Making its debut in late 1927, the Type 44 was an updated version of the outgoing Type 38. The main change was a new three-liter, inline eight-cylinder engine capable of propelling the touring Bugatti to an 80 mph top speed. Other improvements included a strengthened chassis and plain-bearing crankshaft, making the Type 44 far more reliable than earlier touring models equipped with roller-bearing crankshafts. The Type 44 was the most popular Bugatti model of the late 1920s with 1,095 examples built, though only 109 are believed to exist today.

According to the research of historians Peter Larsen and Sandy Leith, Bugatti shipped chassis 44437 with engine 154 to Carrosserie Joseph Figoni in Boulogne-sur-Seine, west of Paris, in April 1928. Figoni’s craftsmen fashioned this “Jean de Vizcaya” open four-seat torpédo coachwork for the Type 44, featuring a low-slung cowl, dual-cockpit design, a single step for the rear passengers, and likely no windshield of any kind. The completed Bugatti was shipped in August 1928 to John Wilson MacConell of Montreal, who would also go on to own an elegant Type 57 drophead coupe with James Young coachwork.

In the early 1950s, the Type 44 was acquired by famed car collector D. Cameron Peck of Evanston, Illinois. Beginning in 1930, Peck assembled one of the earliest car collections, which included early Mercedes, American Underslung, and De Dion-Bouton automobiles, among others. Peck sold the Bugatti to Tom Carstens of Tacoma, Washington, who, in turn, sold it to the great automotive author Ken Purdy of Greenwich, Connecticut. Purdy embarked on an extensive restoration of the Type 44, entrusting Duesenberg specialist James Hoe and pioneer American Bugatti restorer Bunny Phillips with the task. Engine 470 was also installed at this time for unknown reasons. By 1954, the Bugatti was painted gray with a red interior and was equipped with what was described as an MG windshield installed by Purdy.

Upon Purdy’s passing in 1972, the Bugatti was acquired by fellow Greenwich resident Dr. Theodore Waugh. Dr. Waugh had met Purdy at a cocktail party years earlier and was glad to add the Type 44 to his growing Bugatti collection. After acquiring the Type 44, Waugh had the body painted in its current green by Gus Reuter in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and the wood surrounding the seating compartments trimmed in Philippine mahogany. The Bugatti’s original engine, no. 154, was in the possession of Ivan Dutton in England at this time, but it was reinstalled in 1994 in a trade for engine 470.

With its elegant open torpédo coachwork by Figoni, matching-numbers engine, and exceptional provenance, including single ownership for over 50 years, this Type 44 presents a rare opportunity and would be welcome at Bugatti meetings and rallies worldwide.