Unrestored 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports Wins Best of Show at 2024 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
The 73rd Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance was the event at its best. The sky over the Monterey Peninsula was blue, interrupted only by the occasional cloud. A light breeze wafted through the air along with Vivaldi concertos. The immaculate paint of the entrants glistened under rippling banners. When confetti guns celebrating Best of Show went pop, a weather-beaten Bugatti race car roared its way across the stage, driven by Fritz Burkard from Zug, Switzerland. The combination made history: Burkard is the first European owner to win Best of Show at Pebble Beach, and his car—a 1934 Bugatti Type 59 Sports—is the first preservation-class car to capture the prestigious award.
“I don’t win anything,” said Burkard, a Swiss collector who brings his kids with him to the concours. “It’s the car. I don’t do—I just make a smiley face.”
Not only is his Bugatti the first of that make to win Best of Show at Pebble since 2003, it is also the only one with two badges, he says. Burkard knelt at the front car, squatting to point out first the badge on the nose of the car, then directing attention to the one on the vertical radiator, tucked underneath the bodywork. “This is the radiator from the Grand Prix car from 1934. And you even see that they changed the design—it had small dots; in 1937, it had bigger dots. These are the little things which I think are funny.”
This Bugatti is not just a race car, but a winning race car. It won the Belgian Grand Prix in 1934 in the hands of René Dreyfus, the Frenchman who raced Bugattis privately for years and then, finally, for the factory, in 1934. (We’ve told Dreyfus’ fascinating story in detail here; it’s worth your time.) The car took third place at the Monaco Grand Prix later that year.
After Ettore Bugatti sold four of his other Type 59s factory racers, he converted this one into a sports car. He removed the supercharger from the 3.3-liter inline-eight engine and added a second seat and a set of doors. The car was then registered not as a Type 59 but as a Type 57—the famous touring car that Bugatti built between 1934 and 1940 using the same 3.3-liter engine as the race cars. The ex-race car, known as chassis number 57248, did far more than tour: It kept racing, and it kept winning, at Pau in 1937 and at the Algerian and Marne French Grands Prix in the hands of Jean-Pierre Wimille.
The black paint that the Type 59 wears is different from that which it wore for those race wins: At the request of King Leopold III of Belgium, a Bugatti enthusiast who bought the car in 1937, it was painted black with a yellow stripe. Nearly nine decades later, it drove across the stage of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance wearing this finish, now worn and cracked. True to the Prewar Preservation class, it is a visible tribute to the car’s remarkable history.
“Preservation is for me the most important class,” said Burkard, “because it’s originality—the car can only be once original, and this car is untouched since 1937. Everything you see here is original, and the history before the car was born in 1934 til 1937 is amazing.
“It’s magnificent. It’s one of the most successful racing Bugattis next to The Tank.”
The Type 57G, one of several “tank-bodied” Bugattis, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1937 and set multiple land speed records. Only three were built, and just one exists today.
We’ve written about Burkard’s Bugatti before, when it was bound for Gooding & Company’s auction at that house’s “Passion of a Lifetime” event in September of 2020. There it sold for £9,535,000. That’s over $15 million today.
The car is powered by a 3257-cc inline-eight with double overhead cams, twin Zenith carburetors, and a Roots-type supercharger. The engine drives the rear wheels through a four-speed, dry-sump manual transmission. Output is 250 hp at 5000 rpm. The suspension is via leaf springs and De Ram shock absorbers, which locate a solid axle in the front and a live one in the back. The brakes, though they are at all four wheels, are drums operated by cable; Ettore insisted as such.
Burkard loves to drive the 1934 Bugatti.
“I was driving this car three hours on Tuesday morning, Wednesday morning, Thursday morning, yesterday morning—seven o’ clock, Bixby Bridge, alone, smelling the sea. Can it get any better?”
He also feels strongly about the importance of sharing the car—especially with young people.
“That’s why I take the cars out. I always have young people sitting in my cars. That’s why I do Instagram—it’s a bit annoying, the social media, but that’s how to reach the youngsters to get the passion for these old cars to young people. I think it’s key. If they only see Teslas, they never appreciate something like that.”
Burkard gestured at the row of vents on the Type 59’s patina-rich hood, upon which rested the yellow roses and golden ribbon of the Best of Show. He thumped a fist over his chest.
“If they’re six years old and you give them a spin in this kind of car, for the rest of their life, it stays in the heart.”
Still can’t figure out how a car with bad paint can be considered Best in Show.
“the car can only be once original, and this car is untouched since 1937. Everything you see here is original, and the history before the car was born in 1934 till 1937 is amazing.” This is the reason. How many cars that are this old, 87 years old, are anywhere in this nice of condition and driven as often as it’s driven. The man has the right idea about encouraging young people. They are the next generations to look after our cars when we’re gone.
Because that paint carries more history than the best restoration shop could ever spray.
I had the privilege of being in attendance yesterday and whilst there were so many cars that were perfect or close to perfect Burkard’s Bugatti stood out for wearing its history clearly on its body. Further, whilst many pre-war perfect vehicles took 10 minutes of prep to get started during judging, the Bugatti fired right up like it was supposed to be driven every day.
