The Bugatti Type 51 Dubos Coupe is a

one-off In the field of vehicles authorized to drive, a one-off vehicle is a vehicle that was manufactured only once. The production of unique vehicles is reduced to one unit in each case. The easiest cases to analyze are those of cars and motorcycles. Un ...

automobile originally built by

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars w ...

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. Unlike the dominant Type 35s of the prior decade, the Type 51 (and later Type 53, Type 54, and Type 59) were unable to compete with the govern ...

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 years, ...

, 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 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 Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

race car, No. 51133 was driven by legendary Monacan 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 and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

-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 two doors. The term ''coupé'' was first applied to horse-drawn carriages for two passengers without rear-facing seats. It comes from the French past parti ...

. 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, whe ...

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 Jack Boison Nethercutt (October 11, 1913 – December 6, 2004) was an American entrepreneur and car collector. He co-founded Merle Norman Cosmetics in 1931 with his aunt Merle Norman and started as a delivery peddler for her early products, later ...

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, Los Angeles, Sylmar, California. It was founded by J.B. Nethercutt in 1971 and its centerpiece is the prestigious automobile collection of the Nether ...

. 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 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 ''The New York Times'' article about celebrity car ownership ...

in 2005,

Dana Point Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...

in 2011,

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

in 2019,

La Jolla La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood within the city of San Diego, California, United States, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. La Jolla is surrounded on ...

in 2022, and

Rodeo Drive Rodeo Drive is a street in Beverly Hills, California, with its southern segment in the City of Los Angeles. Its southern terminus is at Beverwil Drive, and its northern terminus is at its intersection with Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The ...

in 2023.

In popular culture

In 2022 the Dubos was featured on the

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...

series ''

Jay Leno's Garage ''Jay Leno's Garage'' is an American web and television series about motor vehicles, primarily cars and motorbikes starring Jay Leno, the former host of ''The Tonight Show''. Originally a web series for NBC.com, a special aired on CNBC in August ...

''.

Specifications

Cameron & Carson Richards (La Jolla 2022)

Engine Type: Supercharged

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion c ...

Cylinders: 8 Horsepower: 185 Manufacturer:

, ( Molsheim, France) Coachbuilder: Louis Dubos Carrosserie, (

) Price When New: $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'' (Style of the French sovereign, King of the Franks) used on early France, ...

s) (about 110000 euros in 2022)

References

{{Nethercutt-Richards family Vintage vehicles Nethercutt-Richards family 1930s cars One-off cars Bugatti automobiles

History

In popular culture

Specifications

See also

References