I am looking for post war history, in detail, on 51138. Any pictures that exist of the burned chassis, ( the bomb damage), mentions of the color of the chassis, any small details would be great, I will post info as I get nearer to the research and study I am working on.

Hi.

I can provide nothing new about this car, but its double identity in the Eaglesfield book, and subsequent discussion on this forum about 51138 has me extremely curious as to the history and provenance of the car as it is today. I am very much looking forward to reading your further research.

Kind Regards
Johan Buchner

It will be a struggle to reduce all I have to English from French, but I think I can do this in the next months. I do believe that the chassis, which I have and have studied for 9 years now is in fact the original T35 that became 51138. I do not make that statement with any fluff, and no ego in my custodianship of this relic. I would love to pick everyone's brain on this, as the history and mystery is surrounded with misleading facts and mathematics that are novice in current terms of the factual proof, evidences, and material metallurgy that I have to date - undisclosed excect to Hans! As our chassis is untouched, with front rails burned, it will take a careful examination of period photos to see the body work positions and then do some math as a part of the metallurgical archeology. The 1950 , and then the 1970's history are part of the puzzle.....
Let the race begin......

Do I understand this correctly now - besides the 2 cars claiming being 51138 we now additionally have a chassis claiming this number...??

Let the games begin..................

What I have is an unquestionable original frame of a very late T35B, that has a history relating to the ownership chain of 51138, and unique technical details of a T51A - . I believe it is the frame of 51138, and that is not only my belief. What I am trying to figure out, is what happened to that Bugatti 51138 from the time it was owned by T.E. Lloyd , and how the few cars he had got spread around and reconstituted and where they went..... If you have followed the course of 51138 you all know the theory of the one car claiming to be 51138, a car auctioned years ago....the other I am not aware of.... ( are both in the UK, or could one be in Deutschland??? ) much of my research has missing late history, the rumors, all of the huff over this car I am unclear of......from the late 70's to the 80's I seem to have no hard facts on what was taken for granted, or proven on these other cars.... as I receive info that is existing, I will work that into what I already know.....

T.E. "Ted" Lloyd (of Welshpool nr. Shewsbury, UK), like Mr. Moffat, had a great capacity to exagerate the historic value of the pile of scrap he was selling.

Thanks for the notice, Lloyd he did have a few neat cars over time. Having a great capacity to exaggerate the historic value of the pile of scrap is certainly a tradition in the UK, is it not ? If you have any first hand knowledge on this 51138 car, photos, rumors, let us know. Guys like Moffat, Lloyd, and R.J, now look like boy scouts compared to their contemporaries of today. For the past 30 years 51138 has been in question, in another 30 years it may be more difficult to solve.