Bugatti Type 54
The Bugatti Type 54 was an Ettore Bugatti racing car from 1931.
History of origin
The development of high-performance and competitive racing cars led Ettore Bugatti to impressive results in the 1920s. Thanks to the Type 35 , around 1000 victories were achieved, both at large events such as the Targa Florio from 1925 to 1929 or the Monaco Grand Prix in 1929, as well as at small races.
Drivers such as René Dreyfus , William Grover-Williams and Louis Chiron made these vehicles dominate. Competing in the sports car class with cars like the Alfa Romeo 8C or the Mercedes-Benz SSKL , even the most powerful Type 35 B with a displacement of 2262 cm³ and an output of a good 103 kW (140 hp ) were limited.
Bugatti realized that a new development was needed to continue bringing the prestigious trophies to Molsheim . Therefore, he initially decided on a further development of the Type 35, the Type 51. This was built on the basis of the Type 35 chassis and had the same engine , but with 118 kW (160 hp). In the long term, however, Ettore Bugatti wanted to build a completely redesigned GP car capable of winning , which could build on the successes of the 1920s. To bring the 1931 season to a successful conclusion and, above all, to be armed on the high-speed track from Monza, the prototype of the Type 54 was built from a Type 45 chassis and a Type 50 engine within a good 13 days . This resulted in the most powerful engine used in a racing car with the horseshoe-shaped radiator and a correspondingly robust chassis. The eight-cylinder engine had two overhead camshafts , a displacement of 4972 cm³ and an output of about 220 kW (300 hp) with gasoline as fuel and about 330 kW (450 hp) with methanol .
Racing use
The variety of high-speed tracks such as the AVUS in Berlin , the Autodromo di Monza or the steep curve track in Brooklands and the winding, demanding courses such as the Nürburgring made different demands on the designers of the 1930s. The days of the successful Mercedes-Benz SSKL were already numbered. Despite the very powerful 6-liter supercharged engine , there were no triumphs on winding roads. Only the aerodynamic developments that led to the two streamlined designs for the Avus in 1932 and 1933 were victorious.
The Type 54 should be competitive on both types of route. Significantly lighter than the SSKL, but comparably powerful, the Bugatti should have had clear competitive advantages over its competitor from Untertürkheim .
However, Ettore Bugatti's art has always been to build small, almost filigree racing cars that are lightweight and very successful despite their low performance. The Type 54 had exactly the opposite attributes . Although it had the tried and tested combination of an eight-cylinder engine with a compressor, the higher weight contributed to enormous deceleration forces and the brute power to increased tire wear. For the premiere in Monza in 1932, the Italian Achille Varzi and the French Louis Chiron entered the race with the Type 54. Despite major tire problems, the Italian took third place.
The Bugatti designers recognized that this vehicle was only suitable for high-speed routes and that the state of tire development was not yet keeping pace with the performance of the Type 54. Over the year 1933, the Type 54 took part in various races, both as a factory and as a private car, with drivers such as Archille Varzi, Louis Chiron and William Williams. As a private driver, Count Stanisław Czaykowski deserves special mention, who had previously celebrated many successes on a Type 35 B. The 750 kg formula was introduced in 1934 and the era of the Silver Arrows heralded. The Type 54 only started in the free displacement class .
The "widow maker"
Compared to the success of the Type 35, which was manufactured in much larger numbers, the balance of the Type 54 is not impressive. Rather, the vehicle was extremely demanding to drive due to its high performance and required sacrifices. In addition to Count Czaykowski in Monza in 1933, Jiří Lobkowitz also died in a Type 54, so that the car was henceforth called "The Widow-Maker" in England.
Quantities
There is generally great disagreement about the exact number of chassis, because on the one hand the documentation for Grand Prix cars in Molsheim was not comparable to the meticulousness of Daimler and on the other hand the first Type 54 was composed of tried and tested components .
Technical specifications
- Cylinder: 8
- Displacement: 4972 cm³
- Output: 300 PS (221 kW) at 4000 rpm (petrol), 450 PS (331 kW) (methanol)
- Weight: 950 kg
- Wheelbase : 2750 mm
- Transmission : 3-speed
- Camshafts: 2 OHC
Series overview
| Construction year | Chassis no. | Engine no. | Admission | driver |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | 54201 | 1 | Jiří Lobkowitz | |
| 1931 | 54202 | 14 (type 50) | Marcel Lehoux | |
| 1932 | 54203 | 2 | 3758 RF 6 | Kaye Don |
| 1932 | 54204 | 3 | Jean-Pierre Wimille | |
| 1932 | 54205 | 5 | DPJ 5 | Earl Howe |
| 1932 | 54206 | 4th | Heinrich-Joachim of tomorrow | |
| 1932 | 54208 | 9 | 8264 NVI | |
| 1932 | 54209 | 8th | 8265 NVI, 2406 NV2 | Stanislaw Czaykowski |
| 1932 | 54210 | 7th | 8266 NVI | Achille Varzi |
Racing successes
| year | run | driver | position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1931 | Gran Premio di Monza | Achille Varzi , Louis Chiron | 3rd, DNF |
| 1932 | Grand Prix of Tunisia | Marcel Lehoux , Jean-Pierre Wimille , Heinrich-Joachim von Morgen | 2., DNF, DNF |
| 1932 | La Turbie hill climb | Jean-Pierre Wimille | 1. |
| 1932 | AVUS race | Jiří Lobkowicz , William Grover-Williams , Albert Divo | DNF, DNF, DNF |
| 1932 | Morocco Grand Prix | Marcel Lehoux | 1. |
| 1932 | Grand Prix de Reims | Albert Divo, Achille Varzi, Kaye Don , Marcel Lehoux, Earl Howe | DNF, DNF, DNS, DNF, 9. |
| 1932 | Gran Premio di Monza | Achille Varzi, Louis Chiron | 5th, 6th |
| 1933 | AVUS race | Achille Varzi, Stanisław Czaykowski , Kaye Don, William Grover-Williams | 1st, 2nd, DNF, DNF, DNS |
| 1933 | Grand Prix de La Baule | William Grover-Williams | 1. |
| 1933 | Grand Prix de Picardie | Horst von Waldthausen | DNF |
| 1933 | Grand Prix des Frontières | Jean-Marie de Texidor | DNF |
| 1933 | Grand Prix de Montlhéry | Stanislaw Czaykowski | DNF |
| 1933 | Gran Premio de Penya Rhin | Stanislaw Czaykowski | DNS |
| 1933 | British Empire Trophy | Stanisław Czaykowski, Kaye Don | 1st, 2nd |
| 1933 | Grand Prix de Reims | Jean-Pierre Wimille | 2. |
