Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Her name is Renee and to properly meet her, we first have to introduce you to her Father Ernest Frederich.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.You know his name - the man who accompanied Ettore Bugatti in 1909 when first visiting a large property in Molsheim .
It was Frederich who stayed behind to equip the Bugatti workshops while Ettore returned to Cologne to collect his family and sever his links with Deutz.
Frederich raced for Bugatti whilst his daughter was a play mate for young Jean Bugatti.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Now you begin to understand how 18 year old Renee came to be photographed ( top picture) gazing at the engine of her Bugatti ready for the 1930 Paris-St Raphael 'Femenin' Rally.
The inaugural event was held in 1929 and won by Madame Lietard Lietard on a Salmson AL7 GS.
Renee entered in 1931 and won in her Type 43 Bugatti ( This picture).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.For the 1932 race, Louis Delage comes into the picture and offers our friday lady a drive in his fabulous D8-S with coachwork by Letourneur & Marchand.
It's a much heavier car than the Bugattis Renee was used to and her diminutive dimensions meant she needed cushions for a driving position where she could reach the pedals.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.She looks happy enough with the car and the deal struck with Delage, but tragedy was to strike and she lost control on some ice.
The car hit a tree and although her navigator ( a mechanic from the Delage factory) huddled under the dashboard and emerged unscathed, Renee died instantly as her skull fractured hitting the windscreen.
Helle-Nice won the race in her Type 35C Bugatti.
We all want to wind the clock back, put Renee in a Type 35B Bugatti, and see how history might have unfolded?
Text Robin Batchelor, pictures from archive.
Clik here to view.
Her name is Renee and to properly meet her, we first have to introduce you to her Father Ernest Frederich. Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
You know his name - the man who accompanied Ettore Bugatti in 1909 when first visiting a large property in Molsheim .It was Frederich who stayed behind to equip the Bugatti workshops while Ettore returned to Cologne to collect his family and sever his links with Deutz.
Frederich raced for Bugatti whilst his daughter was a play mate for young Jean Bugatti.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Now you begin to understand how 18 year old Renee came to be photographed ( top picture) gazing at the engine of her Bugatti ready for the 1930 Paris-St Raphael 'Femenin' Rally.The inaugural event was held in 1929 and won by Madame Lietard Lietard on a Salmson AL7 GS.
Renee entered in 1931 and won in her Type 43 Bugatti ( This picture).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
For the 1932 race, Louis Delage comes into the picture and offers our friday lady a drive in his fabulous D8-S with coachwork by Letourneur & Marchand.It's a much heavier car than the Bugattis Renee was used to and her diminutive dimensions meant she needed cushions for a driving position where she could reach the pedals.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
She looks happy enough with the car and the deal struck with Delage, but tragedy was to strike and she lost control on some ice.The car hit a tree and although her navigator ( a mechanic from the Delage factory) huddled under the dashboard and emerged unscathed, Renee died instantly as her skull fractured hitting the windscreen.
Helle-Nice won the race in her Type 35C Bugatti.
We all want to wind the clock back, put Renee in a Type 35B Bugatti, and see how history might have unfolded?
Text Robin Batchelor, pictures from archive.
