1937 Bugatti 57C Van Vooren Cabriolet

Bugatti Type 57C Chassis Number 57742 Engine Number 516

This type 57C, Chassis number 57742 with engine number 516 carries a Vooren two seater Cabriolet coachwork. The Van Vooren coachwork, believed to be “one off” was delivered new on Chassis 57430 in 1936 to Louis, Prince Napoleon the Sixth, the pretender to the Imperial Throne of France of the Bonaparte dynasty. Prince Napoleon ordered the car from Ettore Bugatti in 1936. Prince Napoleon, a friend of Ettore Bugatti like his cousins Leopoldo of Belgium and Prince Bertil of Sweden was a great Bugatti enthusiast. Over the period of the pre war years, he had purchased many Bugatti’s from the factory under one of his family names, de Montfort which appears four times in the factory records for Type 57 chassis’. Prince Napoleon raced pre war Bugatti grand prix cars under the name Louis de Montfort. His affection for Bugatti was lifelong, having taken part in the international Bugatti meeting in Deauville in 1978, organized by his friend the Baron de Graffenreid. Thereafter, taking part in the Paris-Bordeaux event driving a type 57 Figoni-Falache ex Cholmondeley.(1,2,3,4,5,6) Louis, Prince Napoleon as Napoleon VI was the pretender to the Imperial throne of France of the Bonaparte dynasty from 1926 until his death in 1977. He was born in 1914 in Brussels, Belgium. He was the son of Victor, Prince Napoleon and his wife Princess Clementine of Belgium. As a child, Prince Louis spent time in England. He was educated in Leuven, Belgium and in Lausanne, Switzerland. As a point of interest, three small paper items of historical significance were found in the side door pocket of the Van Vooren two seat cabriolet coachwork, presumably placed there during the ownership of Prince Louis Napoleon who resided part time in Lausanne. The first is a 3 ” x 5 ” card admission ticket, dated Saturday the 12 th of December, 1936 for the Eighth Annual Soiree by the Lausanne Choir.The second document is an admission ticket for “The Old Black Cat” of Monte Carlo and the thi rd a 2&1/2 ” x 4” business card by “Matford”, 122, Rue d’Antibes, Cannes. This card and the previous card are undated however, their condition and location would indicate that they were placed in the same side pocket of the car in approximately the same time frame. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Prince Louis offered to serve in the French Army. His offer was refused and he joined the French Foreign Legion under the assumed name, Louis Blanchard. He saw action in North Africa before being demobilized in 1941 following the Second Armistice at Compiegne. He then joined the French Resistance and was arrested by the Germans after attempting to cross the Pyrenees on his way to London to join Free French leader Charles de Gaulle. Following his arrest, he spent time in various prisons. Following his release he joined the French Resistance group Organisation de Resistance dans l’Armee under the name Louis Monnier. After the war, he lived in Switzerland until 1950 when the law of banishment against h eads of France’s former ruling dynasties was repealed at which time he occasionally lived in Paris. (6)