White Gold

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Sitting contentedly in the garden at last year’s Concours Elegance at Hampton Court, one particular Bugatti Type 37A was turning heads even more than one might expect it to. Racing Bugattis, after all, are blue nine times out of ten, yet here was a white one, and unrestored, too. One could not possibly help but be curious.

The reason for its unconventional colour, set off with a striking flash of red and black, was a patriotic one, for its first owner was Willi Seibel, a German privateer racer, among other interesting associations. Enthusiastically campaigning the Bugatti from 1928 until the late 1930s, undeterred by a major accident early in his racing career, Seibel rubbed shoulders with the best of them, including the likes of Louis Chiron and Richard Seaman.

Though he did not race after the war, Seibel remained involved with motorsport in an official capacity and retained the Bugatti until his death in 1977. It would remain in his family until 2018. Sold into enthusiastic hands, the new owner was faced with the great burden of responsibility of preserving it in its remarkable state while overseeing its return to the road and even preparing it for competition once more.

Mick Walsh uncovers the full history of this wonderful survivor in the May issue of The Automobile, available now.

Words by Zack Stiling. Photographs by Stefan Marjoram.

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