1929 Bugatti Type 43

Ettore Bugatti and the vehicles which left his Molsheim factory quickly established a reputation for outstanding performance on the road or track. The foundation of Bugatti's reputation was founded on his family of eight-cylinder cars, the first of which was the Type 30, which appeared in 1922. The Type 30, with its 1,911cc displacement, shared its chassis, gearbox, and axle with the later four-cylinder Type 13 Brescia model. The inline eight-cylinder engine had a single overhead camshaft and three valves per cylinder. In a more advanced guise, it would power the Type 35 Grand Prix car, the Type 38 tourer and Type 43 sports car.

The Bugatti Type 43 was introduced near the close of 1926 and was, in essence, a road-going version of the company's most successful Grand Prix racing car, the Type 35. Beneath the bonnet and in front of the prominent horseshoe-shaped grille was a 2,262cc engine complete with Roots supercharger, introduced on the Type 35B, which was installed in a new chassis similar to that of the Grand Prix racer. The engine offered approximately 120 horsepower and gave the Type 43 a zero-to-sixty mph time of approximately twelve seconds. It was one of the first production cars capable of achieving speeds in excess of 100 mph. A larger radiator and brakes from the Type 38 were also fitted.

In Grand Prix configuration, the Type 43 was immensely successful in sports car racing, being campaigned by the factory and privateers.

The first seven cars left the assembly workshop in December of 1926, and by the spring of 1927, Bugatti was building approximately ten cars a month. Approximately half of the total production of 160 cars was on the road by the end of 1927. Over sixty examples were built in 1928, with the final 15 examples leaving the workshop before April 1929. Unsold examples resided in the factory workshops from 1930, partly due to their high sale price.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2022