At a time when car collectors are starting to appreciate originality and genuine patina over $500k restoration programs this Bugatti stood out of the crowd!
Because no matter how much money you spend you cannot get a car this original with a restoration. Preservation is far, far more difficult.
The article says this car was converted into a 4 seat sports touring car. If true, when did it get converted back to a 2 seater? Some missing information here. Still, it is a nice car and has loads of history. Bravo!
I think the second seat refers to the passenger seat. Since it was originally a race car, it only had a driver’s seat.
I like where the concourse is going. Preservation….why not? A wedge car could have won. The headwinds are changing and it makes Best of Show more interesting. I do feel for the folks who invested millions to get perfection on the 18th fairway and I wonder if this makes those folks think twice before they commit the time and money to restore another car in hopes of winning the grand prize at Pebble. Final thought: it was a very entertaining event, can’t wait until next year!
I really enjoy preservation cars and the stories that come with them. However, I don’t really believe they deserve best of show in a concours like this. Other people spend years chasing the right parts and then spend thousands on restorations. I imagine there was a lot of grumbling after the ceremony, although few would admit how they really are feeling…
I agree. Hundred of millions are spent Employing the craftsmen who restore these cars. This is a disincentive to the whole industry.
There has been a preservation class at Pebble previously. The appearance and prevalence of preserved cars is not new, this is just the first time a preservation class car has won best of show. Not sure how this would be a “disincentive” to the industry. It’s not like a French car won previously and suddenly no one care about German cars and only restored French cars. It’s one award at one event. Let’s not get carried away trying to extrapolate past that.
Just because a person went through the effort to restore a car does not mean they get an award. It’s never been that way. There is only one best of show and hundreds of cars on the field. Pebble Beach doesn’t give out participation trophies.
What is Best in Show? The best restored car or the best car?
Now you know.
Great to see a car that’s not a trailer queen win! I get the “cars as investments and showpieces” but in the final analysis, they were built to be driven.
Thank you Pebble Beach for giving the TOP DOG award to an Old Dog! Chasing perfection in restoration is a moving target. I am so very pleased to see this award go to a non-restored car.
The level of restorations needed these days takes it out of even the run of the mill multi millionaires hands / budget! The more we as a hobby embrace what a car was at birth, maintain it, and enjoy it, the more “hands can fix it”!
The coverage on Youtube was enjoyable to watch , great job TK and JB!
Wonderful win!!! Congrats to the owner/driver and the selection committee!
Marvelous automobile!
Early in the article it states the supercharger was removed prior to Bugatti selling the car to Leopold in 1937. Later on it states that the car is powered by a 3.3-liter DOHC inline eight cylinder with a Rootes-type supercharger. Which is it?
I was at the show yesterday. I love original cars and prefer it to a perfectly restored car but this car was not deserving of its award. I have seen far better time capsule examples that are far more deserving of Best of Show honors than this car.
Amazing how little appreciation there is for an 87 year preservation VS a 10 year restoration. The people that started preserving this car when it was fairly new were long dead and had no idea where that preservation would lead when the restoration of most of the cars in this years show even began. This is a perfect lesson in taking care of your things.
Next week I will be i Lucerne about 15 mi. from Zug. It would be a dream to see this car in person and meet. My ’66 Shelby H-4spd is also pretty much as it came from the factory. I also permit youngsters to sit in the car, turn the steering wheel some and if they are big enough move the shifter and take pictures of them with their phones. Last show I had 3 at one time, early teens, one driver, one front passenger and 1 rear seat passenger. They all were respectful of the car and left with big smiles and many thank yous. For me a delight and honor to see it. I, however, require participants to be at least 6 yrs old. What a serviver that Bugatti is. I absolutely love it and respect its’ owner
I agree with you 100%. At car shows you see many cars with “do not touch” signs and the owners standing nearby giving you the stink eye if you even get with 2′ of the car. I enjoy letting youngsters get in my car, tell them to honk the horn (aoogah), and smile just as much as they do. We need to encourage youngsters to get in the hobby and enjoy it.
This Bugatti is extremely significant. It definitely deserves best in preservation class and the best for its class. It might have more money invested in it than any other car that was restored just for the Concours. But it’s a disservice to entrants to know they might be ousted from best of show for a preservation class vehicle.
Who cares? This is nothing more than a whizzing match between Millionaires/Billionaires. I mean one guy writes a $15MM check to buy a turn-key winning car, while the next guy writes a $2MM check to buy the canvas that will become the winning car, then writes another $2MM check to restore it to its winning condition.
I will say that the concept of “preservation” can be taken too far in my opinion. I was examining one such entrant at a local concours recently and was appalled by rotting and torn upholstery, dented and rusting bodywork, and just a general air of shoddiness….I mean had it been a ’64 Falcon (and not a 289 Cobra), it would have never made it onto the field.
An automobile is composed of consumables. Maintaining it, IS preserving it….so the paint is 87 years old, big deal; even the 500 year old paint of the Mona Lisa is touched-up from time to time.