Bugatti Type 35B

Bugatti Type 35B

The Bugatti Type 35B is arguably the most successful racing automobile ever built. Between its various iterations, the Type 35 series won an astonishing 2,000+ races, including five consecutive Targa Florio victories and multiple Grand Prix championships. The Type 35B, with its supercharged 2,262cc straight-eight engine producing approximately 140 horsepower, represented the pinnacle of this legendary racing family.

Ettore Bugatti was an artist as much as an engineer, and the Type 35 reflected his belief that a racing car should be beautiful as well as fast. Every component was crafted with an attention to detail that bordered on obsessive. The distinctive horseshoe-shaped radiator, the cast aluminum wheels with integral brake drums, and the elegant tapering tail were all functional designs elevated to the level of sculpture.

The engine was a masterpiece of precision engineering. The 2,262cc straight-eight featured a single overhead camshaft operating three valves per cylinder (two intake, one exhaust), a roller-bearing crankshaft, and a Roots-type supercharger that force-fed the mixture through a single carburetor. The supercharged engine produced approximately 140 horsepower -- an extraordinary specific output for the late 1920s.

The crankshaft rode on roller bearings rather than plain bearings, reducing friction and allowing higher sustained rpm. This was a Bugatti innovation that contributed significantly to the engine's remarkable durability in racing conditions. The single-cam valve train was elegant in its simplicity, operating the intake and exhaust valves through exposed rockers with adjustment accessible from outside the engine.

The chassis was a conventional ladder frame, but the suspension was carefully designed for the racing circuits of the era. The front axle was a solid beam with semi-elliptic leaf springs, passed through the front axle (rather than sitting on top), which lowered the center of gravity. The rear suspension used reversed quarter-elliptic leaf springs.

The cast aluminum wheels were perhaps Bugatti's most distinctive innovation. Each wheel was a single aluminum casting that incorporated the brake drum as an integral part of the wheel structure. This design saved unsprung weight and improved cooling of the cable-operated drum brakes.

Driving a Type 35B required considerable skill and physical endurance. The cable-operated brakes demanded planning and progressively increasing pressure, the non-synchromesh gearbox required double-clutching, and the solid front axle transmitted every road surface variation directly to the driver's hands. Yet in the hands of skilled pilots like Louis Chiron, Achille Varzi, and Albert Divo, the Type 35B was virtually unbeatable.

Approximately 340 Type 35 cars were produced in total across all variants, with the supercharged Type 35B being one of the rarer models. Surviving examples are among the most valuable and sought-after vintage racing cars in the world, regularly appearing at prestigious events like the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Mille Miglia retrospective.

The Type 35B's legacy extends beyond its race wins. It established the template for the purpose-built racing car that would influence motorsport engineering for decades, and its beauty ensured that Bugatti's reputation for artistry would endure alongside its reputation for speed.