Descrição
1927 - Bugatti Type 35 C (R)
French historic registration title
Chassis n° 38343 (see text)
Engine n° 219
- Rebuilt by a French expert of the brand in the 1990's
- Original engine, rear and front axles
- Reliable car with a very nice patina
- Numerous participations in Le Mans Classic, Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or, Circuit des Remparts d'Angoulême, Bugatti à Monthléry...
3rd August, 1924, “Sept Chemins” temporary track, south of Lyon, 9 am: twenty cars set off for the very popular Grand Prix de l'Europe. On the programme, seven hours of racing on a difficult and winding 23 km long circuit. If the Sunbeam Grand Prix cars are the favourites, the Delage 2LCV 12-cylinder and Alfa Romeo P2 are not to be outdone. However, the press and the public only had eyes for the new Bugatti...
With its horseshoe-shaped radiator, “aeroplane wing"" body profile with Bordino tip, forged front axle, cast aluminium wheels with integrated brake drum, and brake wire to hold the body screws in place, the Type 35 stands out from the start with a whole host of remarkably aesthetic and technical details. Not to mention its 2-litre in-line 8-cylinder overhead cam engine, derived from the Type 30 and 38 touring cars, which now develops 110 bhp. Although the Lyon Grand Prix was a resounding disaster (due to unsuitable Dunlop tyres), Ettore Bugatti was nevertheless successful. The new race car made in Molsheim made an impression and quickly became the car to beat. This was made all the more so by the fact that the boss, who was as good at marketing as he was at drawing board, was a pioneer in offering this genuine competition car for sale: any amateur driver, whether a novice or an experienced one, could drive it in Grand Prix races alongside the factory cars and top drivers. It has just invented the concept of the competition-customer car before anyone else. Thanks to this wide distribution, the Bugatti Type 35 (and its derivatives, with 4 or 8 cylinders, 1. 5 l or 2. 3 l, naturally aspirated or supercharged, and single or double overhead camshafts) won countless victories, building up the most successful record in the history of motor racing, including a World Championship title in 1926 and five consecutive victories in the renowned Targa Florio between 1925 and 1929. It is still the most legendary classic Bugatti and the archetypal Grand Prix car of the 1920s.
The Type 35 C appeared with the evolution of the racing regulations, and was distinguished from the Type 35 ""Grand Prix de Lyon"" by its engine, still with a 2-litre capacity, but now supercharged by a Roots-type compressor, designed by the engineer Moglia, and which now brings the power of the sublime Bugatti engine to 150 bhp. The first supercharged Bugatti, the Type 35 C is for many the best and most balanced of the 35s.
Around 340 Bugatti Type 35s were built up to 1930. While it cannot be said that the 35 was the best in every respect, it was the most complete and consistent. This exceptional quality gave rise to the myth of the Molsheim thoroughbred.
In 1978, an early enthusiast bought a few pieces of the wreckage of Bugatti Type 38 cabriolet #38343 from a scrap dealer in Joué-les-Tours, Indre-et-Loire, including the engine (number #219), which was in apparently very good condition. With the help of one of his friends, an acknowledged expert on the marque, he finally decided to start rebuilding a Bugatti Grand Prix using this engine, identical to the Type 35, except for the lower crankcase. But if some people have already grafted a Type 38 engine into a Grand Prix chassis by modifying or changing this famous crankcase, our two amateurs have the intelligence to keep the engine as it is, by making specific spacers. The engine is rebuilt in England, by the specialist Ivan Dutton, who fits a new crankshaft, while the blocks are re-bored and the camshaft is restored. He also supplied an original front axle (solid model, unnumbered), while the rest of the parts are of English and French manufacture, like the chassis, and some parts are original, like the axle cases (number #344). The car comes back to life as a Type 35 C, with a large radiator made by Audoly in Nice and a compressor (the only new part bought in Argentina).
The sublime black Bugatti, which took its first turns on the wheel in the early 2000s, caused a sensation at each of its appearances. It was entered several times (2002 and 2003) at the not-to-be-missed Bugatti event in Montlhéry, organised by the expert Jean-Michel Cérède, who was asked to examine the car in 2004. His conclusion is eloquent: ""We are in the presence of a chronologically composite Bugatti, but as a whole it conforms to the configuration of the 1927 35 C model. (...) The car is now operational and I have had the opportunity to appreciate its operation at high speed on the Montlhéry circuit"" (copy of the report attached to the file). The car is indeed particularly fast, and will be entered in a number of rallies and historic races (including the Journées d'Automne at Mas du Clos, the Grand Prix de l'Âge d'Or in Dijon, the historic Grand Prix de Pau, the Circuit des Remparts in Angoulême and Le Mans Classic).
This car, registered under the identity of the Type 38 Cabriolet from which it borrows the engine (identical to that of a Type 35), presents a rare opportunity to acquire a Bugatti built around three major original elements (engine, front axle and bridge). A real asset in the scale of authenticity of a Bugatti as defined by the Bugatti Owners Club. Its performance, its perfect working order and its inimitable patina will seduce the amateurs of the genre...
Est. €300 000 - 400 000
Aguttes – Auction House in Paris
The Spring Sale 2022 / 27th of March
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