BUGATTI TYPE 35: DAUGHTER TO THE WIND
Clean and swift design for one of the most legendary sports cars ever. The purebred Bugatti, with its 2,000+ victories between those on racetracks and on the road, is still today the record car (and dream car as well)
Some of the world’s most evocative Grand Prix cars are those originally manufactured during the 1920s. It was a time in which the production’s output was not exclusively intended for the major grand prix teams, but it could also indulge the dreams of wealthy enthusiasts who thus attained the necessary medium to go all-in, and enter into competitions as single individuals competing against major teams.
This is the story of the Bugatti Type 35 chassis no. ‘4450’, the nineteenth such Grand Prix Bugatti to be manufactured. Completed in January 1925, and entered into the factory production book with the annotation: “o.d.f. (ordre de fabrication) 10.1.25” this car is among the first known as the ‘Type Lyon’ which differed in detail from later Type 35s. As delivered, in fact, they lacked a rear-view mirror and an engine driven air pump for the fuel tank. This is because a riding mechanic was still mandatory for Grand Prix racing, and his duties included maintaining fuel pressure while also acting as the driver’s lookout to spot any imminent overtake from behind. Furthermore, on the dashboard the gauges, including the revolution counter, were mounted with screws through the front of the bezels. That same year the brand new Type 35 no. ‘4450’ was bought by Royal Navy Lieutenant Glen Kidston, initiator of this car’s remarkable “personal” story. No. ‘4450’ was in fact the very first Bugatti to compete in the UK, and the very first T35 model to debut on the Booklands racetrack. It has put together very respectable sporting record of achievements, which is today evoked by the yellow band painted on the bonnet, proudly worn by the car, which was mandatory according to the regulations of the 1925 GP de Provence in which it raced.
This car embodies the great success of the Bugatti Type 35 series, as well as the distinctive traits of the brand’s history which stems from the creative genius of its founder, Milanese entrepreneur Ettore Bugatti, and unravels between Italy, France and Germany. Son to Carlo Bugatti, an important designer of floral style jewelry and of furniture, brother to the sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti and grandson to architect Giovanni Luigi Bugatti, Ettore was a true child prodigy. Ever since he was a child, he was certain that creative activity should have been the way one’s personality could manifest, and be the highest point of its expression, and not merely a means to earn money. At the age of 17, he dropped out of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera (Brera Academy of Fine Arts) in order to do an internship at Milan’s famous Prinetti & Stucchi factory, where he immediately displayed a strong intuition for mechanics.
There, Ettore Bugatti took part in several competitions in which he tested some technical and mechanical modifications which he himself had made to motorized tricycles, thus collecting his first victories and acquiring quite a reputation in the racing world. Being a keen observer, skilled in drawing and having gained experience in the mechanical field, in 1898 he built the Type 1, the first car to fit tires outsourced from another Milanese company, Pirelli & Co. Ettore Bugatti worked tirelessly, and was appreciated
by the Gulinelli counts of Ferrara, who decided to finance his work. He soon designed the Bugatti Type 2, which he presented at the Milan motor show, winning first prize. On that particular occasion he was noticed by Baron Eugène De Dietrich, who soon proposes to him to go and work in his factory in Niederbronn, in Alsace, a French region which was annexed to Germany at the time; a place which would one day become home for Ettore Bugatti.
The undeniable artistic and aesthetic sense that runs in Ettore Bugatti’s veins, as does in those of the rest of his family, gives life here to a design idea extremely unique for those times. A style so elegant that in the eyes of wealthier classes the Bugatti brand immediately became synonymous of luxury and exclusivity.
It is on the crest of this success and admiration wave, that the Type 35 had its origins. A masterpiece in terms of design and mechanics created, nonetheless, in a relatively short period of time. The project, in fact, took shape between winter 1923 and spring 1924. Instead of repeating earlier experiences in which cars that were meant for the road were made to race on tracks, and managed to win, Ettore Bugatti’s idea was that of creating a car meant for racetracks and competitions from the word go. The Type 35 was unveiled in spring 1924. Thus began the extraordinary epic adventure of a car destined to fuel the legend of “Bugatti purebreds”.