3,245cc DOHC Inline 8-Cylinder Engine
Single Twin-Choke Stromberg UUR Carburetor
135bhp at 5,000rpm
4-Speed Manual Transmission
Front Solid Axle, Rear Live Axle, Semi-Elliptic Spring
4-Wheel Drum Brakes

*One of only four surviving factory-built roll-top sunroof cars
*Delivered new in Marseille to jeweler Charles Olivero
*Participated in the 1938 Rallye des Alpes
*Captivating ownership history with a cast of fascinating characters
*Detailed provenance compiled by leading marque historians

THE BUGATTI TYPE 57

When Bugatti's spectacular Type 57 debuted in 1934, few suspected it would be the final all-French design from the marque. The firm's patriarchal leader Ettore Bugatti was occupied with designing petrol-powered rail cars at the behest of the French government, so he charged his son Jean – just 23 years old at the time – with the task of designing the latest high-performance Gran Routier. Jean, with senior engineers Pichetto and Domboy were responsible for the car's specification from the ground up – including the chassis, engine, and even the factory body designs.

At the Type 57's heart was a new twin-cam, inline eight-cylinder engine displacing 3,245cc. The architecture was familiar, though the block (with integrated head) and crankcase were new. Camshaft bevel gears offered improved refinement to the previous straight-cut style, and in standard form, the new engine produced a highly respectable 135bhp in standard form. While not officially a competition car, it shared its fundamental engine design with the Type 59 Grand Prix car, and T57s were popular with rallyists. The chassis featured Bugatti's proven solid front axle suspension that guided all previous models to countless motorsport victories, though tuned for fast, luxurious touring. Jean Bugatti masterfully penned four in-house body designs for the Type 57; the Galibier saloon, Ventoux four-passenger coupe, Stelvio four-seat cabriolet, and the Atalante two-seat coupe.

Not to be confused with the Atlantic Coupe with its famous rivets and spines, Jean Bugatti's gorgeous two-place coupe was named for Atalanta, the beautiful, fleet-footed Greek goddess. Based on a 3.3 m wheelbase, the Atalante carried factory design no. 1070, dated 20 January 1935, and it was the only Type 57 body built entirely in-house at Molsheim. The name "Faux Cabriolet" was given to the first cars built in April 1935, and it was only from chassis 57330, displayed in October 1935, that the Atalante name first appeared.

Officially the "Coupé Atalante 2/3-seater with sunroof," pricing was set at 90,000 francs in October 1935, rising to 108,000 francs in October 1937 for the aluminum version. In 1935 and 1936, production was as follows:

1935: Ten including seven with sunroof (chassis 57249, 57263, 57267, 57312, 57325, 57330 and 57333).
1936: Eight including three with sunroof (chassis 57401, 57428 and 57432).

Of the ten sunroof cars completed in 1935-1936, just three remain in their factory configuration and a fourth is undergoing restoration at the time of cataloguing, though others have been converted in more recent days. Our featured car, 57432, was the final model built in 1936 and is known to be the very last Atalante built with a sunroof.

THE CAR OFFERED

The Type 57 presented here in its striking original color scheme is chassis no. 57432, which left the Bugatti coachbuilders on 13 July 1936. This is one of the four known surviving sunroof cars, described in factory records as "Coupé Atalante 57432, black and ivory, tan leather." It was ordered by Gaston Descollas, the Bugatti agent in Marseille, whose showroom was located at 42 Cours du Prado. His client, a local jeweler named Charles Joseph Olivero (1906-1990), had inherited a successful jewelry business from his father, Charles Olivero in 1930. In May 1934, he acquired a second-hand Type 49 cabriolet, which he traded to Descollas at the end of July 1936 to buy the new Atalante. Olivero had every intention to enjoy his new Bugatti to the fullest, specifying it with hydraulic brakes and telescopic dampers. It is believed to be the first chassis so equipped, and these features later became standard on Series III cars.

Charles Olivero registered his fabulous new Bugatti on July 24, 1936, with the number 8357 CA 8. The Type 57 was certainly no garage queen and Charles enjoyed it to the fullest on numerous rallies. On the Rallye des Alpes from June 13-17, 1938, Charles shared navigation duties with his girlfriend Daisy – apparently Charles's wife hated fast cars, so she did not object to Daisy being on board. The pair were forced to retire on July 16 while on the Chamonix to Nice stage. He also ran the car in the Monte Carlo and Rome-Liege-Rome rallies with his brother Jean. In 1939, Olivero ordered a Type 57C Roadster from Gangloff, allegedly driving his Atalante 700km from Marseille to Colmar every Friday evening to monitor the progress of his new roadster. When his new 57C was finally completed, he sold the Atalante through a mechanic from Nîmes, Émile Reveiller, who registered it as 6008 FN 4 in his name at the address of his garage (1 rue de Général à Nîmes).

