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The Bugatti Queen: In Search of a Motor-Racing Legend Paperback – January 1, 2005

by V. Sackville-West (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 101 ratings
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THE BUGATTI QUEEN is the beautifully illustrated story of an indomitable and fascinating woman, a pioneer of motorsport who revelled in danger. Born in 1900 in a tiny French village, Helene Delangle, aka Helle Nice, became a dancer and a stripper before catching the eye of Ettore Bugatti. Seduced by the combination of machines and speed, Helle Nice went on to have an unprecedented career, competing in numerous Grands Prix and becoming the only woman to drive on the treacherous American speedbowls in the 1930s. She set new land-speed records before a notorious accident which almost ended her racing days. Re-creating her rollercoaster career with authority and panache from many previously unpublished sources, Miranda Seymour reveals the story of an unforgettable life and sheds new light on the extraordinary and reckless world of motor-racing between the wars.
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  1. Print length
    320 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Simon & Schuster
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    5.12 x 0.03 x 7.8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0743478592
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0743478595
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; New Ed edition (January 1, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0743478592
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0743478595
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.12 x 0.03 x 7.8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 101 ratings

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Miranda Seymour

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
101 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tifoso Americano
5.0 out of 5 stars A Story Very Well Told
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
Miranda Seymour, the author, really makes the difference in this book. She has taken material, that might have resulted in a less that spectacular book with an average author, and made it come alive. Despite French Grand Prix racing in the 1930s not being an area in which I am particularly interested, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is a real tribute to the skill of the author. Highly recommended.
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Charles E. Main
5.0 out of 5 stars The Bugatti Queen Reigns!
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2012
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After reading Miranda Seymour's excellent biography on The Life & Loves of Virginia Cherrill, I thought I would proceed further to an earlier book by Miss Seymour, titled simply The Bugatti Queen. As it turns out this book was a captivating adventure about an obscure subject that was quite relevant between the two World Wars on the sport of motor racing that takes place primarily in France and other parts of Europe including the United States. The story evolves around the manufacturers of the early racing cars of Europe as well as the drivers, including one woman, Helle Nice, the subject of the book.

In reading this book, it was fascinating to find out when setting out to write this book, the authoress had very little research material, and through a few leads, was able to obtains precious documents loaned to her that originially belonged to Helle Nice, The Bugatti Queen, and then she was able to piece together the true story about a very interesting and very modern woman of the early part of the 20th Century Europe.

Besides reading this biography about a beautiful woman who excelled and won many races in motor racing during its infancy in Europe then domniated by men as now; it is Miss Nice's charm and craftiness, she was able to be easily accepted into the fraternity as she was loved by these men as well loved most of them both figuratively and literally during the 1930s.

