BUGATTI TYPE 57 Almost any sports Bugatti could be rated a classic, but few models by that illustrio

Yet despite his affinity for the sport, Ettore Bugatti was notably tardy in heeding its lessons, especially in adopting the twin overhead camshaft system of valve operation which provided efficient hemispherical combustion chambers with angled valves. He first applied it to the 4.9 litre Type 50 road car of 1930, then to the Types 51 and 54 racing cars of 1931, and by 1933 had got around to modernising the 3.3 litre Type 49, perhaps the best of all touring Bugattis. It was Bugatti's son Jean, more than le Patron himself, who was responsible for developing its suc-cessor, the Type 57 which, while it retained the 49's bore and stroke of 72 x 100mm (3,257cc), was new in several other important aspects. Replacing the three vertical valves per cylinder were single inlet and exhaust valves, angled at 90 degrees in a fixed head with central sparking plugs. The gear train driving the two camshafts was at the rear of the engine, with which the four-speed gearbox was in unit. The one-piece crankshaft ran in six plain bearings, the rearmost being between the bottom timing pinion and the flywheel, which housed a single-plate clutch. The chassis with its reversed quarter-elliptics at the rear and semi-elliptics at the front was traditional Bugatti, as was the impeccable workmanship and finish. Rudge wire wheels were standard, and the famous horseshoe radiator had vertical shutters and was of deeper sec-tion and less beautiful form than the stark racing types. Introduced in March 1934, the new model was produced at Molsheim right up to September 1939. The basic Type 57 "normale" was, it should be emphasized, a top-quality touring car in French eyes, albeit its ample power, near-100mph maximum and high standard of road-holding seemed distinctly sporting to the British. The development of an S (Sport) version was, of course, inevi-table. Those ardent English Bugattistes, Earl Howe and the Hon. Brian Lewis, were quick to see the Type 57's potential and commissioned two cars with special two-seater light alloy bodywork for the 1935 Ulster TT. Both cars suffered clutch trouble, Lewis having to retire when when lying second, but Howe finished a strong third. A cleaned-up version of the TT car appeared as the "Competition" with lowered radiator and bonnet line that same year, and in 1936, when the French grew tired of German cars winning their premier races and switched to sports car rulings, Bugatti, Delahaye and Talbot all came forward to race for France—and against each other. Basing their cars on the Type 57, Bugatti showed extra enterprise in devising special low-drag, all-enveloping stream-lined bodies which paid off handsomely. The engines, forerunners of the Type 57S, had a lighter crankshaft and raised compression, giving over 160bhp, while in the light of Ulster experience, stronger two-plate clutches were fitted. The first race for the so-called "tank" Bugattis was the 622-mile French Grand Prix, a Molsheim triumph with one T57 winning and the others finishing sixth and 13th. They then took first and second in the Marne GP, and late in the year a team of three drivers took a "tank" to Montlhery. They broke several Class C (3 to 5 litres) records including the 24 Hours at 123.93mph, and in 1937 one of the "tanks" won the Le Mans 24 Hour classic—the first French victory since 1926. In the meantime the Type 57S road model had appeared, having a tuned engine in a lower, shorter chassis, dry sump lubrication, magneto ignition, de Ram hydraulic dampers, and a distinc-tive vee radiator of subtly pleasing form. It was followed by the 57C and 57SC, the former virtually the 57 with a Roots-type supercharger, gaining an extra 25bhp, improved flexibility and a maximum of 105-110mph. A Type 57C engine was fitted into an improved Bugatti tank for the 1939 Le Mans race; the supercharger allied with the stream-lining gave it a potential speed of over 160mph, and the car won Bugatti's second Le Mans victory by over 26 miles.

The ultimate in road performance from the Type 57 was provided by the rare and highly desirable 57SC, a low-chassis 57S with supercharger, capable of 130mph with prodigious acceleration,

Tired of German and Italian victories in their major races, the French switched these to sports car rules in 1936. Here is J-P Wimille in the fully-enveloping streamlined 3.3 litre Bugatti "tank", winning the 1936 French GP at Montlhery. His co-driver was Raymond Sommer and surely eligible for that well-known Brooklands race run in 1939 to deter-mine "the world's fastest road car". Many glorious bodies, and quite a few grotesque ones, were fitted to the more exotic Type 57 variants, one of the most striking being the Atalante two-door drophead, while a more bizarre inter-pretation was the Atlantic two-door coupe in electron, with voluptuous curves and an effective rivetted central spine. Such extravaganzas aside, Molsheim traditionalists may have thought it heresy that Bugatti should adopt rubber engine mountings in 1936, hydraulic brakes in 1938, and telescopic hydraulic dampers in 1939! Such realistic changes could probably be ascribed to Jean Bugatti, whose influence on design at Molsheim grew as the 1930s advanced, but who, most unfortunately, was killed while testing a Bugatti in 1939 when obviously destined to prolong the line of Bugatti automobiles with distinction.

Specification Engine: 8 cylinders in line; 72 x 100mm, 3,257cc; 2ohc operating 2 valves per cylinder; Stromberg or Bugatti carburettor; dual coil ignition (Types 57 and 57C), Scintilla magneto ignition (Types 57S and 57SC); 6-bearing crankshaft; Roots-type supercharger on Types 57C and 57SC; 135bhp at 4,800rpm (Type 57), 160bhp at 4,800rpm (57C), 170bhp at 5,500rpm (57S), 200bhp at 5,500rpm (57SC). Transmission: Dry single-plate clutch (57 and 57C), dry two-plate clutch (57S and 57SC); 4-speed gearbox in unit with engine; open propellor shaft; spiral-bevel final drive. Chassis: Pressed steel side members; semi-elliptic front suspension, reversed I-elliptic rear suspension; friction dampers (57 and 57C), de Ram hydraulic dampers (57S and 57SC), hydraulic telescopic dampers in 1939; cable-operated drum brakes (up to 1937), Lockheed hydraulic brakes (1938-39). Dimensions: Wheelbase, 10ft 10in (57 and 57C), 9ft 11.3in (57S and 57SC); track, 4ft 5- lin.