This afternoon I ventured out of my “cave”, where I had been writing/sleeping for the last 12 hours. My goal was to get some fresh air, eat something healthy and do something to improve the mind (what is left of it). I ended up at the National Gallery of Victoria, visiting an exhibition about the Bugatti Family.
They were a talented lot. There was patriarch Carlo who designed beautiful furniture (and was mayor in my local village in France) and his sons Rembrandt and Ettore and Ettore’s son Jean. Rembrandt was a brilliant sculptor, particularly with animal. I would have his work in my house any day, but I cannot afford it but these days that is reserved for squillionaires. I believe that McLaren partner Mansour Ojjeh is a passionate Rembrandt Bugatti collector.
Ettore designed the most beautiful cars. The only car I ever fell in love with at first sight was the Bugatti Royale… but as these cost about $10m each these days, I will stick with the Prius!
In racing Bugatti was hugely successful winning many Grands Prix victories in the 1920s and 1930s. The exhibition boasts a Type 37 racing car, in the traditional French racing blue. Lovely. The company, incidentally, also won Le Mans twice with its spectacular Type 57SC “Tanks”, which were completely dominant in 1937 and 1939. It was while testing one of these on the public road near Molsheim that Ettore’s son Jean, who designed some beautiful Bugatti road cars, was killed in the summer of 1939.
Jean had been forbidden to race by his father and had competed only in the hillclimb at Shelsley Walsh in England, but he had done many similar tests in the past. There were only two junctions that needed to be watched and Jean stationed mechanic Robert Aumaître at one and asked his 16-year-old brother Roland to oversee the other. People who arrived were happy to wait, keen to see a racing Bugatti being tested.
Joseph Metz, a radio operator from the nearby Entzheim Airfield, was in a hurry. He had had a little to drink and wanted to go home. He told Roland Bugatti that he would keep to the grass verge, out of the way, but for some reason he was cycling in the middle of the road when Jean arrived behind him at 125mph. Bugatti swerved at the last minute, missed Metz by a fraction, but the Tank veered at unabated speed into a large plane tree. The car was torn apart by the impact, the engine was ripped off and catapulted into a field and Jean’s body was thrown 60 feet from the wreck. Metz, shocked by the arrival of the racing car, fell off his bicycle and broke his wrist.
Nothing could be done for Jean Bugatti and a couple of years later, unable to live with what he had done, Metz committed suicide.
It is a sad story that all the talent disappeared without a new generation to carry on.
It is a great exhibition to have in Melbourne during the race weekend.
F1 people may not know much Bugatti – but perhaps they should!
It’s a city with a chequered history:
Originally named after Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister, Lord Melbourne.
Produced Australia’s most famous singer; Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931), and went rapidly downhill from there. The soprano describing the derivation of her stage-name:
“It’s from Melbourne: a city full of Greeks and whores.”
We’re all relieved you chose the Bugatti exhibition in favour of the wonders of the dockside.
Enjoy a good rest, and look forward to the delights of Kuala Lumpur next weekend… Be sure to sample the Roti Chanai with fish curry and lentil dahl.
The Volkswagen group owns both Bugatti and Lamborghini. If they were ever to enter F1, they should probably use the Bugatti name instead of the Lamborghini name.
Bugattis are always a bit special. I visited the Schlumpf museum in Mulhouse a few years ago and it is full of Bugattis of all sorts including Royales.
I have only just realised by reading this post that I know nothing of the Bugatti family beyond Ettore. I have no doubt I have read about his son’s accident somewhere but I don’t remember it.
Personally I have always prefered the smaller Bugattis to the Royale. I can see the attraction but for me it doesn’t compare with something like a 35 or a 57.
hi there, just needed to say thanks alot for this post, it let me sense one thing I had not given a lot of reflection to it previously.