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Bugatti showroom in 1935 – Champs Elysées?
Now that every Bugatti chassis has to be described in detail it’s good to still be surprised by a Bugatti fact or photo every now and then. We were surprised upon seeing this lovely picture of a Type 41 ‘Royale’ parked (kind of) casually on the street in front of a Bugatti dealership. There appears to be a Type 57 Ventoux inside plus another Bugatti model on the right. Not quite as impressive as the Royale – still quite nice though.
When and where is it? It has to be in France, we reckon. Paris? We found there was once a Bugatti showroom on the Avenue Des Champs Elysées number 116. The Bugatti Trust wrote about that some 11 years ago and there’s also this photograph on Bugatti Builder. Is it the same place? If so it’s definitely been totally revamped. There are one or two similarities though, just look at the steel protective bar on the bottom of the pillar at the left. But what’s on top of those pillars? Is that the EB logo? Or a number? If so, it definitely isn’t number 116.
But when was our ‘new’ picture made? It should be easy to find out with those promotional words on the shop windows. ‘RECORD du MONDE du RAIL’ refers to the record that was set on 12 January 1935, when a train powered by Bugatti Type 41 engines reached 196km/h on the Paris-Strasbourg stretch. ‘RALLYE du MAROC – 1er du CLASSEMENT GENERAL’ refers to the victory in the Rallye du Maroc in May 1935, driven by Jean Trévoux on a three-litre Bugatti. Those leafy trees, the sunny atmosphere - this has to be Summer 1935.
Words by Jeroen Booij. Pictures via Paul Cook.
Published:
Wednesday July 15th, 2020
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Comments
William Longyard
08 August 2020, 23:22
The photo has to have been 1935, or later. The first Ralley du Maroc was '34, but Bugatti won it in '35. The Champs-Elysee sales office closed in 1928, so this has to be 46 Avenue Montaigne in the 8th Arrondissement.
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Larry A. Lewis
16 July 2020, 17:14
It's interesting to see a Royale parked on a street and there's no one looking at it. It must have been sensational when new, but a few years on, it's just another old car. Does anyone know what happened to this one during the war? How did it survive?
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Hubertus Hansmann
17 July 2020, 13:39
@ Larry A. Lewis: The Coupe Napoleon was bricked up during World War II at the home of the Bugatti family in Ermenonville together with the two other "unsold" Royales; the Kellner Coupe (41.141) and the Fiacre - Style "Berline de Voyage" (41.150).
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Anthony Green
17 July 2020, 16:12
And apparently 41.111 was stored in the sewers of Paris (!); 41.121 was in New York as of 1937 with its then owner Doctor Josef Fuchs; and 41.131 was in the UK with its original owner Captain C.W. Foster.
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Larry A. Lewis
18 July 2020, 01:06
I've seen the Fuchs car, it's in the Henry Ford museum in Michigan. I was at a car show in New York in the early 1980s and an elderly man was there with a Hispano-Suiza convertible victoria that looked quite similar to the Fuchs car. His name was Joseph Wieder and he told me that he found the car on the Fuchs property in New York after the war. He told Charles Chayne, (head of General Motors at the time) about it and Chayne got the credit for finding the car. Mr Wieder still resented that he was never credited with finding the Fuchs Royale.
The car is a runner and is in "driver" condition.
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The car is a runner and is in "driver" condition.
Hubertus Hansmann
18 July 2020, 17:00
The Fuchs Royale was found at a junkyard in the Bronx. Dr. Fuchs sold it, after the engine was damaged by a frost crack. Maybe Mr. Wiedner saw the car on the Fuchs property shortly before it was sold? As far, as I know, the Royale was used as an eyecatcher for the junkyard and was parked on the street next to the entrance.
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Larry A. Lewis
19 July 2020, 17:17
I have heard somewhere that the engine block was not cracked, maybe that's an urban legend? Maybe, maybe not. I have seen a photo of the car sitting in someone's driveway, likely the Fuchs home. It was not a junkyard and was in front of a one-car garage, partially covered in a tarp. Mr. Wieder did say he saw it at the Fuchs home, so who knows?
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Larry A. Lewis
19 July 2020, 20:48
I forgot to mention that I have a 1/24th scale model of the Fuchs car that I built over 50 years ago. After seeing the real car, I was impressed by how accurate the model is. The real car is fed by four carburettors from 1941 Buicks and the model has them too.
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Jeroen Booij
16 July 2020, 14:00
Thanks all for the comments. This surely looks to be 46 Avenue Montaigne.
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Georges van zeijl
15 July 2020, 21:14
It’s a T50 Jean Bugatti behind the window, not a T57 Ventoux.
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Anthony Green
15 July 2020, 12:47
I agree with Kevin Atkinson that Google Street View confirms the first picture to be 46 Avenue Montaigne, particularly with the "porte cochère" to the right. The number on top of the left-hand pillar could well be 46. Strange that they have written "190 kil. à l'heure" on the window when all ref material says that they achieved 196 km/h...
As for the second picture, I would definitely say that it is 116 Avenue des Champs-Elysées. The stonework and other features above the upper-floor windows and to the right of the picture are identical in today's Street View compared with the old photograph. The Avenue Montaigne forms part of what is known as the Golden Triangle in Paris along with the Champs-Elysées and Avenue George V.
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As for the second picture, I would definitely say that it is 116 Avenue des Champs-Elysées. The stonework and other features above the upper-floor windows and to the right of the picture are identical in today's Street View compared with the old photograph. The Avenue Montaigne forms part of what is known as the Golden Triangle in Paris along with the Champs-Elysées and Avenue George V.
DOMINIQUE BRES
15 July 2020, 12:32
The 116 avenue des Champs-Elysées still exists, but the Royale has gone .......
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John Bates
15 July 2020, 11:50
The Bugatti-engined speed record for a train in 1935 was beaten by a British steam engine (Mallard, built in 1938) pulling a train at 203 kph (126 mph) in 1938. Just out of interest, you understand!
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Grimmo
15 July 2020, 23:32
John, don’t fret, Bugatti had used some Brit-parts as this November 9th 1934 news report stated. “Coventry work appears to be gaining laurels in yet another field. Mr. L. H. Pomeroy was telling me the other day that he had just received a communication from M. Ettore Bugatti, the famous French designer and maker of super-speed cars, to the effect that a rail car fitted with a Bugatti engine and a Daimler fluid flywheel has established a world’s speed record for vehicles running on rails.” It also used Birmingham-made anti-friction bearings.
With those, the Bugatti Railcar probably achieved 190kph before 1935, as later reports said Bugatti’s son, Jean, had driven it at a record 120mph (c.194kph) on track near Le Mans during 1934.
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With those, the Bugatti Railcar probably achieved 190kph before 1935, as later reports said Bugatti’s son, Jean, had driven it at a record 120mph (c.194kph) on track near Le Mans during 1934.
Dick Ploeg
25 May 2021, 15:41
To keep the record straight. The aerodynamic shape of the Mallard steam locomotive was allegedly inspired by Bugatti's railcar following a dinner or luncheon that Sir Nigel Gresley had in Paris with Ettore Bugatti.
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Didier Deffrasnes
15 July 2020, 08:22
I think that it is a T46 or T50 rather than a Ventoux behind the window
On top of pillars I read 45
Didier
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On top of pillars I read 45
Didier
