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  Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix      

  Article Image gallery (137) Chassis (7) 51121 Specifications  
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Country of origin:France
Produced from:1931 - 1935
Numbers built:40
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:December 08, 2014
Download: All images
Chassis: 51121
This was one of the very first, and certainly the lowest numbered of the 40 Type 51s built. It was delivered new to British aristocrat and accomplished gentleman racer Earl Howe. Although he only started racing when he was 44, he won the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans outright with Tim Birkin in only his fourth season. Earlier that year, he debuted the green painted 51121 at the Monaco Grand Prix only to retire when a cam-box stud pulled out. Earl Howe would race the car twice more at Monaco, finishing fourth in 1932. He also campaigned the car with considerable success all over Europe well into the 1934 season. He would score victories at Brooklands and at Donington Park with the Type 51. In 1933, he lent the car to Piero Taruffi and the great Tazio Nuvolari for a race at Brooklands where they promptly finished second.

Earl Howe eventually sold the car in 1934 to compatriot Arthur Dobson. He did not race the car but subsequent owners Mervin White, Arthur Baron and Norman Lewis did. The car's final contemporary outing came in July of 1939 when Lewis and Baron competed in the Prescott hill-climb. The car was then sold to D.M. Jenkinson, before it was acquired by A.M. Mackay in 1954. He had the car maintained to full running order but it was rarely seen in Mackay's three decades of ownership. Through Bugatti specialist Bill Serri, the fabulous Type 51 was eventually pried from Mackay's hands in 1983 and sold to the current, American custodian. Early in his ownership, the car was seen in public occasionally, appearing at Bridgehampton several times. Considered to be one of the best Type 51s, it has been laid up in one of the owner's stables. It will finally re-appear at the upcoming Bonhams Quail Sale which will be present a unique opportunity to buy a no-stories Bugatti Grand Prix car that has had just two owners in the last 60 years.


Chassis details
Manufactured in 1931
Engine number 2
First owner Earl Howe
Last known location American Private Collection
Appearances
Most recent auction(s)

2016 Monterey Auctions 2016 Monterey Auctions 2016 Monterey Motorsports Reunion Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix
Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix
Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix Bugatti Type 51 Grand Prix

  Article Image gallery (137) Chassis (7) 51121 Specifications