TASTING THE PURE BLUE BLOOD
Andy Wallace takes buyers of new Bugattis for rides in this Type 35. Given the age gap, the cars’ philosophies aren’t so far apart
FORMER LE MANS winner Andy Wallace has been part of the Bugatti customer programme for years, taking prospective customers on demo drives to show them what the Veyron, and now the Chiron, can do. Given that the 250 deposit-paid Chiron orders so far have all been placed without the customers getting behind the wheel, you’d have to say he’s doing a pretty fine job.
He was also on hand to chaperone members of the world’s media during the Chiron launch (lucky him), but it was for his experiences behind the wheel of another Bugatti – the glorious Type 35 – that we grabbed the opportunity to chat with him. As ever with Wallace, it was an insightful and amusing conversation.
‘I’ve driven a couple of Type 35s, the non-supercharged Type 35T and supercharged Type 35C. The first time was in the UK. Not on great roads as it happens, but I had a proper go in them. After you get past the initial shock of operating a car from the 1920s, and put the rarity and value of them to the back of your mind, they really are cracking things to drive.
‘They’re not straighforward, though. The gearbox is “backwards”, or at least has a very unconventional H-pattern, which makes your brain hurt a bit. Not so much on the upshifts, but you have to concentrate on the way back down. You get the occasional crunch, at least until you develop some finesse and understand how it wants to be driven, but after five minutes or so I pretty much had the knack.
‘What’s surprising is the speed. I’m sure it’s not that quick in modern terms, but it doesn’t half feel rapid when you’re sat in that exposed cockpit and working that big steering wheel. They don’t weigh anything to speak of, so they really make the most of what they have. The C has greater performance, but I enjoyed the T more. It just seemed easier and sweeter to drive, whereas I felt like I was hanging on a bit in the C.’
Did he, in the past, dream of driving a Type 35? ‘I’ve always been aware of them. One painted in Bugatti Blue is surely one of the most iconic cars of all time, but because of that I never thought I’d ever get to drive one. W henever I’d seen other people drive them they looked amazing, if a bit energetic for the driver with lots of sawing at the wheel, but once you get used to the hopping from the back axle – accentuated by the fact you’re pretty much sat above it – you find it grips really well, despite the skinny tyres. And if you do slide it, it doesn’t suddenly snap.
‘Everything’s so beautifully matched. You’ve got the grip with controllability, you’ve got just the right amount of power, and the brakes work too. You can really honk it through roundabouts when you get the hang of it.
‘Aside from the driving experience, I love just walking around the car and looking at how it was made. All those tiny little bolts everywhere, the chain that comes from the brake pedal. The fixings lock-wired together in one long daisy chain. It looks like someone has really thought about every single piece of the car, with the eye of an artist as well as an engineer.
‘I’ve been lucky enough to visit the Bugatti workshops at Molsheim and I saw a T35 engine in bits. I was amazed to see the crankshaft was made in sections [most Type 35
engines used roller bearings – Ed]. Can you imagine the precision required to assemble and balance it? And near as dammit a hundred years ago. Amazing stuff.’
Could he imagine racing one? Silly question: ‘ W hatever I raced in my professional career was the best of that era, so I didn’t question anything, I just drove it. Of course, when you look back you might think a Group C car or whatever was dangerous, but at the time it was quicker and safer than what came before it. The Bugatti was the best of its era, so yes, I can imagine racing one. Perhaps not in today’s context, but certainly in the 1920s.
‘I think it would have been difficult if you had a few of them in close proximity, probably more like a motorcycle race with all those elbows flying about. From my experience I suspect they wouldn’t have been that controllable directionally at or over the limit, at least not like anything from the modern era. And the circuits they raced on were really rough and ready. That said, having raced a D-type Jaguar I’d say the Bug was more controllable than the Jag, but perhaps that’s down to a lack of power and low weight.
‘The controls are heavy compared with modern stuff, but no heavier than a Group C car was back in the day. There’s a very short throw on the clutch, and it’s a tiny pedal so that makes the clutch awkward to operate smoothly. As it’s an old car you also get covered in oil all up your feet and legs. We tend to put Chiron customers in some overalls if we take them for a ride…
‘The brakes are much, much better than you expect. When you’re driving something that’s moving around and hopping like the Bug, you’re sure it’ll spin like a top when you hump on the brakes, but that’s not how it is at all. It stops really well, right from the first pedal application, so you don’t get that flash of panic some old cars give you.
‘If you consider when it was made, how it was made and what else was around at the time, it’s obvious it would have been head and shoulders above everything else in almost every respect.’ The more things change...