I won't go more into the story other than to say this is an excellent read on biography of a very interesting woman in the world of motor racing and you won't be disappointed. Miss Seymour bring this period between the wars alive as if you were there yourself. I certainly learned about a lot of the early stages of motor racing, on both the rich and famous in Europe, who participated in seeking adventure; much like Helle Nice. There are many great photos that bring this biography more alive and animated..
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historical reader
4.0 out of 5 stars fun read
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2020
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jumped around a little, felt like there were some parts that could of been developed more. tragic story and a fun read!
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Vintage Bob
5.0 out of 5 stars Dancer,Racer, Spy
Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2010
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An intrigueing look into a little known personality from pre war France. From a poor back ground Hele Nice rose to be one of France's top celebreties on the theatrical front. She also became one of a little known group of top women race car drivers of that period to rise to the ranks of Grand Prix driver competeing against the top male drivers of the world and holding her own. She fell from grace in post war Europe when she was accused, possibly unjustly, of being a Nazi collaberator for the SS. She was later to die in poverty and shame and little remembered. A good read.
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Maks Chorney
5.0 out of 5 stars A true window into another time
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2017
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A great read that is filled with both sympathy for the subject, good pace, and fascinating details. A true window into another time. Highly recommend to all, NOT just those interested in Racing or the thirties... for us, is is a necessity!
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Gary
5.0 out of 5 stars Triumph and tragedy...
Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2018
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This book is excellent from start to finish. What a fantastic woman, and such a tragic end.
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Rod DeFrance
5.0 out of 5 stars Hellé Nice ruled/rules!
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2014
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Very comprehensive account by Miranda Seymour of one of the first female drivers who also happened to be a dancer and was at all glances a free spirit much ahead of our times and a non-official feminist.
French Hellé Nice ruled/rules!
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Stephanie Lane
5.0 out of 5 stars So very well written. I work with professional racers ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2017
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So very well written. I work with professional racers. Miranda Seymour nailed it with this book. Wish they would do another printing!
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Ondrej Ulicny
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in Germany on May 12, 2023
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It's very well writen book.
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Cliente Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Riguroso y apasionante
Reviewed in Spain on June 29, 2022
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Una investigación modélica sobre la vida de una de las pioneras del automovilismo de competición. Alucinante.
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Motoring Enthusiast
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating insight into an amazing woman but also a great portrait of life and ...
Reviewed in Australia on April 24, 2016
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Fascinating insight into an amazing woman but also a great portrait of life and in particular motro racing in 30's.
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Chopinist
5.0 out of 5 stars Balzac meets Bugatti
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2004
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This enthralling story of the spirited and brilliant female racing driver Helle Nice reads like a modern version of a Balzac novel.
It chronicles her intensely adventurous, glamorous and glittering career driving Bugattis, Alfas and other assorted exotic machinery in the south of France, Italy, Brazil and the United States. This with the added frisson of knowing that the girl in question was a drop-dead gorgeous dancer, nightclub stripper and wildly promiscuous.
After gathering all the glittering prizes, her life descends inexorably with the hubris and inevitability of Greek tragedy into desperate poverty,loneliness and ill-health, cruelly neglected and disinherited by her provincial and slightly retarded provincial French family, abandoned and robbed by her lover. Her downfall was precipitated by a vicious betrayl at a glamorous party when she was publicly accused by the famous and 'cultivated' driver Louis Chiron of collaboration with the Gestapo during the occcupation. She ultimately lives in the care of a benevolent French charity until her death in utter obscurity. Her plain, dull sister Solange vindictively omits her name from the family gravestone, so tormented was she by a primitive and gnawing envy of her joyful and champagne-filled life. Pure Balzac transported to our century.
But the book is far more than that. It is a brilliant evocation of the almost unbelievably reckless nature of 1930s racing. It describes the violent deaths from tremendous accidents that often resulted on the banked courses and unregulated tracks that were so popular in those days. Helle herself crashed in Brazil killing and injuring many spectators - something that haunted her for the rest of her life. It paints a wonderfully eloquent picture of the aristocratic temperament of those times, courting hazards with ease and negligence; a portrait of those rash, wealthy sons who diced with their lives among the other esoteric pleasures of the Bugatti racing circle. Miranda Seymour's economical style portrays these tragic, even spectacular deaths like so many stabs to the heart. Shocking and desperately moving accounts. The arbitrary nature of torture and execution in Nazi occupied France is similarly treated with fierce economy.
I have only driven a Bugatti T35 once in my life and that around Hamptead Garden Suburb! Yet it was the greatest driving experience I have ever had - the car absolutely alive with the nervous and fractious energy of an Arab stallion. The sound of the engine courses through one like electricity. Seymour captures this pace and excitement in her book as it breathlessly bowls along like a Bugatti itself.
I am also an author with a passion for vintage machinery and the fabulous style of the politically incorrect 1930s - such creatures as Helle Nice we shall never see again. Oh that I had had the luck to come across this wonderful story. Please God, someone make a movie of it! Do read this fantastic biography. Like the author, I too have fallen in love with the ghost of Helle Nice.
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Terry Bargewell
5.0 out of 5 stars Emotional Roller coaster
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 2, 2018
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When I first saw the word 'Bugatti' out brought back childhood memories of fine racing cars. And then the title ' The Bugatti Queen' drew my further attention, a woman racer? This book left me saddened but forever indebted to Miranda Seymour for her never ending persuit of bringing this story to the world. This book needed to be written so this heroic, brave women shall never be forgotten. There should be a statue erected in honour of Hele' , a French national treasure. Thank you Miranda for all your hard work.
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