehouse Motors in July of 1938. Per the Type 57 registry, this example left Molsheim in May of 1938 to be further fitted with coachwork by Gangloff in Colmar. There, it received special touches such as a special ordered hood per the build notes. As well as headlights in the fenders and is reportedly the first Type 57 to be finished in all black from new. 57679 was finished in late June of 1938 with the total invoiced amount being 74,635 Francs. 57679 was then delivered to the Earls Court Motor Show on October 1st then shortly after delivered to its first owner, Earl Howe.
A mechanical restoration was completed on 57679 by Klopper Engineering. With such a well-preserved appearance, minimal work was completed on the cosmetic aspects of the car. It still retains what appears to be a very sturdy lacquer paint job that presents nicely with only a few minor imperfections to note. The interior was also left alone, though likely received work at other points in its life. It appears largely original with a lovely patina on the leather and other items. It presents as a beautiful combination of preservation with superb mechanical functionality.
Thereafter, 57679 completed multiple tours and rallies from 2012-2015 including the International Bugatti Rally in Vaals in 2012 and Scotland in 2013. It also performed flawlessly during the Transappenica Rally in Italy and Croatia. These merits further solidify its current condition as a strong tour worthy example that can also be respectably shown and ultimately enjoyed no matter the use.
Like many great cars, Bugatti’s have a way of capturing history. Some of the most interesting people of our time were drawn to the most unique cars of the period. If a car such as this was able to captivate someone as lively as Francis Curzon. With all of those fabulous racing achievements in the best cars of the day. Then this is a car worthy of any serious collection.
A recent expenditure of some US$36,000 has recently been spent upon the car to cure smoking form the valves. Sargent Metal works, the Bugatti experts who perfomred the work noted the following for which bills are on file:
Will, we have just finished the valve seal redo on your T57.Here is what I found.The engine block is original and had been redone as Mr. Klopper said and then redid somewhat by him. What we found was that somebody had run copper tubes inside of the oil drain back tubes that are in the block from factory.Factory ones are steel and run through the waterjacket area on each side of the block and serve to drain oil back into the sump from above after lubricating the cam and followers.the factory ones are about 8.5mm id and there are 3 per side.They rot from the outside in as they sit in coolant or water in the block.The copper tubing is then inserted into the bad tube.Problem here is that the id of the copper tubing is now 6mm,down from the 8.5mm. This is a constriction in the oil getting out of the top end and down into the lower parts.So now the oil pools up into the camboxes and raises up and into the base of the valves and springs and guides. The original valves dont have seals like modern cars do,so oil gets pushed down the valve stem and into the combustion chamber,ie smoke....The fix is to remove the cambox covers,the cams,the cam gear covers and then the camboxes. We then pressurize the cylinder with air to hold the valves up and then we compress the springs and remove the keepers and put on a seal around the guide to valve and then use a different cover that can accept the seal underneath it. Do this 16 times and then go all back together with cleaned components and carful to keep the cam timing and all.We then cut the feed jets down a little just to lessen any oil buildup.I have seen this problem a few other times before when a rebuilder dosnt cut out the old drain back tubes and uses a similar size tube but instead runs a smaller tube inside...such as we have here...I have started and run the car up to 80 degrees c and the smoke has diminished significantly. I do see about 5% of what you had before.When up next to the carb and manipulating the throttle,I see blowby out of the lower crankcase vent,just below.This is common and is a little compression getting by the rings and all cars have some of this.I feel that this is well within acceptance and possibly would lessen as now we dont have so much oil lubricating the rings and not allowing them to seat.I will get a final bill together ,ps,I ran the old gas out and just have 5 gallons of avaition fuel in it now.Scott
Possibly the best part about this car is the wonderful state of preservation of the original leather interior. It has been beautifully preserved & is a wonderful place in which to sit.
The car is currently located mid way up the eastern seaboord of the USA where it may be shipped world wide from or an appointment made to view it.