Driver Profiles

Louis Chiron

Avatar photoDennis David

Louis Chiron Biography

Born in August 1899, the son of a French hotelier in Monaco he became that principalities most famous sportsman. Holding dual citizenship Chiron joined the French army prior to his 18th birthday, serving as an artilleryman during World War I. He later became the personal driver to Marshal Foch in 1919. After leaving the Army he started his racing career driving Bugatti’s.

He began by entering local events organized by the Moto Club de Nice. In 1926 he raced for Alfred Hoffman heir to the Hoffman-La Roche pharmaceutical company. One of Hoffman’s companies produced spark plugs and to promote his company he entered a Bugatti for Chiron. The Bugatti with Chiron as its driver made many visits to the winner’s circle. According to Rudolf Caracciola:

Related
Members only$29 / year

Keep going. This is where it gets good.

Sports Car Digest Membership is for people who'd rather spend an hour with one chassis number than skim ten headlines. The rest of this story — and every other one like it — is a few seconds away.

  • 5,000+ members-only stories

    Concours, auctions, race history, driven classics and the full archive.

  • No ads. None.

    The whole site reads like a magazine, on every device.

  • The market, every week

    Auction results and classic-car values from the people who were there.

  • 30% off the shop

    Every Sports Car Digest shirt and piece of merch, all year.

Join Sports Car Digest — Keep Reading

$29 a year. Cancel anytime, no hoops.
Already a member? Sign in

BY CAR PEOPLE, NOT A NAMELESS MEDIA COMPANY. Your membership keeps a small independent team of historians, photojournalists and racing drivers doing this.

Join — Keep Reading $29/yr