The Bugatti Type 51 Dubos Coupe is a one-off automobile originally built by

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...

in 1931 as an open-top

Bugatti Type 51 The Bugatti Type 51 series succeeded the famous Type 35 as Bugatti's premier racing car for the 1930s. The main distinction is that it uses a twin cam engine. Unlike the dominant Type 35s of the prior decade, the Type 51 (and later Type 53, Type ...

race car that was driven by legendary racer

Louis Chiron Louis Alexandre Chiron (; 3 August 1899 – 22 June 1979) was a Monégasque racing driver who competed in rallies, sports car races, and Grands Prix. Among the greatest drivers between the two World Wars, his career embraced over thirty year ...

, and then modified by Louis Dubos to be a luxury road coupe. It is one of the most valuable cars in the world, estimated at around $20 million dollars as of 2023. It had a price when new of $12,000 (165,000

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th century ...

s). It is owned and was fully restored by The Nethercutt Collection.

History

Bugatti chassis No. 51133 was completed in February 1931 as a

race car which was one of only 40 constructed. Starting off as a

Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to: * Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition ** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship *** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...

race car, No. 51133 was driven by legendary Monégasque racer

and won the

1931 French Grand Prix The 1931 French Grand Prix (formally the XXV Grand Prix de l'A.C.F.) was a Grand Prix motor race held at Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry on 21 June 1931. As with the other two races in the 1931 AIACR European Championship, this race was held ove ...

with the vehicle. After its short but successful racing career the vehicle was sold to French

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-based businessman Andre Bith, who converted it for legal road use by adding fenders and headlamps. In 1937 Pith contracted Louis Dubos to convert the race car's bodywork to become a luxury

coupe A coupe or coupé (, ) is a passenger car with a sloping or truncated rear roofline and typically with two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the Fr ...

. After bodywork was completed, No. 51133 became known as the Bugatti Type 51 Dubos Coupé and was entered into the several French

concours d'Elegance Concours d'Elegance ( French: ''concours d'élégance'') is a term of French origin that means a "competition of elegance" and refers to an event where prestigious vehicles are displayed and judged. It dates back to 17th-century France, where a ...

competitions, including the 1937 Bagatelle Concours d'Elegance where it was awarded second overall. Pith eventually sold the Dubos, where and the one-off body and chassis were separated and was reverted to its original race car design. In 1959, American cosmetics entrepreneur J.B. Nethercutt purchased the No. 51133 chassis where it was restored with its Chiron-era grand-prix body. The vehicle remained in the family's car collection on display at the

Nethercutt Collection The Nethercutt Collection is a multi-storied museum and car collection complex located in Sylmar, California. It was founded by J.B. Nethercutt in 1971 and its centerpiece is the prestigious automobile collection of the Nethercutt–Richards fa ...

. In 2000 the formerly separated Dubos coupe chassis was for sale at an auction, which Nethercutt purchased and restored No. 51133 to the Dubos Coupe design with a dark purple paint. In 2009 the Dubos was restored again by his son,

Jack Nethercutt II Jack Boison Nethercutt II (born December 22, 1936) is an American businessman, restaurateur, and former racing driver with Ferrari and Lotus. He is the chairman of Merle Norman Cosmetics and president of the Nethercutt Collection. Nethercutt ra ...

and it was repainted in the current deep metallic red.Under the Nethercutt Collection the Dubos won Best of Show at the prestigious

Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance The Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance is an automotive charitable event held each year during the second weekend in March at The Ritz-Carlton Amelia Island in Amelia Island, Florida. A ''New York Times'' article about celebrity car ownership list ...

in 2005, Dana Point in 2011,

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

in 2019,

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

in 2022, and

Rodeo Drive Rodeo Drive () is a street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles, known as one of the most expensive streets in the world. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is a ...

in 2023.

References

{{Nethercutt-Richards family Vintage vehicles Nethercutt–Richards family 1930s cars Individual cars Bugatti automobiles

History

See also

References