History
Kaye Ernest Donsky, born in Dublin
in 1891, was one of the few adrenaline-loving racedrivers
who managed to tame this, hard to control, racecar. As can be read in
"Classic and Sports Car", Don Kaye bought the T54 with the
Chassis-number 54203 in January 1932, directly from the production site in Molsheim. It was one of only two T54s that were
raced in Monza by Varzi and Chiron in the year 1931.
On Easter 1932 Kaye Don drove the T54 in Brooklands
without success. After that, the car wasn´t driven any
more until 1933. In the meantime, changes to the exhaust system and the frame
were made. Also, the old wheels were removed in favor of spoked
wheels.
A superb copy can be seen in Formula 1-CEO Bernie Ecclestone´s collection. The original motor is currently in
the USA, owned by american
Bugatti-enthusiast Ray Jones.
According to David Sewell the chassis Number of the Don-car was 54207. This might be due to the replacement of the old frame with the new "Birkin" frame that was put into the car in Molsheim. According to lore, Kaye Don had his Bugatti spraypainted red, so it was easier to be spotted on the race course-- and because he simply loved the color red!
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