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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Bugatti’s Last Grand Prix Racer
Outclassed in the late 1930s by well-funded German efforts, Type 59/50B today is a vital piece of racing history and a great sight at Goodwood.
The fully restored Bugatti Type 59/50B made a rare public appearance at the recent Goodwood Revival. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
As is well known, Ettore Bugatti was not one to innovate, favoring the gradual evolution of existing designs. Bugatti pushed that credo furthest of all with the final Grand Prix car built by the French company before the War.
The Type 59/50B III fielded in the 1938 French Grand Prix actually started life as one of the six Type 59s built in 1933. In the intervening years, it received various engine configurations and in 1936, it became the first-ever true single seater produced by the fabled manufacturer.
In its ultimate guise, it still incorporated many of Bugatti's traditional design elements, such as solid axles and cable-operated brakes, but it also sported a new lightweight engine that combined an aluminum block with steel liners and a bronze head. The car was nevertheless incapable of challenging the more sophisticated and vitally much better-funded German efforts, and after two outings in 1938, it finally faded from view.
The Bugatti did not appear until recent years and following a complete restoration to full running order, the unique Grand Prix car even returned to the track during the Goodwood Revival earlier this month. This allowed us to take a closer look at Bugatti’s last classic Grand Prix racer.
By the mid-1930s, Bugatti's dominance of Grand Prix racing seemed but a distant memory. First the Italian and then the German manufacturers took over with superior designs and budgets. Demand for customer competition cars also dwindled, so Bugatti had little incentive to produce new machinery. Instead the fabled manufacturer soldiered on with evolutions of existing designs during the final years of the decade.
In response to the 750 kilogram regulations, Bugatti had introduced the new Type 59 in 1933. Even in this case, “new” was perhaps not the best word as it featured a classic Bugatti Grand Prix chassis with a slightly smaller, supercharged version of the Type 57 road-car engine. The car handled well but the arrival of the German teams in 1934 left Bugatti's latest Grand Prix machine struggling. Larger engines were tried but the cars were so far off the pace that Bugatti decided to sell four examples to privateers, who mostly fielded them in sports-car races with some success.
One of the Type 59s retained by Bugatti reappeared with a brand-new supercharged straight-eight engine. Although officially referred to as a Type 50B, it was considerably different than the Type 50-based engines used in the road car by the same name and the Type 54 Grand Prix racer. The most fundamental difference was the use of lightweight alloys for the block. This was essential for keeping the weight of the complete car down to the 750-kg maximum as dictated by the regulations. Displacing just over 4.7 liters, the supercharged eight was hoped to produce in excess of 500 horsepower, but reliability was already an issue at boost levels that were good for 400 horsepower.
The new engine was installed in what is believed to be the sixth and final Type 59 chassis. With clear roots in the hugely successful Type 35 of the 1920s, this design was really showing its age by 1936. Ettore Bugatti conviction that solid axles and cable-operated drum brakes were still the way to go prevented any development on the chassis.
One benefit was that the Bugatti engineers had vast experience with this configuration, so the cars handled very well, but for ultimate speed, the independently sprung rivals would always have the edge.
What really set the new 'Type 59/50B' apart from its predecessors was the true single-seat driving position; all previous Bugatti Grand Prix cars could accommodate a passenger, making them eligible for sports-car racing. Furthermore, the car was clothed in an aerodynamic body with a fully cowled radiator. This was another break with tradition as the previous generations all shared the same basic design dominated by the horse-shoe shaped radiator.
The wheels, which doubled as the brake drums, were vintage Bugatti and essentially identical to those used on the Type 59.
The Type 59/50B III fielded in the 1938 French Grand Prix actually started life as one of the six Type 59s built in 1933. In the intervening years, it received various engine configurations and in 1936, it became the first-ever true single seater produced by the fabled manufacturer.
In its ultimate guise, it still incorporated many of Bugatti's traditional design elements, such as solid axles and cable-operated brakes, but it also sported a new lightweight engine that combined an aluminum block with steel liners and a bronze head. The car was nevertheless incapable of challenging the more sophisticated and vitally much better-funded German efforts, and after two outings in 1938, it finally faded from view.
The Bugatti did not appear until recent years and following a complete restoration to full running order, the unique Grand Prix car even returned to the track during the Goodwood Revival earlier this month. This allowed us to take a closer look at Bugatti’s last classic Grand Prix racer.
By the mid-1930s, Bugatti's dominance of Grand Prix racing seemed but a distant memory. First the Italian and then the German manufacturers took over with superior designs and budgets. Demand for customer competition cars also dwindled, so Bugatti had little incentive to produce new machinery. Instead the fabled manufacturer soldiered on with evolutions of existing designs during the final years of the decade.
In response to the 750 kilogram regulations, Bugatti had introduced the new Type 59 in 1933. Even in this case, “new” was perhaps not the best word as it featured a classic Bugatti Grand Prix chassis with a slightly smaller, supercharged version of the Type 57 road-car engine. The car handled well but the arrival of the German teams in 1934 left Bugatti's latest Grand Prix machine struggling. Larger engines were tried but the cars were so far off the pace that Bugatti decided to sell four examples to privateers, who mostly fielded them in sports-car races with some success.
One of the Type 59s retained by Bugatti reappeared with a brand-new supercharged straight-eight engine. Although officially referred to as a Type 50B, it was considerably different than the Type 50-based engines used in the road car by the same name and the Type 54 Grand Prix racer. The most fundamental difference was the use of lightweight alloys for the block. This was essential for keeping the weight of the complete car down to the 750-kg maximum as dictated by the regulations. Displacing just over 4.7 liters, the supercharged eight was hoped to produce in excess of 500 horsepower, but reliability was already an issue at boost levels that were good for 400 horsepower.
The new engine was installed in what is believed to be the sixth and final Type 59 chassis. With clear roots in the hugely successful Type 35 of the 1920s, this design was really showing its age by 1936. Ettore Bugatti conviction that solid axles and cable-operated drum brakes were still the way to go prevented any development on the chassis.
One benefit was that the Bugatti engineers had vast experience with this configuration, so the cars handled very well, but for ultimate speed, the independently sprung rivals would always have the edge.
What really set the new 'Type 59/50B' apart from its predecessors was the true single-seat driving position; all previous Bugatti Grand Prix cars could accommodate a passenger, making them eligible for sports-car racing. Furthermore, the car was clothed in an aerodynamic body with a fully cowled radiator. This was another break with tradition as the previous generations all shared the same basic design dominated by the horse-shoe shaped radiator.
The wheels, which doubled as the brake drums, were vintage Bugatti and essentially identical to those used on the Type 59.
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