bet you didn’t know...

... the most successful racecar ever was designed by an artist who didn’t believe in engineering calculations

THERE is an easy test to determine whether a motoring enthusiast is the real deal: just mention the name Bugatti Type 35. If they aren’t immediately overcome with admiration and adoration, you can write them off as a pretender.

THE CAR

The Bugatti Type 35 was a racecar built by Ettore Bugatti from 1924 to ‘27 and offered to his customers in various engine sizes and states of tune. The first model, raced by the official Bugatti team at the Grand Prix of Lyon on 3 August 1924, was fitted with a three-valve, 2,0-litre, single-overhead-cam, straight-eight engine developing 67 kw at 6 000 r/min. This high rev limit for the time was achieved by using ball bearings in every possible application. The Type 35B was the last model produced and came with a 2,3-litre supercharged engine developing 102 kw.

The Type 35 won 351 races between 1925 and ‘26, including the Grand Prix World Championship in ‘26. By ‘29, the model had won over 1 000 races, mostly in the hands of privateers. A total of 343 examples were sold.

THE MAN

Ettore Bugatti was born into a family of Milanese artists in September 1881. His father, Carlo, was a painter, sculptor, architect and silversmith, while his brother Rembrandt became a sculptor of animals, mainly using wood. After school, Ettore served an apprenticeship in a mechanical workshop and became a respected technician. In 1909, he started his own company, worked as a consultant for Peugeot and built some unique sportscars.

His way of making sure parts were strong enough was to make them out of wood, like his brother’s animals, and keep the part nearby in order to render small changes until it looked right. At this point, he would give the part to a draughtsman to pen a manufacturing drawing. Ettore had the remarkable ability to determine a component’s stress-bearing capabilities by mere visual assessment, the accuracy of which was highlighted when he informed the British Sunbeam team at a Monza race early in the 1920s its engine-bearer bracket was too slim and would break during the race. The team ignored his advice and the part duly failed.

The French engineer JA Gregoire described Ettore as follows in his book L’aventure Automobile:

“He was loud in voice, overflowing with life, with a brown bowler sitting on the back of his head. A pure artist; his only scientific knowledge came from experience. He did not believe in calculations, formulae or engineering principles.”