The history of Bugatti 44266 ‘blackbird’ Kees Jansen Introduction Very few Bugattis have always been in the same family. Besides the odd exception, most cars have changed ownership several times, and very often the complete provenance is unknown. This, however, does not apply to Bugatti 44266: all owners, as well as the whole history of the car are known. It was a 4-seater cabriolet, modified to a 2-seater boat tail body with full road gear created in the mid- thirties.
Carrosserie book. Entries are empty until 44427.Only few types 44 got a denomination in this book; most were delivered as rolling chassis to a local coachbuilder. (Courtesy Julius Kruta (Bugatti SAS) In the Factory Engine book: 44266 got no 21. From the same page it can be read that engine no 3 is not used (‘Essai’), here not shown.
Maurice Sowman (1927- 1931) The car was bought by Maurice Sowman in London, and its first license plate, UV 28 was issued by the London city council in June 1929. During the 19 months between the delivery of the chassis and the completed car being road registered it could have been used as the agency’s demonstrator before 44787 took over that duty. During the following two years he used it regularly and covered about 17.000 miles (almost 28.000 km), after which he sold the car to Colonel G.M. Giles.
Kenneth Bear (1931- 1938) Kenneth Wilfried Bear was just 24 years of age, when he bought the car second-hand in 1931. He made his living in an insurance company with Lionel Sage & Co (now Marsh Brokers Ltd) specialising in the aviation insurance business that he had entered as an office boy at the age of 19; he was appointed director at the age of 25 and chairman at 30 years.
Pic: Kenneth Bear did not really like the looks of the rear end of his car after he had shortened the chassis as can be seen here, so he had it modified to a boat tail style body as can be seen later. (Photo courtesy of the Bugatti Trust D1319-27) He had clearly caught the ‘Bugitis’ virus- an incurable disease that would ultimately kill him. 44266 was his fourth Bugatti, and Bear was co-founder of the Bugatti Owners Club (BOC); member # 6.
He also reduced the weight by shortening the chassis 19 Inch (50 cm) and removing the rear doors thereby making the car 600 Lbs lighter. The car became considerably faster by these modifications: It had a documented acceleration from 0- 60 Mph in 9.45 seconds, and a top speed of over 95 Miles per hour, figures almost identical to the supercharged 8 cylinder type 43. At its first race after the shortening, at the BOC Chalfont St Giles Hillclimb in 1934 it became the fastest sports car.
The car after all the modifications had been done. It has basically been unchanged since then. Date unknown (Photo Courtesy of The Bugatti Trust) With this car he enjoyed a number of victories, such as the Monte Honiton Carlo Rally in 1933, indeed twice the Victor Ludorum Challenge Cup of the BOC (the best aggregate performance for the year) in 1935 and 1936, the Chalfort and Joel Park Hill climbs, Lewes speed trial and many others.
Fig: Kenneth Bear in 59121, this time with the 4 wheels on the rear, a feature specific for Bear, which he also had on the Bear Special and on 55155 (Photo courtesy of Moyra James- Bear) Kenneth Bear himself aspired towards an increase in power: amongst others he drove the 50 regulation Le Mans tourer, (50143), with which he had a various successes. He won at Craigantlet in 1946, had the fastest time of the day at the Val de Terres hill climb in 1947.
However this car became his ultimate fate: during the practice run for the Jersey International Road Race, on the 27th of April 1949- at the age of 43- he had a fatal accident, in the same car that had killed the 26 year old Earl of Grafton eleven years earlier. Two years earlier he had already experienced a serious accident and his wife had begged him not to race anymore for the sake of his two children, but he was hooked on it and he could not give it up.
John Wyer (1940- 1945) The car was sold to the young John Wyer in 1940. John Wyer later rose to fame, first to become the Aston Martin racing team manager, subsequently head of JW Automotive, dominating Le Mans for years, leading the Ford GT 40 to victories at the 24 hours of Le Mans from 1966 to 1969 and afterwards doing the same with the Gulf Porsche Racing team with the Porsche 917 in the early seventies. However during the war severe restrictions were in place, such as a ban on car racing.
Peter Clark (1945- 1949) Just after the war, in 1945, John Wyer exchanged the car for a H.R.G. that he later sold for £ 550. -. The new owner Peter Clark was an amateur racer, who started driving rallies again. He made a presentation at the Shelsley Walsh Hill Climb, on the 21st of June 1947. During the practice run he made an excellent 46.13 seconds, but during the race as a result of the rain it was 49.15 sec. The car still had its original license plate UV 28, and still had its original black colour.
Three Bugattis in a row, nicely depicting the evolution in styles: Left 44266, in the middle a 35B (4963), which now for all intents and purposes does not exist anymore (although the license plate is on another 35) and on the right a 57 SC (57512) with a Corsica body, outside the premises of the garage of Brian Finglass, ‘Speed Models’ in Notting Hill Gate in London.
Dan Marguiles (1979): Back to the UK The classic car trader Dan Marguiles imported the car again into the United Kingdom, and advertised it amongst others in the ‘Thoroughbred and Classic Cars‘ issue in October 1979. The car had become light blue by then. Advertisement of Dan Margulies in ‘Thoroughbred and Classic Cars’ (Oct 1979, pag 85).
In the year he bought the car, 1979 he experienced a severe car crash- with another car- which did not keep him from ordering a complete nuts-and-bolts, frame-up restoration in 1980 at Bassett Down Ltd, Swindon, Wiltshire, UK, by Nigel Arnold Foster. The car stayed there for 18 months, from June 1980 to December 1981, and in total more than 2100 professional hours were spent.
1995, the complete collection went to his son Julian, who had the car being sprayed black again and had the upholstery being renewed by the ‘Horne recovery service’. He sold the car via the Bugatti specialist Ivan Dutton on Nov 23, 1999 to Bert Janssens Bert Janssens (1999- 2001) The next owner was the Belgian Bert Janssens. He is a descendant from the family that made fame with ‘t IJsboerke’. They make Ice for the local market that beat ‘Ben and Jerry’s and ‘Haagen-Dazs’.
Pic: 44266 (left) next to a 43 during the August 2000 Meeting at Prescott, England.
Pic: In full speed during the Mille Miglia 2002 (Photo: Auto Week, 2002; 13; 22: 38) Pic: in the Mille Miglia 2008 (Photo Haase)
Pic: in the Mille Miglia 2012 (Photo Fabian Gallucci)
Table: Rallies and races in the UK in the nineteen-thirties with 44266 in its modified form Date 1932 June 11 1932 30-031933 21-101933 1933 24-111934 1934 1935 31-031935 1935 1935 1935 07-091935 13-101935 1935 05-041936 17-051936 20-061936 12-071936 15-081936 25-101936 Rally BOC Hillclimb BOC Speed trials Location Chalfont #1 Position Marks Time 1669 (second 871) 62.
1936 May 1937 July 1937 July 1937 10-071937 July 1937 May 8, 1937 11-091937 20-111937 1937 March 1938 May 1938 June 1938 1938 1938 June 1938 Victor Ludorum Challenge cup KSCC Speed trial Poole park speed trials Walter Martin Cup Donington Yearly performance # 11 Lewes # 41 Poole Park 1 22,7 sec Poole Park 1 sports cars over 3200 cc winner Donington 2 Speed trial Poole 1 super sports car class irrespective of capacity & Walker Martin Cup Kent & Sussex Car Club Speed trial Speed trial
