4059 Type 32 “Tank de Tours”

Bugatti Type 32 'Tank', one of the four works cars built for the 1923 French Grand Prix at Tours (chassis series 4057-4061; four racers plus one prototype, 8-cyl 1991cc, ~90 hp). Driven at Tours by Ernest Friderich, start number 6, registration 4876 JI: the best-placed of the four Type 32s, finishing third behind the Sunbeams of Segrave and Divo after almost 800 km in 7 hours. After the race the car was sold to Elizabeth Junek (Czechoslovakia) around mid-September 1923 (officially 6 October 1923, though she had already entered events with it). Its later whereabouts were unknown until Paul Foulkes-Halbard bought parts of a car in 1974 that proved to be Friderich's T32; per The Automobile (1983) about half the car originally belonged to the Tank, a quarter was original Molsheim, and the remaining quarter reproduction. Restored in Italy 1993-1994 (documented in a book by Diego Ratti, son of the restorer). Today part of the Perridon Collection. Engine no. 58: the engine currently in the car IS the original 1923 unit, identifiable by the round nuts on the cam cover (owner verification 2026; this supersedes the dossier's photo caption that suggested otherwise). NOTE: this record previously carried the story of Type 35 chassis 4831, which the factory fitted with a '4059' chassis plate when sold to Vincenc Junek to avoid import duty - that car is documented on the 4831 record. Source: Perridon Collection dossier 'Bugatti Type 32' (PDF, 2024/2026).