1931 Bugatti Royale Type 41 Weinberger Cabriolet

1931 Bugatti Royale Type 41 Weinberger Cabriolet

German doctor Joseph Fuchs ordered the featured Royale in 1930, becoming the second of just three clients that received a Royale from new. He had Munich based coachbuilder Ludwig Weinberger built a two-door Cabriolet body for the chassis. Painted black with yellow, the car was deliverd to him in 1931. Due to the rising political tension in Germany, the surgeon moved to Italy and then to Japan. He eventually relocated permanently to New York around 1937, bringing the Royale with him. The car eventually ended up on a New York scrapyard where it was bought by Charles Chayne for a whopping $400. Chayne, who would later become a Chief Executive at General Motors, had seen the car several times before in Fuchs' hands and revelled at the opportunity to purchase the exceptional machine.

In 1946 he started a ground up restoration of the car, which was eventually completed in 1947. He made various modifications to the original to make the car more usuable. The most dramatic was a brand new intake manifold with four Carburetors, instead of the single carb setup. Another very visible change was the new paint scheme of oyster white with a dark green trim and convertible roof. After using the car for over a decade, he donated it to the Henry Ford Museum, where it is on display until this day. It is pictured above in the museum and at a rare outing at the 2007 Goodwood Festival of Speed. There the eightieth anniversary of the Royale was celebrated by bringing together five of the six examples produced.

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