Very shortly after, 57432 was in the care of its new owner, the celebrated French aviator Léon Givon. This is supported by a letter from Givon written on Marignane Airbase letterhead dated July 9, 1939, stating: "I went to the Marseille agency to buy a 57 Atalante with a sunroof." Léon Givon registered the Bugatti on August 25, 1939, just ten days before the start of the war, with the number 7262 CB 1. During the war, given Givon's involvement in the Resistance, it is possible that the Bugatti was used in service, but the car disappeared until 1948 when it resurfaced in Luxembourg.

In June 1948, 57432 was acquired by the serial "Bugattist" Rudi Cloos who oversaw its first restoration. Rudi wanted a "new" Type 57, so he acquired one of the so-called "Bordeaux Orphan" rolling chassis from the factory, removed the original engine no. 315, and fitted engine no. 547 and an un-numbered new gearbox to this chassis. Between June 1948 and April 1949, the Atalante was sent to the coachbuilder Jos Metz and modified with a metal-roof and Ventoux windshield. Luxembourg Registration documents listed the new engine number (547), and subsequently the car was erroneously identified as "57547." (It should be noted that chassis 57547 is an original 1937 Ventoux with no connection to this Atalante offered). As offered today, the lower crankcase bears no. 315 while the remainder of the engine is number 547 as fitted during Cloos's tenure.

Cloos sold the car in November 1950 to his Belgian friend, Albert Jean de Lay, from Liège, living in Luxembourg. He took the Bugatti to the Belgian Congo (DRC today) where he worked as an architect for the Belgian government. In 1963, a civil war forced the de Lay family to flee to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) as rebels advanced. They threw together what they could, and de Lay was forced to choose between his Bugatti (suffering ignition issues at the time) or his brand-new MG. He chose the Bugatti which ran faultlessly to get his family to safety.

The same year, Rudi Cloos reacquired his Atalante, giving Jean de Lay the means to restart his life. Cloos and his fellow Bugatti cognoscenti were regulars at Gaston Greven's "Royal Bugatti" nightclub. Greven had a new Jaguar V12 that Cloos took a shine to, offering Greven part exchange on the Atalante. Greven obliged, later repainting it but keeping the registration L 4005. In 1974 he took part in the Rallye Monte-Carlo des Voitures Anciennes. The famously unscrupulous Bugatti dealer and enthusiast Lucien Mette managed to talk Greven out of his Atalante for a sum that Greven regretted for the rest of his life. Mette was sourcing cars for Maurice Teisserenc, a collector from the Domaine de Montplaisir, who took ownership on September 12, 1974.

By this time, 57432 required a mechanical restoration (the front axle had been bent during a rally), and the work was entrusted to Colin Crabbe of Antique Automobiles in Great Britain. The Bugatti was repainted in black and red, and the roof was modified again. Maurice Teisserenc used the car in the 1978 "100 Bugatti" meeting in Deauville, as well as many other Club Bugatti France rallies. After 14 years, he put it up for auction in Fontainebleu on May 24, 1988. The Atalante was bought by the collector Bernard Mérian, of Cannes, who had the means to finally restore the beautiful Atalante to its original configuration. To this end, he requested the help of the Bugatti expert Pierre Yves Laugier.

The first order of business was to sort its true identity. The discovery of the number 315 on the rear axle put the team on the trail of chassis 57432 and Mr. Olivero who amazingly, was still alive at the time! When contacted by phone, Mr. Olivero was surprised and delighted to recount the story of his beloved Bugatti. Moreover, he provided the historian Claude Taconetti with marvelous original photos that made it possible to restore the car to its 1936 configuration.

M. Pallier of Tours handled the engine rebuild, while other mechanical elements were overhauled by Claude Afchain, and the bodywork restored to its original style and colors by Jean-Claude Tisserand. The correct Atalante roof with sunroof was patterned from chassis 57330, the ex- 1935 Salon de Paris car. The interior was restored in Connolly leather by Madame Tisserand, and even Jean-Claude's children aided in the project. In 1992 the Atalante was presented to Charles Olivero's widow (now deceased) and two daughters Janie and Josette, at an exhibition at the Musée de Mougins.

In 1995, the Atalante was exhibited at Retromobile, and in 2001 was sold by Bernard Mérian. Dutch entrepreneur Victor Müller was the next owner, and he showed it the 2002 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, then at Goodwood and Villa d'Este in 2003. Chassis 57432 sold on August 31, 2003, to another Dutch collector, who, for nearly twenty years, crisscrossed Europe and the United States at the wheel of his stunning Atalante, which has matured beautifully through years of proper care and use. The current owner has enjoyed it to the fullest and reports recent maintenance by specialists Garage van Egmond in Zwanenburg, Netherlands. In 2023 the glamourous Bugatti was featured in Classic & Sportscar Magazine in a story by Martin Buckley, accompanied by stunningly moody nighttime photographs taken on the streets of Paris.

As one of just a handful of surviving factory-built open-air Atalantes, the availability of 57432 presents an incredible opportunity to acquire a very special Bugatti, indeed. The new owner will not only get a Bugatti that is exceptional in form and function, but one with a rich history spent in the hands of a series of fascinating characters, presented in superb condition, faithfully restored to its original configuration.