12 replies to this topic

[Terry Walker]

The T 57 brought to WA by Duncan Ord, raced extensively in WA, and later cut-and-shut by David van Dal, and then over many years rebuilt by Jack Krajancic (I hope I spelled that right) has sold at Bonhams for over $1,000,000.

 

Provenance is everything of course: Earl Howe and Pierre Levegh were early owners.

Edited by Terry Walker, 10 February 2018 - 01:46.

[Repco22]

The T 57 brought to WA by Duncan Ord, raced extensively in WA, and later cut-and-shut by David van Dal, and then over many years rebuilt by Jack Krajancic (I hope I spelled that right) has sold at Bonhams for over $1,000,000.

 

Provenance is everything of course: Earl Howe and Pierre Levegh were early owners.

    Terry, I thought the modification was David Van Dal's doing too but apparently after Duncan Ord's ownership the car went east where it was Phil Hind who shortened the chassis by 2'6" and fitted a more modern, open-wheeler body. David  acquired the car in this form in 1954.
    His entry in the '57 AGP at Caversham was the last time a Bugatti appeared in an AGP.
He then sold the car to Jim Krajancich.
   
 

Edited by Repco22, 10 February 2018 - 03:00.

[Tim Murray]

Here’s the Bonhams blurb:

https://www.bonhams...._release/25515/

[cooper997]

And here's the van Dal blurb when a bit cheaper.

 

 

Stephen

Edited by cooper997, 23 May 2018 - 00:53.

[Michael Ferner]

What a shame to turn this interesting special into a bog standard Bugatti!

[ken devine]

Another car with great West Australian history is lost to the state.

[ken devine]

Rod i don't know when Phil Hind would have done this work in the Eastern states but i have photos of it being driven by Bob Annear and Vin Smith Bodyless at the Byford Hill climb in 1956 and another one of David Van Dal and crew standing beside the unpainted body also a photo of it after the chassis was shortened in a workshop. 

[Repco22]

Rod i don't know when Phil Hind would have done this work in the Eastern states but i have photos of it being driven by Bob Annear and Vin Smith Bodyless at the Byford Hill climb in 1956 and another one of David Van Dal and crew standing beside the unpainted body also a photo of it after the chassis was shortened in a workshop. 

Ken, apologies. My mistake re the car going east. Apparently the modification was done by Phil Hind in WA. See the Bonhams information below.
        Don Hall, who also raced the car, assures me that David Van Dal was not responsible for the car's shortening and re-styling.  David was a close friend of mine in the latter years of his life but strangely, we never discussed the Bugatti. I've seen the pics with Bob & Vin driving the car but have no idea why the body was removed.
                                                                          -----------------------------------------
                                                                                            Bonhams;

     In March 1948 South Australian Durrant 'Durrie' Turner paid a deposit on the car, but Ord damaged it slightly when trying the car for Turner after having broken the lap record in it at Caversham. It seems that Turner did not proceed with the purchase...

The car passed to Jeff Phillips and in 1952 to Phil Hind. During Hind's ownership in an effort to keep the car competitive it was modified with the chassis being shortened by 2 feet 6 inches between the rear kick-up and the cockpit, the original body was discarded and replaced by a contemporary styled slender racing version, coil-springs were fitted at the rear in place of the original cart-springs and the cars hectic racing life continued. In 1954 the car was acquired by David Van Dal who ran it in the 1957 Australian Grand Prix - '57264' thus becoming the last Bugatti to compete in the nation's major international road race. In 1958 Van Dal then sold it to the current owner then a junior motor engineer in Perth, Western Australia, in whose care it has survived the 51 years since.

The new owner had seen '57264' advertised for £600 in Australian Motor Sport magazine, and offered Van Dal £400 payable in instalments. Van Dal had already been offered £400 by Melbourne-based Bugatti Type 51 owner Peter Menere, but since this would cost him a good deal more in transport he accepted our current vendor's local offer.
He ran the Bugatti in a couple of sprints before deciding to rebuild it in Maserati 300S style, but time passed and upon marriage in 1962 Bugatti '57264' was mothballed as bought. Restoration work to original 1935 form finally commenced in 1973 and the work continued until 2010 - the vendor completing almost all the work himself. This included re-lengthening the chassis using works drawings of the Type 57 and painstakingly re-making the body and road equipment from many archive photos. The brakes were re-converted to mechanical operation, the original radiator was acquired from Van Dal while the car's original starter motor, dynamo and radiator shutters were reacquired from Ord. The radiator shell came via Wolf Zeuner and had come from Australia, it is in fact believed to be the original from the car. Original Type 57 rear springs came from Barry Swann in Malaysia, replacement original cylinder block and crankshaft were also sourced from Malaysia (the cars originals included with the lot), the spring hangers came from Zeuner, while the rear torque arm is old stock Molsheim spares.

Original pedal pads were obtained from Henry Posner – and when Gavin Sandford-Morgan re-bodied the sister '57627' he sold numerous original parts to this car's present vendor including the fuel tank, cast aluminium dashboard brackets and bonnet catches. The Repesseau adjustable friction shock absorbers now fitted at the rear were the fronts when the car arrived in Australia in 1938, the vendor having fitted original de Rham dampers on the front as fitted for the 1935 TT.

The only replica mechanical parts used in '57264''s rebuild are- the rear-brake back plates, the brake cross shafts and the dashboard in-struments while original parts offered with this Lot but not used in the rebuild include gearbox internals, crankshaft, cylinder block, steering wheel, steering drag link, oil pump, Stromberg carburettor - two SUs are mounted presently on the original manifold – while in addition there is a spare radiator ex-Sandford-Morgan.

Bugatti authority Pierre Yves Laugier has personally inspected the car with our personnel and produced a detailed report on the car, perusal of which we strongly advise. From this we can confirm correct number stampings identify the engine crankcase, gearbox, chassis, front and back axles as being original to this car. The Earl Howe history, the known perfect provenance and ownership-succession from at least 1937 – and now the matching numbers – what more could any Bugatti connoisseur require? We recommend this fine-history sports-racing Bugatti as being worthy of the closest consideration and of course potentially eligible for the world's finest motoring events.

 

Edited by Repco22, 10 February 2018 - 10:05.

[2F-001]

Looking at that rather large and rather long Type 57 as depicted on the linked Bonhams page... I couldn't help wanting to describe it as a rather fast lorry...

[ken devine]

It was a big car. It's amazing a car worth that sort of money sat in an open carport at it owner's property mostly always in pieces.

[cooper997]

Ken Devine posted this great Bugatti T57 photo on Bob Williamson Facebook photos site.

 

https://www.facebook...&type=3

 

Perhaps Ken has some more detail relating to the photo.

 

Stephen

[ken devine]

I think the photo is at Narrogin about 1948.Duncan Ord driving.

[Ray Bell]

It's identified in Terry's book...

I'm sure that's the same photo.