The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is one of the world’s most prestigious car events, where machines like pristine Ferraris and immaculately restored Duesenbergs go under the microscope in the pursuit of trophies. As a result, most blue-chip cars arrive in enclosed trailers, free of bugs and road grime and chances of stone chips. Most, but not all. Certainly not Fritz Burkard’s Bugatti Type 57 Atalante.
That’s because Burkard drove his Bugatti from Newport, R.I. all the way to Pebble Beach, Calif., from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The sort of journey that’s heroic in something from the 1960s, let alone a multi-million dollar machine from the mid-1930s. We’re talking about an 11-day journey across the Midwest plains, over the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, through the desert heat of Nevada, and on to the coast of California. Absolutely heroic stuff.
The decision to drive such an esteemed, historic car more than 3,000 miles to America’s premier classic car event may seem daring, but it starts to make sense when you really start thinking about it. Bugatti built its name not just on the exquisiteness of its automobiles but also on its racing success, including multiple wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unlike today, when purpose-built Le Mans Hypercars bear little resemblance to road cars, the Bugatti Type 57G Tank that won Le Mans in 1937 was based on the actual road car, so why not draw from the spirit of Jean-Pierre Wimille and Robert Benoist?
More importantly, Burkard has a particular view on car ownership that I think many of us share. Speaking with Pebble Beach Concours chairman Sandra Button, he said, “You have to drive your cars, otherwise they die. . . . A static car museum is like a cemetery to me.” When you think about it, paint protection film can guard against stone chips, and little bits of cosmetic wear-and-tear can be fixed. You know what often can’t be fixed until it’s too late? Regret over not taking that road trip you wanted to take.
Granted, Burkard did have a bit more support than most of us would have when making a cross-continent journey. His mechanic, his restorer, and a crew member from the Audrain Automobile Museum supported the journey and documented it on Instagram, with little fixes like using a bottle cap to hold louvers open because a spring failed helping the Bugatti make the trip, along with going to war against an oil leak. Still, the Type 57 Atalante is nearly 90 years old. Those are merely minor hiccups for a machine that rolled out of the factory before Velcro was invented.
Even better, Burkard isn’t done driving yet. He’ll be taking his Type 57 Atalante down the coast and back on the Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance before entering it in the Concours on Sunday, competing for trophies against some of the most pampered collector cars in the world. That should still leave plenty of time to clean the spattered bugs off the beautiful front fenders, but even if Burkard’s Bugatti doesn’t take home hardware, it’s going home with arguably something greater: The story of a lifetime.
Top graphic image: Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance
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