1925 Bugatti Type 30

The French Company, Automobiles Ettore Bugatti, was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim by Italian-born designer Ettore Bugatti. The automobiles were renowned for their level of engineering detail, artistic designs, and constant evolution and refinement. The lightweight Type 10 evolved into the Type 13 racer, which captured second place at the French Grand Prix at Le Mans in 1911. After World War I, five Type 13s were prepared for racing and competed at the 1921 Brescia Grand Prix, capturing the first four places and earning the nickname 'Brescia' Bugatti.

Longer wheelbase Type 22 and Type 23 followed, both equipped with the single-overhead-camshaft 16-valve Brescia engine which was constructed alongside the 8-valve 'Petit Pur Sang' Versions. The Type 23 became Bugatti's first commercial success, providing financial stability to continue racing endeavors. Introduced in 1924, Bugatti's Type 35 quickly earned everlasting fame as the definitive Grand Prix racing car for the next decade. Its design begat numerous sub-types and continued with only minimal visual changes through the final Type 51 variant of 1932. The heritage of the Type 35 began with the Type 30, the first eight-cylinder production Bugatti, the first to use the company's single-overhead-camshaft design, and the first small 'straight-eight' to go into production. Bugatti's 'eight' used a 'long-stroke' design of 60x88mm bore/stroke which gave it a capacity of 1,991cc. A single gear-driven overhead camshaft operated the three valves per cylinder using finger-type rockers to the two inlets and a single exhaust valve per cylinder. The engine breathed through a pair of either Solex or Zenith carburetion and the ignition was by Magneto, later replaced by a coil on later cars. There was a barrel-type crankcase under a pair of fixed-head cylinder blocks. The engine was backed by a four-speed gearbox with mesh gears and a wet multi-plate clutch. Larger drums were placed at the rear and hydraulic units at the front. Also in the front was an I-beam axle with leaf springs at both the front and rear.

The engine produced approximately 100 bhp at 4,500 RPM which gave it many of the characteristics of the racing Bugattis. They were fast, powerful, durable, and refined. Approximately 600 examples were built with fewer than 50 known to survive today. Production lasted from 1922 through early 1926.

by Daniel Vaughan | May 2020