Bugatti Type 35

The Bugatti Type 35 is an iconic race car design produced by Bugatti at their Molsheim premises between 1924 and 1930. It was extremely successful when raced by the factory works team. It was also bought by a diverse roster of privateer clientele from around the world. It pioneered the concept of a holistically conceived, race-ready car available for purchase.

Bugatti Type 35
Overview
Manufacturer	Automobiles Ettore Bugatti
Production	1924–1930
Assembly	France: Molsheim-Dorlisheim, Alsace (Usine Bugatti de Molsheim)
Designer	Ettore Bugatti
Body and chassis
Class	Grand Prix, Formula Libre
Body style	Underslung Type
Layout	FR
Chassis	Steel ladder frame, aluminum body
Powertrain
Engine	1,092–2,262 cc (67–138 cu in) 3-valve SOHC straight-8 60–130 hp (45–95 kW)
Transmission	4-speed manual + reverse
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,400 mm (94.5 in)
Length	3,680 mm (144.9 in)
Width	1,320 mm (52.0 in)
Curb weight	650–750 kg (1,435–1,655 lb)
Chronology
Predecessor	Bugatti Type 30
Successor	Bugatti Type 51

Bugatti Type 37 (left) and 35 (right) cars at the Cité de l'Automobile Museum, Mulhouse

Carl Junker won the 1931 Australian Grand Prix with a Type 39

The arch/egg-shaped^[1] radiator is emblematic, as is the rear of the car. The tapered stern has been called a 'Bordino tail' and Ettore Bugatti may have been influenced by the shape of the earlier Fiat 804 driven and modified by Pietro Bordino.^[2] The car has also become synonymous with being the first to use cast alloy wheels.^[3][4]

The Type 35 was phenomenally successful, winning over 1,000 races in its time. It took the Grand Prix World Championship in 1926 after winning 351 races and setting 47 records in the two prior years. At its height the Type 35 averaged 14 race wins per week. Bugatti won the Targa Florio for five consecutive years, from 1925 through 1929, with the Type 35.^[5]

The Bugatti Type 35 was continually being modified and improved upon, but broadly falls into the following nomenclature:

Type 35 (naturally aspirated)

This original, defining model was introduced at the 1924 French Grand Prix, held at Lyon. The inaugural outing for the Type 35 was not a success due to fitment of badly-vulcanised Dunlop tyres.^[3] Despite this, the model showed promise and became increasingly competitive with refinements being made.

The car used an evolution of the three-valve 1,991 cc (121.5 cu in) overhead cam straight-eight engine first seen on the Type 29. Bore was and stroke was of 60 mm × 88 mm (2.36 in × 3.46 in) as on many previous Bugatti models.^[6]

This new powerplant featured a sophisticated roller bearing system, numbering five in total. This allowed the engine to rev to 6,000 rpm. Output was up to 90 hp (67 kW). The cable-operated drum brakes system was very popular and adaptable. Alloy wheels were a novelty, as was the hollow front axle for reduced unsprung weight. Another feature of the Type 35 that was to become a Bugatti trademark was passing the springs through the front axle rather than simply U-bolting them together as was done on their earlier cars.

96 of these un-supercharged T35 examples were produced.

Type 35A

1925 Bugatti Type 35A "Tecla"

A mechanically simpler version of the Type 35 appeared in May 1925. Intended for road use while retaining the 'racing look', several were raced anyway and with some success. The public nicknamed the model "Tecla" after a famous maker of imitation jewellery. The Tecla's engine used plain bearings on the crankshaft (for ease of maintenance), smaller valves, and coil ignition like the Type 30, it was normally delivered on regular wire-spoked wheels.

139 examples of the Type 35A were produced.

Type 35T

Bugatti introduced a special model for the 1926 Targa Florio race with engine displacement set to 2,262 cc (138.0 cu in) with a longer 100 mm (3.9 in) stroke; the car could not be used for Grands Prix due to rules limiting capacity to 2.0 litres.

13 T35Ts were produced.

Type 35C

1929 Bugatti Type 35C

The Type 35C was introduced in 1926 and featured a Roots supercharger, despite Ettore Bugatti's disdain for forced induction. Output was nearly 128 bhp (95 kW) with a single Zenith carburettor. The Type 35C came first and second during its first race outing at the 1926 Milan Grand Prix held at Monza. This 2.0-litre supercharged configuration continued to be very dependable.

In 1929, Bugatti was charging 91,500 French francs for the Type 35C. French pilot Guy Bouriat bought two in March 1929.

Approximately 45 examples left the factory.

Type 35B

1927 Bugatti Type 35B

Bugatti Type 35B replica Dashboard

Named by the factory "Type 35TC" (Targa Compressor), this most powerful version became known colloquially as the "T35B". It shared the 2.3 litre engine of the Type 35T this time with a large supercharger added. Output was 138 bhp (103 kW). A British Racing Green Type 35B driven by William Grover-Williams won the inaugural 1929 Monaco Grand Prix. While having more torque, the Type 35B did not rev as high and engine fuel consumption levels were such that the factory reverted to producing the T35C.

Around 37 Type 35B were produced.

Type 37

1928 Bugatti Type 37

The Type 37 sports car used the same chassis and bodywork as the full-power Type 35, but were mostly delivered with wire wheels. Fitted with a new 1.5 litre (1,496 cc, 91 cu in) straight-4 engine (69 mm x 100 mm), it was easier to maintain for many privateer drivers. This engine was a SOHC three-valve design and produced 60 bhp (45 kW). The same engine went on to be used in the Type 40.

Around 223 Type 37s were built.

Type 37A

1929 Bugatti Type 37A

The supercharged Type 37A enabled engine output to reach 60–67 kW (80–90 bhp). It also had larger shrouded brake drums.

