Alexis Post, Algiers, Algeria (acquired by 1951)
Bernard Viallon, Blida, Algeria (acquired from the above in 1957)
Ralph Lauren, New York, New York (acquired from the above in 1986)
William Ainscough, St Lawrence, Jersey, Channel Islands (acquired from the above in 2003)
Ton Meijer, Wassenaar, The Netherlands (acquired in 2005)
Henri Chambon, Monte Carlo, Monaco (acquired from the above in 2013)
Current Owner (acquired from the above)
Chassis: 55231
Engine: 32
Among the Finest Examples of Bugatti’s Iconic Type 55 Roadster
Displayed in the Salon de l’Automobile at the 1933 Foire d’Alger
Driven to Victory at the Algerian Bouzaréa Hill Climb in March 1935
Provenance Comprised of Noted Collectors Including Ralph Lauren
Retains Original Coachwork and Matching-Numbers Drivetrain per Factory Records
Documented by Bugatti Historians Pierre-Yves Laugier and Mark Morris
2,262 CC DOHC Inline 8-Cylinder Engine
Single Zenith 48K Carburetor
Roots-Type Supercharger
130 BHP at 5,000 RPM
4-Speed Manual Gearbox
4-Wheel Mechanical Drum Brakes
Front Solid-Axle Suspension with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs
Rear Live Axle with Reversed Quarter-Elliptical Leaf Springs
Born in Milan in 1881 to a family of distinguished artists and craftsmen, Ettore Bugatti revolutionized the world of high-performance automobiles.
He was among the first, in 1910, to recognize that performance could be improved by reducing weight instead of increasing engine size. A lightweight sports car provided better acceleration, roadholding, and braking, as well as a welcome reduction in fuel consumption. Bugatti also approached the manufacture of automobiles with an artist’s sensibility; each of his cars was designed and built with exceptional attention to detail.
Predicated on these principles, Bugatti’s Type 35 Grand Prix caused a sensation when it debuted at the Grand Prix of Lyon in 1924. Weighing only 1,500 lbs. and powered by a magnificent overhead-camshaft straight eight, the Bugatti’s performance was astonishing. Over 2,000 race victories had been achieved by 1927. After studying Harry Miller’s advanced racing cars, Ettore Bugatti developed the Type 51, a twin-cam, supercharged, 2.3-liter Grand Prix that continued the company’s success story well into the 1930s.
During this period, Ettore Bugatti’s son Jean, a talented designer and engineer in his own right, began to exert his influence. While his father was conservative, Jean Bugatti proposed many technical innovations, including the use of independent suspension. A man with exquisite taste, he was also responsible for creating beautiful new designs.
It was Jean who had the idea to create the Type 55 “Supersport,” a world-class sports car that would appeal to Bugatti’s most demanding clients. This model was a spiritual successor to the Type 43 Grand Sport, which combined the mechanical underpinnings of the Type 35B with sporting coachwork, creating a Grand Prix car for the road. At its foundation, the Type 55 has the same chassis as the 16-cylinder Type 45 and Type 47 Grand Prix cars, also used in the 4.9-liter Type 54. This was mated to the Type 51’s supercharged engine and the four-speed gearbox from the contemporary Type 49 touring car. Unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October 1931, the Type 55 was an ultra-high-performance machine, with a top speed in excess of 110 mph.
In Bugatti tradition, the Type 55 was available to purchase as a chassis or it could be outfitted with one of three attractive factory bodies – a coupe, a cabriolet, or the splendid roadster, designed by Jean Bugatti. Since its introduction, the Type 55 Jean Bugatti Roadster has been coveted by enthusiasts the world over. The model has been aptly described, by at least one knowledgeable Bugattiste, as “a Type 51 Grand Prix wearing an evening gown.”
As documented in factory records, this Type 55, chassis 55231, was completed in March 1933. Originally equipped with engine no. 32, this Type 55 was also fashioned with Jean Bugatti roadster coachwork, the first of three such cars completed in 1933.
On March 21, 1933, the factory invoiced 55231 to Henri M. Sagnier, the official Bugatti agent in Algiers, Algeria. The next day, it was shipped by rail to Marseille, France, en route to North Africa. Soon after its arrival, the Type 55 was exhibited on M. Sagnier’s Bugatti and Talbot stand at the inaugural Foire d’Alger, a major national trade fair held in Algiers between April 10 and 23, 1933.
Displayed alongside a Bugatti Type 50S Landaulet, this Type 55 Roadster was the undisputed star of the fair’s Salon de l’Automobile, as it was the most expensive and overtly sporting car present. M. Sagnier’s display garnered significant attention, and the Bugattis were illustrated in the publication L’Afrique du Nord Illustrée, April 1933 with the following caption: “The Sagnier trading firm, representative of world-famous brands “Talbot” and “Bugatti,” held a place of honor at the Motor Show of the first Algiers Trade Fair. An orderly and artistically arranged stand, where the delicate touch of a woman’s hand could be felt, highlighted the combination of harmony and power provided by these cars which are, to say the very least, perfect…We were able to admire at leisure the splendid machines which had, during the duration of the show, been ogled with much lust and admiration.”
The first private owner of 55231 was Juvénal Emile Jarron, the 34-year-old son of prominent Algerian doctor Juvénal Constant Jarron, who himself owned a Type 43A. This is supported by an early photograph of the Type 55, which shows it parked on a pathway in Algiers’ beautiful Hamma botanical gardens with M. Jarron’s wife Antoinette sitting at the wheel wearing an exotic pantherfur coat.
