Born in Monte Carlo in 1899, Louis Chiron was the son of the maitre d’hotel at the Hotel de Paris and claimed French citizenship as a dual national. He allegedly got his start driving during World War I as a chauffer to French Marshal Ferdinand Foch and General Philippe Pétain. After the war, he made his living by working at a car dealership in Nice and taxi dancing at nightclubs.
In 1925, Chiron got a break as a racer when a wealthy American woman sponsored him to take part in some minor events. It was not the first time a woman had assisted the handsome young man in his career. In fact, a Russian noblewoman had financed not only his post-war private school education, but also music lessons and courses in etiquette—all of the training required to become an irresistible lady’s man.
The following year, Chiron caught the eye of another motor racing fan, Alice “Baby” Hoffmann né Trobeck, the wife of Alfred Hoffmann, heir to the pharmaceutical fortunes of Hoffmann-La Roche. The Hoffmans got a Type 35 Bugatti for the Monegasque native, who drove it to victory for them in the 1926 Grand Prix du Comminges.