Around 67 Type 37As were produced.

Type 39

The Type 39 was similar to the Type 35 except for the engine crankshaft, modified to produce a smaller 1.5 litre (1,493 cc, 91 cu in). Stroke was down from 88 mm to 66 mm, and a mix of plain and roller bearings were used in the crank.

10 examples were produced (some being supercharged (Type 39A)).

A single 1.1 litre (1,092 cc, 67 cu in) version was also created by reducing the bore of the engine to 51.3 mm.

Technical data

	Type 35A	Type 35	Type 35C	Type 35B	Type 39	Type 37	Type 37A
Engine:	Front mounted 8-cylinder in-line engine					4-cylinder
Displacement:	1991 cm³			2262 cm³	1493 cm³	1496 cm³
Bore x stroke:	60 x 88 mm			60 x 100 mm	60 x 66 mm	69 x 100 mm
Max power at rpm:	75 hp at 4 000 rpm	95 hp at 5 500 rpm	128 hp at 5 500 rpm	138 hp at 5 000 rpm	80 hp at 5 500 rpm	60 hp at 4 500 rpm	85 hp at 5 000 rpm
Valve control:	3 valves per cylinder, SOHC
Compression:			Roots compressor				Roots
Carburetor:	2 Solex		1 Zenith
Upload:
Gearbox:	4-speed manual
Suspension front:	rigid axle, semi-elliptic springs	live axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs, friction Pampers				solid axle, semi-elliptic leaf springs
Suspension rear:	rigid axle, reversed quarter elliptic springs	live axle, inverted quarter-elliptic leaf springs, friction dampers				live axle, quarter elliptic leaf springs
Brakes:	drums, all-round
Chassis & body:	Aluminium body on steel ladder frame
Wheelbase:	240 cm
Dry weight:	750 kg					700 kg	720 kg
Top speed:	145 km/h	175 km/h	201 km/h	209 km/h	168 km/h	150 km/h

Notable race victories

Year	Race	Driver	Car
1925	Rome Grand Prix	Carlo Massetti	Type 35
	Targa Florio	Bartolomeo Costantini	Type 35
	Circuito del Garda	Aymo Maggi	Type 35
1926	Coppa Acerbo	Luigi Spinozzi	Type 35
	Coppa Etna	Aymo Maggi	Type 35 A
	French Grand Prix	Jules Goux	Type 39 A
	Gran Premio de San Sebastián	Jules Goux	Type 39 A
	Italian Grand Prix	Louis Charavel	Type 39 A
	Rome Grand Prix	Aymo Maggi	Type 35
	Spanish Grand Prix	Bartolomeo Costantini	Type 35
	Targa Florio	Bartolomeo Costantini	Type 35 T
	Tripoli Grand Prix	François Eysermann	Type 35
1927	Targa Florio	Emilio Materassi	Type 35 C
	Tripoli Grand Prix	Emilio Materassi	Type 35 C
	Rome Grand Prix	Tazio Nuvolari	Type 35
	Solituderennen	August Momberger	Type 35 B
	Grand Prix de la Marne	Philippe Étancelin	Type 35 B
1928	French Grand Prix	William Grover-Williams	Type 35 C
	Italian Grand Prix	Louis Chiron	Type 37 A
	San Sebastián Grand Prix	Louis Chiron	Type 35 C
	Spanish Grand Prix	Louis Chiron
	Targa Florio	Albert Divo	Type 35 B
	Tripoli Grand Prix	Tazio Nuvolari	Type 35 C
	Moroccan Grand Prix	Edward Meyer	Type 35 C
1929	French Grand Prix	William Grover-Williams	Type 35 B
	German Grand Prix	Louis Chiron	Type 35 C
	Spanish Grand Prix	Louis Chiron
	Monaco Grand Prix	William Grover-Williams	Type 35 B
	Targa Florio	Albert Divo	Type 35 C
	Australian Grand Prix	Arthur Terdich	Type 37 A
	Algerian Grand Prix	Marcel Lehoux	Type 35 C
1930	Belgian Grand Prix	Louis Chiron	Type 35 C
	Czechoslovakian Grand Prix	Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen and Hermann zu Leiningen	Type 35 B
	Eifelrennen	Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen	Type 35 B
	French Grand Prix	Philippe Étancelin	Type 35 C
	Monaco Grand Prix	René Dreyfus	Type 35 B
	Australian Grand Prix	Bill Thompson	Type 37 A
1931	Australian Grand Prix	Carl Junker	Type 39
	Grand Prix des Frontières	Arthur Legat	Type 37 A
1932	Australian Grand Prix	Bill Thompson	Type 37 A
1933	Grand Prix des Frontières	Willy Longueville	Type 35 B

References

1. "Bugatti design – a legend about eggs and horseshoes" (Press release). Molsheim: Bugatti. 2019-04-18. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
2. Conway, Hugh (1983). Grand Prix Bugatti (Revised ed.). Haynes Publishing Group. p. 45. ISBN 0 85429 293 4.
3. Conway, Hugh (1983). Grand Prix Bugatti (Revised ed.). p. 48. ISBN 0 85429 293 4.
4. Petrány, Máté (2019-10-08). "Ettore Bugatti made alloy wheels a thing". Hagerty. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
5. "The legendary Bugatti Type 35". Bugatti. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
6. "Bugatti Type 35 specs, performance data". FastestLaps. Retrieved 2021-10-25.

Further reading

• Cole, Lance (2019). Bugatti: Type 35 Grand Prix Car and its Variants. Car Craft series, no. 1. Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Transport. ISBN 9781526756763.

External links

• Bugatti Club France page