Team Bugatti (1922)
Team Bugatti at the 1922 French Grand Prix in Strasbourg: #5 Ernest Friedrich, #12 Pierre de Vizcaya, #18 Jacques Mones-Maury (The Marqués de Casa Maury) and #22 Pierre De Vizcaya.
My restoration and colorization of an image in the Gallica Digital Library.
One of the cars was sold by Christies in 2001:
"Following the resounding success of his 1500cc cars which secured the first four places in the most important voiturette race of the 1921 season at Brescia, Ettore Bugatti decided that the time had come for him to consider competing in the Grands Prix, then as now the pinnacle of European motor racing. Accordingly he set about the design of an entirely new model which was destined to become his first eight cylinder design to enter production and the forerunner of the wide range of racing and sports Bugattis, most notably the Type 35 Grand Prix model and the Grand Sport Type 43, which were introduced over the following decade.
The Type 29 Bugatti engine was designed initially in 1500cc form, but its capacity was soon increased to two litres to match the new Grand Prix regulations which were to come into force at the start of the 1922 season. A batch of five chassis frames was prepared which strictly were designated Type 22 on account of their 2.4 meter wheelbases, but they featured new cross-members and were in effect shortened versions of the subsequent 2.85 meter wheelbase standard Type 30 production frames.
These first chassis were fitted with newly designed front and rear axles and a new steering box, but retained initially the same gearbox as was used on the 1500cc four cylinder models. The front axle was equipped with hydraulic front brakes, a novelty at the time, while the rear axle retained cable-operated brakes, the drums of which were of much larger diameter, and the radiator was an enlarged version of that of the concurrent 16 valve model.
As with most of the chassis features, the engine too was of an entirely new design, a straight eight with its crankshaft running in three large ball-races and having bronze-bearings in the connecting rods, all mounted, for the one and only time in a Bugatti engine, in a one-piece barrel crankcase. The twin four cylinder blocks featured fixed heads with two spark plugs and three vertical valves per cylinder, two small inlets and one large exhaust. The valves were actuated via finger-type rockers from a single overhead camshaft contained within a rectangular aluminum cambox mounted on top of the engine and driven by shafts and bevel gears from the nose of the crankshaft." --
"The first four chassis produced were allocated the numbers 4001 - 4004 inclusive, the first of a new series of chassis numbers intended to distinguish these new eight cylinder models from their contemporary four cylinder brethren. These four cars were entered as a factory team for the 1922 French Grand Prix which was to be held on 16th July around a triangular road circuit near Strasbourg, conveniently adjacent to Bugatti's Molsheim factory.
Initially the cars were equipped with bolster-tank racing bodies similar to those of the racing Brescias, but shortly before the race they were replaced with far more streamlined coachwork, being of circular cross-section throughout from the cowled radiator to the pointed tail through the center of which the exhaust was discharged. Little wonder that these bodies were immediately likened to cigars!
In the race itself the Bugattis faced strong opposition, in particular from the Fiat and Sunbeam teams, while Count Louis Zborowski was driving one of the 1500cc Aston Martin twin-cam cars which he had personally financed. The race was held over a distance of 500 miles which proved too much for most of the 18-car field, only four running at the fall of the flag, three of which were Bugattis. The race was easily won by the sole surviving Fiat, another of which had crashed two laps from the finish but had still covered more distance than the third Bugatti. Thus, although denied a victory in their debut Grand Prix, the Bugattis had accounted well for themselves, particularly in respect of their reliability."
Team Bugatti (1922)
Team Bugatti at the 1922 French Grand Prix in Strasbourg: #5 Ernest Friedrich, #12 Pierre de Vizcaya, #18 Jacques Mones-Maury (The Marqués de Casa Maury) and #22 Pierre De Vizcaya.
My restoration and colorization of an image in the Gallica Digital Library.
One of the cars was sold by Christies in 2001:
"Following the resounding success of his 1500cc cars which secured the first four places in the most important voiturette race of the 1921 season at Brescia, Ettore Bugatti decided that the time had come for him to consider competing in the Grands Prix, then as now the pinnacle of European motor racing. Accordingly he set about the design of an entirely new model which was destined to become his first eight cylinder design to enter production and the forerunner of the wide range of racing and sports Bugattis, most notably the Type 35 Grand Prix model and the Grand Sport Type 43, which were introduced over the following decade.
The Type 29 Bugatti engine was designed initially in 1500cc form, but its capacity was soon increased to two litres to match the new Grand Prix regulations which were to come into force at the start of the 1922 season. A batch of five chassis frames was prepared which strictly were designated Type 22 on account of their 2.4 meter wheelbases, but they featured new cross-members and were in effect shortened versions of the subsequent 2.85 meter wheelbase standard Type 30 production frames.
These first chassis were fitted with newly designed front and rear axles and a new steering box, but retained initially the same gearbox as was used on the 1500cc four cylinder models. The front axle was equipped with hydraulic front brakes, a novelty at the time, while the rear axle retained cable-operated brakes, the drums of which were of much larger diameter, and the radiator was an enlarged version of that of the concurrent 16 valve model.
As with most of the chassis features, the engine too was of an entirely new design, a straight eight with its crankshaft running in three large ball-races and having bronze-bearings in the connecting rods, all mounted, for the one and only time in a Bugatti engine, in a one-piece barrel crankcase. The twin four cylinder blocks featured fixed heads with two spark plugs and three vertical valves per cylinder, two small inlets and one large exhaust. The valves were actuated via finger-type rockers from a single overhead camshaft contained within a rectangular aluminum cambox mounted on top of the engine and driven by shafts and bevel gears from the nose of the crankshaft." --
"The first four chassis produced were allocated the numbers 4001 - 4004 inclusive, the first of a new series of chassis numbers intended to distinguish these new eight cylinder models from their contemporary four cylinder brethren. These four cars were entered as a factory team for the 1922 French Grand Prix which was to be held on 16th July around a triangular road circuit near Strasbourg, conveniently adjacent to Bugatti's Molsheim factory.
Initially the cars were equipped with bolster-tank racing bodies similar to those of the racing Brescias, but shortly before the race they were replaced with far more streamlined coachwork, being of circular cross-section throughout from the cowled radiator to the pointed tail through the center of which the exhaust was discharged. Little wonder that these bodies were immediately likened to cigars!
In the race itself the Bugattis faced strong opposition, in particular from the Fiat and Sunbeam teams, while Count Louis Zborowski was driving one of the 1500cc Aston Martin twin-cam cars which he had personally financed. The race was held over a distance of 500 miles which proved too much for most of the 18-car field, only four running at the fall of the flag, three of which were Bugattis. The race was easily won by the sole surviving Fiat, another of which had crashed two laps from the finish but had still covered more distance than the third Bugatti. Thus, although denied a victory in their debut Grand Prix, the Bugattis had accounted well for themselves, particularly in respect of their reliability."