Hugh Conway steps down as Bugatti Trust chairman

Published: 10/08/2023

After two decades Hugh Conway, Chairman of The Bugatti Trust Museum and Study Centre, has decided to step down, although he has agreed to remain as a trustee of the organisation founded by his father in 1987.

The popular choice by staff members and other trustees was to invite trustee Allan Rippon to become Chairman of the charitable trust that was created “for the advancement of education through the study of the works of Ettore Bugatti”.

Thanking Hugh for his dedicated and distinguished service new Chairman Allan Rippon said: “With the benefit of his leadership the Trust, amongst other things, has retained a committed and talented team of permanent staff, volunteers and Trustees

“It has provided through its extensive and ever-expanding historic archive, enormous assistance to those researching Ettore Bugatti and his many creations and ideas.

“It has received awards for the quality of its museum displays and has increasingly been enabled to pursue its educational objectives.

“Hugh's father who founded the Trust would be very proud of what our retiring Chairman has achieved.

“I look forward to working with everyone involved with the Trust to meet the undoubted challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us.”

Trust Members and Friends will have a number of opportunities to meet Allan Rippon over the coming months, including at a Bugatti Trust celebration day for members on October 14.

The Trust was started after a small fraternity of Bugatti enthusiasts gathered in October 1987, led by the late Hugh Graham Conway, and Bugatti Molsheim Limited, now known as The Bugatti Trust, was born.

Hugh was acknowledged as the leading Bugatti authority of his time. A distinguished design engineer, he is well remembered for his work in the aeronautical industry and his contributions to the Design Council.

The Trust was conceived as a repository for Hugh’s extensive historical collection of photographs, correspondence and Bugatti factory drawings and documents.

The sale of one of Hugh Conway’s Bugattis funded construction of the Prescott Visitor Centre in which the collection is now housed. Prescott is also the home of the Bugatti Owners’ Club and location of the Speed Hill Climb. Despite the shared location, the Trust operates as a completely separate entity to the Club.

The Centre was officially opened by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh on 16th March 1990, a plaque next to the entrance commemorating the event.

Based at Prescott Hill, Gotherington near Cheltenham, The Bugatti Trust is normally open Monday to Friday between 10 am and 4 pm (please telephone 01242 677 201 before visiting. The last admission to the museum is at 3.30pm. Details at http://www.bugatti-trust.co.uk/