One chassis, one engine, but multiple different propositions in the sales brochure. With the Type 57, Jean Bugatti, son of marque founder Ettore, proved not only his engineering genius but also his instinct for marketing. Even more than his perfectionist father, he was an innovator. Unfortunately, his life was tragically cut short in 1939 when he tried to avoid a cyclist while high-speed testing the ‘Tank’, the Type 57 Le Mans racer he had created earlier. Bugatti was already in financial difficulty, and Jean Bugatti’s death would be the final blow for the legendary company. The cars you see here represent his magnum opus.
We are at Soestdijk in the Netherlands, previously the Dutch royal palace. It was here that Prince Bernhard lived, one of several car-crazy European royals. Standing at the bottom of the stairs are the Atalante, Stelvio, Ventoux, Galibier and Aravis: the Type 57 family as Jean Bugatti had envisaged it. To have the family united in one picture is surely a unique occasion, too, particularly as only 12 of the Aravis were ever produced and just six are left. And yes, you could argue that an Atlantic is missing, but that was built on the Type 57 S (surbaissé or ‘lowered’) chassis, which is technically not the same thing. These five comprise one man’s fulfilment of a lifelong ambition: to have the perfect T57 collection, and that man is Jaap Braam Ruben.
‘Probably no other man has seen more Bugattis pass through his hands,’ says Jaap, or ‘Jack’ as
