Estimate: $2,500,000 – $3,500,000
The centerpiece of the auction is this 1938 Bugatti Type 57C Aravis Special Cabriolet, one of only four ever made and one of only two based on the supercharged 57C. (Bugatti made 710 Type 57 cars in total, with 96 being the 57C.) With gorgeous coachbuilt bodywork by Gangloff, this Type 57C was delivered new to Bugatti works driver Maurice Trintignant, who would go on to spend 14 years in Formula 1. Just months after delivery, Trintignant entered his new Bugatti in the Grand Prix du Comminges, where he came in 11th place overall.
After Trintignant sold the car in 1947, it went through a few owners before being purchased by the Mullins in 2002. The Mullins sent it to Sargent Metal Works in Vermont for a full concours-level restoration, and Trintignant made multiple trips to California to ensure the restoration would be as accurate as possible. The car was finished in 2005, and that year it was awarded First in Class at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Chassis number 57768, it has the numbers-matching engine and the original bodywork.
Here’s what Gooding has to say about this Aravis:
In the late 1930s as today, there is little that compares, both in terms of performance and style, to a Bugatti. As an original Type 57C, possessing its matching-numbers engine and exclusive Aravis bodywork, this is an exceptionally rare and immensely desirable example of what is undisputedly one of the greatest prewar automobiles.
With its ideal specification, well-documented provenance, period competition history, and prize-winning expert restoration, 57768 presents an opportunity to acquire what is very likely the finest example of the legendary Type 57 Aravis – a masterpiece that represents the embodiment of the Bugatti marque.