Tag Archives: Grover-Williams

Definitely Not A Lambretta – Bugatti Type 51R #BC 132

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The first of of an eventual forty Bugatti Type 51’s appeared in 1931 with a twin cam straight eight replacing the single cam straight eight of it’s Type 35 predecessor. Externally the two types are almost identical with the newer model being equipped with a larger radiator, single piece alloy wheels, and as a consequence of the twin cam head, a lower pop off valve blow whole for the supercharger in the bonnet / hood.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

There were three European Championship Grand Prix in 1931 and Bugatti won the second and third. Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi sharing the win in a T51 on the 12 km track at Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in France and William Grover-Williams & Caberto Conelli the win at Spa, these races were over distance of around 800 miles taking a minimum of ten hours to complete, unlike the modern maximum 2 hour Grand Prix requiring only one driver.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

The following season Bugatti were outclassed by ALFA Romeo in the three European Championship races which were run over ‘just’ five hours, but their cars still won twelve of the thirty less well supported non championship races.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

For 1933 the European Championship was suspended, eventually for two years, but there were five Grandes Épreuves run over distances of 200 miles, Monaco, to just over 400 miles or Spain, requiring just the one driver. Archilli Varzi won the opening race at Monaco aboard a T51 with the remainder going to Maserati and Alfa Romeo equally.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

According to a Bugatti Owners site, today’s T51 recreation was assembled from many original parts and a “Hoskins” frame by Christopher F. Warman in Wales with help from Tim and Ivan Dutton in the late 1980’s. The car was registered for road use by 2006 when it competed at a variety of events, but in 2007 the registration number was transferred to a Lambretta Motor Scooter which according to the DVLA website is not currently on the road.

Bugatti T51A R, Howard-Orchard, VSCC Prescott

More recently the car was said to have been offered for sale at around £500,000 and it is seen driven in these photographs, taken at last years VSCC Prescott meeting, by Derek Howard – Orchard, who has been the owner since at least 2010.

Thanks for joining me on this “It’s Not A Lambretta” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow when I’ll be looking at some European cars that took the start of the Classic Run in Chipping Sodbury. Don’t forget to come back now !

23/07/14 Thanks to Tim Murray for clarifying that the Type 51 ran twin cam motors and the minimum times for the European Championship Grand Prix in 1931 and 1932.

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Ettore’s Magnus Opus – Bugatti Type 35B

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In 1924 Ettore Bugatti’s masterpiece the Bugatti Type 35 was seen for the first time at the Grand Prix de Lyon where five of the new cars were entered. Two of them, driven by France Jean Chassagne and Ernest Friderich, came home 7th and 8th on the same lap, but 40 mins behind the winning Alfa Romeo of Giuseppe Campari after 7 hours of racing.

Bugatti Type 35B, Marshall, VSCC, Prescott

Despite the inauspicious start the Type 35, in various guises powered by variations of a development of the 2 litre 8 cylinder 24 valve motor seen on the Type 30, would go on to dominate the top echelons of European racing for nearly 10 years clocking up somewhere between 1000 and 2000 outright victories which at one point were being recorded at 14 per week !

Bugatti Type 35B, Marshall, VSCC, Prescott

Like W.O Bentley, Ettore Bugatti was not a big fan of superchargers but after supercharging 2 litre Type 35C the ultimate form of the Type 35 was the 1927 Type 35B powered by a 2.262 litre, 138 cui 8 cylinder motor, first seen in the Type 35T but supercharged to produce 138 hp.

Bugatti Type 35B, Marshall, VSCC, Prescott

One of the reasons for the success of the Type 35 racing variants was the unusual use of 5 main bearings, at the time three was considered enough by most, that were of the ball bearing type, as against the more common roller type which allowed the motors to revolve at higher rpm than had been hitherto possible.

Bugatti Type 35B, Marshall, VSCC, Prescott

The list of victories that fell to the Type 35B, like the 1927 example featured today driven by Mike Marshall at Prescott Hillclimb, includes the 1928 Targa Florio won by Albert Divo, the first Monaco and 23rd French Grand Prix both won in 1929 by, future British Special Operations Executive agent, William Grover-Williams.

Bugatti Type 35B, Marshall, VSCC, Prescott

Of the 343 Type 35’s, of all versions built, 45 were type 35B’s which like all forced induction Type 35’s featured a radiator mounted closer to the front axle than the normally aspirated variants to accommodate the supercharger.

Thanks for joining me on this “Ettore’s Magnus Opus” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres”, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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