Don't bet on it...

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Nothing is too beautiful... nor too expensive!

Dear youngtimers
I just spoke to an old Bugatti-friend who also participated in the 1958 rallye Internationale. His name is Richard Andersen, one of the founders of the Dutch Bugatti Owners Club and for many years owner of 37355. He confirmed my opinion that 41100 was all black, NOT black and a dark shade of blue as suggested by some. This impression may have been caused by the slight difference of light caused by the scalloped sides. If there is any other survivor who visited Ermenonville in 1958 I will be pleased to hear from him, preferably with relevant pictures

si on recoupe toutes les informations,toutes les photos d'époque,on peut affirmer sans crainte que 41 100 était bicolore,bleu foncé et noire,lorsque ettore l'utilisait avec toussaint.
cette voiture a roulé plus de 10 ans avec ettore.
donc, la peinture et les siéges étaient abîmés (usagés) a sa mort.
ensuite,la famille a roulé encore avec cette voiture,et je pense qu'il est tres logique que la famille l'a fait repeindre et (éventuellement) fait regarnir les siéges pour l'utiliser,apres la mort d'ettore..
mais attention..
rien ne prouve que c'est la famille qui l'a fait repeindre en noir.
ça peut aussi être ettore,en 1936...a la mort de jean,par exemple.
ou plus tard,car cette voiture a beaucoup roulé!

lorsque fritz a acheté 41 100,il a vu du bleu sous la peinture noire,et éventuellement il a vu ce tissu spécifique "baroque",il a donc fait repeindre la voiture en deux couleurs.

Dear old timers. It was a very long time ago.
I grant you that the blue in question was very dark and even in colour photos the tonal difference was not great, but the proof is in the pidtures. You could maybe argue that the difference between the two planes is causing the light reflect more from the recessed panel (unlikely)- and even if this was the case, then why is every pre schlumpf photo showing this difference in favour of the recessed panel being lighter than the rest of the car, rather than vice versa?
Also, the original fabric covering in my friends possesion for the rear interiour arm rest is dark blue - why the hell would he do it in that colour if the rest of the car was black?
Sorry if I am offending the old timers, but you can't argue with the photos.

Two very well-said points of view. I also find it logic that the recessed area on the bodywork was made with a purpose, it wouldn't be logical if it was all black. Buga 2 has made a good point there. The same goes with the original cabin trim.

I add two more questions:

- is the frame the same colour of the body (black) or red as Bauer has used on his scale-model reproduction?

- on early photos the wheels seem to have a pinstrip painted around the central part. Anyone knows what colour was it? Maybe jacobug should recall it, since those strips appear on the photos he kindly shared with us.

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Nothing is too beautiful... nor too expensive!

The chassis was and always has been black. The Bauer model was probably mistakenly inspired by the non original red colour on the Binder car that looks vaguely similar. With regard to the two pinstripes on the wheels, I suspect Jacobug would say they were both black... In actual fact the inner ring was in black and the outer ring was in dark blue.

I am telling how the car was in 1958, not before and afterwards

Sweet, thanks!!

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Nothing is too beautiful... nor too expensive!