1936 BUGATTI Type 57SC Atlantic

FORMERLY THE PROPERTY OF LORD VICTOR ROTHSCHILD,
ROBERT OLIVER, DR. PETER WILLIAMSON 
2003 PEBBLE BEACH “BEST IN SHOW” AWARD WINNER

THIS EXQUISITE BUGATTI was delivered to Lord Victor Rothschild in England on September 2, 1936. Three years later, in 1939, Mr. Rothschild had the Bugatti factory install a Roots supercharger from a Type 55 engine, upgrading the model to a Type 57SC. Having blown up the engine, he nevertheless kept the car in storage in England until 1941, when he sold it to his countryman Mr. T.P. Tunnard Moore. Mr. Moore and Robert Arbuthnot, a sometime racer at Brooklands, were partners at High Speed Motors of London. At some point, Mr. Moore sold the car to Arbuthnot, who in turn sold it in to Rodney Clarke of Continental Cars, Ltd., in 1944. A year later, Mr. Clarke sold the Type 57SC to Mr. Robert Oliver, a wealthy American doing duty in France as a member of the US Army Medical Corps. In August 1946, Mr. Oliver had 57374 shipped to the United States, where he received it in New York and proceeded to drive it home to Los Angeles. In 1953, Mr. Oliver shipped the car back to the Bugatti factory, where its engine was completely rebuilt and the correct Type 57SC supercharger and hydraulic brakes were installed. Following Mr. Oliver’s passing the Atlantic was sold in 1971 through public auction to Dr. Peter Williamson who paid an unprecedented $59,000. Following refurbishment, the car was shown at Pebble Beach in 2003 and won “Best in Show”. In 2010 the Williamson family sold the Atlantic to a buyer from whom the car is graciously on loan.
SPEC OVERVIEW:
Coachbuilder: Factory
Chassis No. 57374
Production No. 1st of 4 Produced
Engine No. 2S
Inline Eight-Cylinder Engine
170 BHP At 5,500 RPM
3,257 CC Supercharged
Double Overhead Camshafts
4-Speed Manual Gearbox
Solid Front Axle With Semi-Elliptical
Leaf Springs And Telescopic Shocks. Live Rear Axle With Reversed Quarter-Elliptical Leaf Springs and Telescopic Shock Absorbers.
4-Wheel Hydraulically-Operated Drum Brakes