For Sale at Auction: 1927 Bugatti Type 37 in Carmel, California

Chassis No. 37212
Engine No. 117

At first glance, the Type 37 is almost indistinguishable from the Type 35, save for its Rudge wire wheels, the same elegant fittings used on the Type 35A. Conceived as a more accessible derivative of Bugatti's pure-bred Grand Prix machine, the Type 37 was intended for the private gentleman driver: less costly and simpler to maintain than its illustrious eight-cylinder sister. It combined the lightness, agility, and versatility of a true grand touring car with the sporting credentials of a competition machine, its principal distinction being its four-cylinder engine.

As the Type 35's engine displacement was insufficient, Bugatti turned instead to the Type 28's straight-eight to develop the Type 37's four-cylinder unit. With a bore and stroke of 69 by 100 mm, it displaced 1,496 cc and retained much of the sophistication of its larger sibling, including overhead camshaft operation and three valves per cylinder. Developing a healthy 60-horsepower, it delivered remarkable performance thanks to its compact, lightweight design. Its exceptional endurance enabled the Type 37 to reach a top speed of approximately 145 km/h, almost matching the performance of the Type 35 itself. Introduced to competition in the 1.5-liter category in 1926, the Type 37 succeeded the four-cylinder Brescia as Bugatti's entry in the class, and it soon established itself as the dominant force among its contemporaries.

Engine number 117 was assembled at the Molsheim factory in September 1926, before being installed in chassis number 37212. The car was then invoiced on 9 October 1926 to Bugatti's Paris agency at 116, avenue des Champs-�lysees for the sum of 43,750 French francs.

France's registration system was revised in April 1950, and during the 1980s the Paris prefecture destroyed the records relating to registrations issued under the former system. As chassis 37212 was originally delivered through Bugatti's Paris agency, it was almost certainly registered in the capital during its early years. Despite extensive research, no registration record has been identified elsewhere in France. With those official records lost, the subsequent history of chassis number 37212 remains quiet until 1958. As a result, its early history is preserved through a handful of clues, fragments of evidence that allow us to glimpse, rather than fully reconstruct, its first three decades.

Beneath its coachwork, however, lies a fascinating clue: the chassis the car carries today is not the Type 37 frame with which it was originally built, but a Type 35B or Type 35C chassis dating from autumn 1930. Whether this chassis was fitted to 37212 when new by the Factory in 1930, or whether it was installed later in its life after having already seen service in another automobile, remains uncertain.

The documented story resumes in 1958. Bugatti enthusiast and "Bugatti hunter" Antoine Raffaelli of Marseille is said to have sold chassis number 37212 to the renowned Belgian Bugatti agent Jean de Dobbeleer in Brussels. At that time, the car was fitted with the Type 35B/35C chassis it retains today and existed without coachwork.

A new body is said to have been commissioned directly from Fran�ois Seyfried, then head of the factory's spare parts department at Molsheim. The dashboard also appears to have been replaced after photographs were taken in Jean de Dobbeleer's workshop in Belgium in 1958; those period photographs are included in the history file.

Chassis 37212 appears to have joined its next family of ownership soon afterward, likely in 1959. Acquired from de Dobbeleer through an intermediary named Tchamkerten by A. Carvalho, it would remain in the same family for more than six decades. The car still retains its finely crafted dashboard plaque, engraved: "Antonio Augusto Nascimento Carvalho Pra�a Marechal Carmona Vila Nova de Famalic�o".

The first published record of the car appears in the H.C.G. Conway Bugatti Register, printed in 1962 following the extraordinary years-long worldwide research effort that gathered information on approximately 1,200 Bugattis. Chassis 37212 was listed as a Grand Prix model, with no engine number recorded, and was registered as belonging to A.N. Carvalho of Vila Nova de Famalic�o, Portugal. Previous owners were noted as Dobbeleer and Tchamkerten.

For a brief period, the car was displayed at the Museu do Caramulo, according to Tiago Gouveia, the museum's current curator. Founded by his grandfather Jo�o de Lacerda, the museum played a pioneering role in Portugal's preservation of historic automobiles. Jo�o de Lacerda and C. Carvalho belonged to the country's first small circle of collectors and began exhibiting historic vehicles to the public as early as 1959. Among Carvalho's extensive collection, 37212 was the sole Bugatti.

Sold in the same Portuguese town sixty years later to Jose Campos Costa, the car was soon acquired by a well-known US based collector and imported in 2022 into the United States, where a new chapter in its history began.

Following its arrival, it benefited from a series of carefully considered mechanical improvements. These included the installation of a new correct Pur Sang Grand Prix four-speed manual gearbox, together with a new torque arm and associated shift linkage components fitted in 2024. Additional components sourced from Gentry Restorations in the United Kingdom included new fuel lines and wiring, a new propeller shaft, and a new rear driveshaft complete with universal joints. The car may nevertheless benefit from further mechanical attention prior to undertaking any long rallying or touring events.

The Laugier report further confirms that the Bugatti retains many of its principal original mechanical components. It is still fitted with its original solid front axle, numbered 235, and its original rear axle, stamped 226 with a 14 � 54 drive ratio, both identification numbers fall within the expected production sequence. The engine also retains its original pair of crankcases, each bearing assembly number 84 on various components, while the rear left arm of the lower crankcase carries the characteristic Molsheim stamping 37212 117.

"Considering the car had very few owners since 1958, and was not modified, apart from being improved by getting back an original Grand Prix gearbox and a new body, it is a good example of an easy Bugatti racing car to drive," concludes Bugatti historian and marque authority Pierre-Yves Laugier in the report accompanying the car.

As with many of the greatest prewar automobiles, chassis number 37212 retains an element of discovery; while its documented history is both fascinating and substantial, its earliest chapters remain open to further exploration. One of the most sought-after Grand Prix Bugattis produced at Molsheim, the Type 37 remains an ideal entrant for the world's leading historic racing events and touring rallies, offering its next custodian the opportunity to experience one of Ettore Bugatti's finest creations exactly as it was intended.