1932 Bugatti Type 55 Coupe/Roadster

One of the beautiful sports cars of all time, Jean Bugatti’s Type 55 was an art object in every detail and exerted enormous influence on designers all over the world. Yet only some forty were built, using a collection of essentially surplus components from unsuccessful Bugatti models. Some Type 55s had bodies by well-known coachbuilders, but the standard roadster without doors was built at the Bugatti factory. The closed coupes are extremely rare. The engines are complex and require extensive and expensive maintenance, but every extant Type 55 is cherished as a work of art as well as a magnificent vehicle to be driven on special occasions and for special events.

A faithful replica of the body style was constructed on a modern chassis by Xavier de la Chapelle in the late 1970s, and it is possible that there were more imitation Type 55s than real ones, but the slightest look beneath the surface reveals the difference. Bugatti cars, of which it is estimated that some nine thousand were built in total, were all truly works of art. Every Bugatti embodies beauty and elegance and is a hand-finished individual art object, a kinetic sculpture.

These extracts are taken from Auto Legends: Classics of Style and Design by Michel Zumbrunn, text by Robert Cumberford which was published in October by Merrell