In March 1935, M. Sagnier’s son Valentin entered M. Jarron’s Type 55 in the Bouzaréa Hill Climb, a race organized by the Province of Algiers Automobile Club. The publication L’Echo d’Alger reported the Bugatti’s victory: “First place: In all competitions there can only be one winner. Driving a customer’s car, Sagnier is the winner in a 1932 Bugatti, achieving the best time in all categories and winning the Guy Moll challenge award and many trophies to display at the Sagnier Firm, 58-60 rue Michelet.”
In December 1936, Valentin Sagnier entered the Bugatti in the next running of the Bouzaréa Hill Climb. However, the race was cancelled just before the start due to a fatal accident that occurred during practice.
Juvénal Jarron retained 55231 until late 1937, when he replaced it with a new Type 57S Vanvooren Cabriolet, which had been displayed at the Paris Motor Show prior to its delivery. At this time, the Type 55 Roadster returned to the Sagnier garage to be sold on to a new owner.
According to the research of French Bugatti historian Pierre-Yves Laugier, the Jean Bugatti Roadster then passed through the hands of several local owners during the late 1930s, remaining in Algeria throughout WWII. During the later years of the war, the Bugatti was allegedly requisitioned by observers of the Armistice Army, who mounted the Type 55’s engine in a speedboat and installed a diesel engine in its place.
Definitive ownership of 55231 picks back up postwar, when it was first registered as “714 AL 16.” By 1951, the Bugatti was owned by Alexis Post, a Swiss mechanic who had established a garage in the Ruisseau district of Algiers. During his ownership, M. Post managed to reunite 55231 with its original engine, but the Bugatti remained dormant until December 1957, when it was sold to a young enthusiast named Bernard Viallon.
Over the next two years, M. Viallon recommissioned the Type 55, carrying out much of the work himself, including sourcing parts directly from the Bugatti factory in Molsheim, as confirmed by original correspondence on file. The Bugatti was finally completed in summer 1959, and was driven until its engine failed in May 1960, whereupon it was put on blocks in the family’s home, Villa Mathilde in Blida, Algeria.
After completing his military service between 1960 and 1962, M. Viallon returned to collect his Bugatti. In February 1963, the Bugatti returned to France and was stored at a friend’s home in Clamecy for a decade, before joining its owner in Lyon. Although progress was made on the restoration, the Type 55 was still not finished in March 1986, when Guy Huet offered to purchase the Bugatti on behalf of famed American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, who was then in the midst of assembling his world-class car collection.
At this point, the Bugatti was shipped directly to the workshops of marque specialist Crosthwaite & Gardiner in England, where it was completely restored and refinished in black with dark blue coves. Once completed, the Type 55 Roadster was kept in the Lauren collection among other significant Bugattis, including a 57S Atlantic, 57S Gangloff Cabriolet, and Type 59 Grand Prix.
When Mr. Lauren acquired his Alfa Romeo 2.9 Mille Miglia Spider, the Type 55 was one of several cars that was sold. It was purchased in 2003 by noted UK collector William Ainscough and then, in 2005, passed into the ownership of Dutch connoisseur Ton Meijer, who had a mechanical restoration carried out by Laurent Rondoni’s esteemed Ventoux Moteurs Engineering. Following this work, the Type 55 was shown at Villa d’Este and Pebble Beach, participated in the International Bugatti Meeting in Italy, and was even exhibited on Bugatti’s stand at the 2007 Geneva International Motor Show alongside the new Veyron 16.4.
During the subsequent ownership of Henri Chambon, the Type 55 was repainted in its original black and yellow color scheme and inspected by two leading Bugatti historians, Pierre-Yves Laugier and Mark Morris. The file includes both historians’ reports, which conclude that 55231 retains its original chassis frame, engine, gearbox, rear end, and original coachwork, except for the bonnet, which was replaced during Bernard Viallon’s long-term ownership. Offered today from one of the preeminent American car collections, 55231 surely ranks among the very best examples of this rare breed.
Between 1931 and 1936, Bugatti built a mere 38 examples of the Type 55. Of these, only 14 were originally fashioned with Jean Bugatti’s incomparable roadster bodywork, one of the most attractive, influential, and recognizable automotive designs of all time. Of the 13 surviving Roadsters, just seven are understood to retain their original coachwork and major matching-numbers mechanical components. Today, these precious few Jean Bugatti Roadsters are fixtures in some of the most important private collections and are among the most exclusive road-going Bugattis, significantly rarer than even the Type 57S Atalante.
Together with its Milanese rival, the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, Bugatti’s Type 55 represents the ultimate in early 1930s sports car design. These supercharged, twin-cam 2.3-liter thoroughbreds were showcases of the latest Grand Prix technology and constructed with a combination of artistry and craftsmanship that would be unimaginable today. When fitted with lightweight, two-seat coachwork, these dual-purpose machines were equally capable of winning races or concours d’elegance – as is perfectly demonstrated by this Jean Bugatti Roadster, which is believed to be the only Type 55 that served as both a motor show display and a competition car in period.
With its outstanding provenance, superb condition, and uncommon originality, 55231 presents an opportunity to acquire one of the very best examples of the legendary Type 55 Roadster – a masterpiece that represents the very embodiment of the Bugatti marque, Le Pur-Sang des Automobiles.
*Please note that this vehicle has a combined acceptance to two Mille Miglia events -- the Warm Up USA Event in November 2023 and the Mille Miglia 2024 -- subject to registration and payment of entry fee.