Green Bugatti Coach Type 57 from 1936, 8 cylinders, 3257 cc, 135 HP, 150 km/h.
Jean Henri-Labourdette was one of the first builders of bodies for automobiles (1858-1939). The first body for an automobile attributed to Henri Labourdette was built in 1896.
Famous customers, such as L.A.R “Les Infants D’Espagne” and then later on King Alphonso XIII, Empress Eugenie, numerous Russian princes or René de Knyff, Panhard & Levassor’s director, confirm the Labourdette’s excellent reputation.
The Bugatti Type 57 and later variants (including the famous Atlantic and Atalante) was a grand tourer car built from 1934 through 1940. It was an entirely new design created by Jean Bugatti, son of founder Ettore. A total of 710 Type 57s were produced.
Type 57s used a twin-cam 3,257 cc engine based on that of the Type 49 but heavily modified by Jean Bugatti, unlike the single cam engines of the Type 49 and earlier models. The engines of the Type 50, 51 used bevel gears at the front of the engine to transmit power from the crankshaft, whereas the Type 57 used a train of spur gears at the rear of the engine, with fiber gear wheels on the camshafts to achieve more silence in operation.
There were two basic variants of the Type 57 car:
The original Type 57
The lowered Type 57S/SC
The Type 57 chassis and engine was revived in 1951 as the Bugatti Type 101. A rediscovered Type 57 sold for 3.4 million euros at auction on 7 February 2009 at a motor show in Paris.
