Bugatti Type 252

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Bugatti
Bugatti sports car 252 No. 1
Bugatti sports car 252 No. 1
Type 252
Production period: 1957-1962
Class : Sports car
Body versions : Cabriolet
Engines: Otto engine :
1.5 liters (88 kW)
Length: 3959 mm
Width: 1650 mm
Height: 1050 mm
Wheelbase : 2280 mm
Empty weight : 1179 kg
Previous model without
successor without

The Bugatti Type 252 is a two-seater sports car with a displacement of 1.5 liters , which was designed as a prototype by the historic Bugatti brand between 1957 and 1962, but only one of which was built.

history

The Bugatti Type 252 was the result of a sports car study from 1954 under the direction of Roland Bugatti , the youngest son of the company's founder Ettore Bugatti and the brother of Jean Bugatti . The Bugatti Type 252 sports car designed by Roland Bugatti as a successor did not get beyond prototype status and never went into series production and was abandoned for financial reasons. The only made vehicle and prototype is now in the automobile museum Cité de l'Automobile - National Museum - Collection Schlumpf in Mulhouse in Alsace , France . The Type 252 was a last attempt to regain a foothold on the market with a new model and ultimately failed due to lack of money, as did the previous attempt with the Type 251 racing car . After the model could not be mass-produced, the company finally said goodbye to automobile production and only carried out repairs and modifications to old Bugattis.

Roland Bugatti finally sold the company to the French aerospace group (and former automobile manufacturer) Hispano-Suiza in 1963 due to accumulated high debts and losses . The collectors Fritz and Hans Schlumpf then bought the Type 252 and the rest of the Bugattis from Roland Bugatti and the other heirs in 1963, including all prototypes, engines and spare parts for their collection. At the same time, the brothers contractually secured the right to overhaul, repair and overhaul the car.

The Type 252 was restored by the museum and has been in running order since 2014.

technology

The basic designs come from Gioacchino Colombo , who previously worked for Alfa Romeo , Ferrari and Maserati . Colombo derived the water-cooled four - cylinder engine from the 2.5-liter eight-cylinder in - line engine of the type 251. The engine block and cylinder head are made of light alloy and, like the 251, it has two chain-controlled overhead camshafts . There is one inlet and one outlet valve per cylinder, bucket tappets and the crankshaft has five bearings. Bore and stroke are each 78 mm, which results in a displacement of 1490 cm³. The mixture preparation is done by two Weber 42 carburettors; the engine can be converted from single to double ignition. With a compression ratio of 8.7: 1, it develops 120 hp (88 kW) at 7000 rpm. The engine, installed lengthways at the front, transfers the power to the rear axle via a four-speed gearbox with unsynchronized first gear (common at the time) via a cardan shaft . The gearbox may come from the BMW 507 .

The chassis consists of a conventional frame made of round steel tubes. The suspension is also similar to the Type 251. At the front it consists of a rigid axle with a high transverse leaf spring , tension struts and hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers , and a De-Dion axle with a transverse leaf spring below, thrust struts and Houdaille friction dampers at the rear . The type 251 has four large, hydraulically operated drum brakes , front duplex . A remarkable top speed of 200 km / h was possible.

Roland Bugatti drew the design for the Barchetta body . It was made by hand by an Italian skilled worker on behalf of Bugatti using an all-aluminum construction and is bolted to the chassis. The prototype character of the vehicle is also reflected in the fact that it has to be removed to remove the tank. A useful detail is a bead running underneath the windshield and leading into the flank, which efficiently guides rain and spray water past the cockpit . In keeping with the brand tradition, the vehicle is painted blue.

There is different information about the total weight between 870 and almost 1200 kg.

criticism

The use of rigid front axles was a tradition at Bugatti. While Jean Bugatti had already failed in 1934 due to his father's resistance to give the Type 57 a front independent wheel suspension , it was 101 with the post-war models . 251 and 252 more likely a lack of money, which prevented the overdue application. Even more than with the Type 101 and 252 with front engine, this had serious consequences, especially with the Type 251; the rear-engined racing car was hardly controllable. In contrast, the type 252 four-cylinder engine has great potential.

Comparable sports cars (selection)

literature

  • Heinz W. Jordan, Dietrich Krahn (ed.): Oldtimer without make-up: Sleeping automobiles from the world-famous Schlumpf collection. 1st edition. Herkules-Verlag, Kassel 2013, ISBN 978-3-941499-81-2 .
  • Wolfgang Schmarbeck, Gabriele Wolbold: Bugatti: Passenger and racing cars since 1909 basic knowledge for car enthusiasts . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 2009, ISBN 978-3-613-03021-3 .
  • Hans-Jörg Götzl: The last of its kind. In: Motor Klassik. June 2014, ISSN  0177-8862 , pp. 60-66.
  • Joachim Kurz: Bugatti. The Myth - The Family - The Company. Econ-Verlag, Berlin, ISBN 3-430-15809-5 .
  • Griffith Borgeson: Bugatti by Borgeson - The dynamics of mythology. Osprey Publishing, London 1981, ISBN 0-85045-414-X . (English)

Web links

Commons : Bugatti Type 252  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Damme Stéphane: Bugatti Type 252 (1957–1962). (No longer available online.) In: show.histomobile.com. January 1, 1999, archived from the original on October 29, 2014 ; accessed on August 26, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / show.histomobile.com
  2. ^ Jacob Munkhamma: 1957, Type 252 "Barquette. In: bugattipage.com. May 2, 1998, accessed on August 26, 2013 (English).
  3. ↑ Matthias Kierse: 100 years Bugatti. In: carpassion.com. June 12, 2009, accessed January 10, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b Hans-Jörg Götzl: The last of its kind. In: Motor Klassik. June 2014, p. 66.
  5. ↑ a b c d Hans-Jörg Götzl: The last of its kind. In: Motor Klassik. June 2014, pp. 60–66.