Shrinking the Royale: how Bugatti's lost Weinberger Type 46 was recreated

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

If you know your Bugattis, you might think there's something strangely familiar about this Type 46. Where have you seen it before? In a museum somewhere? Possibly. The bodywork is the same, albeit scaled down, as that fitted to the third Bugatti Royale, the Weinberger cabriolet, which has long been on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. The Weinberger Royale was commissioned for Dr. Joseph Fuchs, a German obstetrician, and completed in May, 1932. Clearly, as far as Dr. Fuchs was concerned, there was no better combination in motoring than a Bugatti chassis mated to elegant coachwork by Ludwig Weinberger of Munich, because he also commissioned the firm to build a body for his Type 46 Bugatti.

Needless to say, the Type 46 was a car much to be desired. With its long chassis and 5,349 c.c. straight-eight, it was very much a luxury touring car and 467 were produced between 1929 and 1933. Its production run was contemporary with the Type 41 Royale, but while only six of Bugatti's flagship white elephants were constructed, the Type 46 was built in large numbers by Bugatti standards. Both models were sumptuous in the extreme, but the Type 46 was undoubtedly the more pleasant car with which to wander along a winding mountain pass, or negotiate town traffic.

Sadly, the original Weinberger Type 46 is not known to survive, but chassis 46524 became the beneficiary of a painstaking restoration in the Weinberger style. The life of 46524 began in 1929, when it was despatched in a batch of 29 cars, all Type 46s and Type 49s, to Bucar, the Bugatti agent of Zürich. From there, it was bought by one Hans Lindt of Stockholm, and specified with optional alloy wheels and Gangloff's four-seat Touriste cabriolet bodywork. Possibly completed in Zürich, where Gangloff had one of its branches, it was then driven back across the French border to the Bugatti factory in Molsheim, ready for Lindt to pick it up. This he did, and doubtless had a heavenly drive back home, a journey of more than a thousand miles along the fast, open roads of Germany and Sweden.

Fifty years without a body

When Lindt decided to move on to something new, 46524 passed to Bugatti lover and fashion boutique owner René Chatard. For reasons unknown, it is thought Chatard removed the original bodywork and simply fitted a pair of crude seats; some have suggested this was to reduce the likelihood of it being seized during the Nazi occupation of France. There is a record of it being converted to run from a wood gas generator, but it seemed to go nowhere and the car was not used again during Chatard's ownership. It changed hands again in 1956, the year after his untimely death—he was showing a young lady the delights of a Type 57 Atlantic when he collided with a train. Jean de Dobbeleer, another noted Bugattiste, bought 46524 plus six other cars from the Chatard Collection from Chatard's widow, but quickly passed it on to Bob Estes and Otto Zipper, the proprietors of Precision Motor Cars in California.

The Type 46 soon found a new owner in no less a collector in William Harrah, but by this stage the bodywork was well and truly lost. All Harrah acquired was a chassis with radiator, bonnet and cowl—nothing remained of Gangloff's finery. With so many restorations on the go, Harrah never found the time to restore 46524, so it was auctioned in 1973 and eagerly acquired by Ed Morgan and his son. At last, the ball started rolling. The Morgans researched different types of body which would be appropriate for the restoration and discovered the connection between the Type 46 and Weinberger. As the Weinberger car was lost, they fancied it would be a fine thing to bring it back as best they could, and with no other sources to work from, they visited the Henry Ford Museum to study the bodywork on Dr. Fuchs's Royale. They took measurements, made adjustments, and eventually produced a design which suited 46524 perfectly. In 1992, they entrusted its construction to Monty and Greg Montiller, while the Morgans themselves went about the mechanical restoration.

Photographs of the original Type 46 Weinberger body have since come to light and, as would be expected, differ in some small details from the recreated coachwork, but the feat which has been achieved with the restoration of the 46524 is no less wonderful. The Morgans' efforts have produced a supremely elegant car which one can easily imagine scooping concours d'élégance awards in period, and that's precisely what it has been doing in the present.

Upon completion, the Weinberger Type 46 won its class at the 1998 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, and continued to be shown and collect awards until 2003. The car would remain in the Morgan family for some 45 years, but has not been shown publicly since 2003 so is surely due another stint in the limelight. Perhaps, with a new owner, it could be heading onto the rally and concours circuit once more. This Petite Royale is now for sale with Vintage & Prestige, and a fine opportunity it presents for a modern Bugattiste to enjoy concours or days out with the Bugatti Owners' Club.

If it appeals to you, click here for more information.

Make a comment, ask a question, give your opinion, share additional information or start a discussion by filling in the fields below.