An exceptionally well-known, competition-winning 1925 Bugatti Type 35B Grand Prix two-seater, which was owned by former director of the Bugatti Owners’ Club and past editor of Bugantics magazine, Jack Perkins, is to be sold by Bonhams, as part of its annual sale of Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia at Goodwood Festival of Speed on 1 July 2011. It has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £400,000 – 500,000.
Bugatti aficionado, Jack Perkins, who died in August 1992, discovered this car in 1950 at an aerodrome in Nottinghamshire, where it was being driven around for fun by the ground staff. Having snapped it up for £60, he set about building the fastest possible Type 35B. The result, which featured a methanol burning engine and a streamlined single-seater body, made its debut at Prescott, the home of the Bugatti’s Club, on 19 May 1954, setting a best time of 52.15 seconds.
Perkins continued to campaign this car until his last meeting in 1988 when, aged 78, he decided to retire from the sport. During this time, the car achieved its fastest time of 46.21 seconds at the May 1981 hill climb.
After his retirement, the car was returned to its original two-seater Grand Prix specification by historic racing specialist, Rod Jolley. Perkins passed away just before the restoration was complete and, soon after, his widow, Jean, decided to exhibit the car at the Haynes Motor Museum in Somerset, where it remained until December last year.
Also in this sale is a 1926 Bugatti Type 37 Monoposto, which has attracted a pre-sale estimate of £120,000 – 160,000.
Earlier this year, at the Grand Palais in Paris, Bonhams sold two Bugattis owned by the late Fitzroy John Somerset, the 5th Baron Raglan (1927-2010), Patron and former Chairman of the Bugatti Owners’ Club and trustee of the Bugatti Trust, for a total of €1.2m. A 1933 Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix Two-Seater sold for a remarkable €943,000, while a 1930 Bugatti Type 46 Cabriolet, with coachwork by Figoni, which sold for €333,500.
www.bonhams.com/goodwood
