Launched in 1930, the Bugatti Type 50 heralded a new era with the
introduction of the Molsheim marque's first twin-cam design, a
supercharged 4.9-litre straight-eight engine of prodigious power. At a
time when brute force was needed to win the Le Mans 24 Hours, a
competition version was developed and three such Type 50s took part in
1931. The car around which this book is focused, 50177, was leading the
famous endurance race when the team withdrew it owing to tyre failures
that had afflicted the sister cars, causing one to crash heavily at high
speed. The fascinating story of 50177, and the Type 50 in general, is
told in this brilliantly researched and superbly illustrated book in the
Great Cars series. Introductory chapters explain the economically
perilous world of 1931, the genius of Ettore and Jean Bugatti, the
bloodline of large-capacity Bugatti engines, and the Type 46 from which
the Type 50 was derived. There follows an in-depth exploration of the
Type 50's design and development, including the Miller inspiration
behind its twin-cam engine. The four Le Mans races in which Type 50s
took part form the core of the book and tell a story of promise
unfulfilled. The subject car, 50177, raced three times, in 1931 as a
works entry with race no. 5 (driven by Albert Divo and Guy Bouriat) and
in 1934 and 1935 with works assistance as no. 2 (driven by Pierre Veyron
and Roger Labric). A section about the drivers presents illustrated
biographies of the four men who raced 50177 as well as the four others
in the 1931 works team -- Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi in no. 4 and
Maurice Rost and Count Caberto Conelli in no. 6. Post-war, three-time Le
Mans winner Luigi Chinetti bought 50177 in 1949 and took it to America,
where it spent nearly 50 years with five different owners. The last of
them was Miles Coverdale, a passionate Bugatti collector who kept the
car for 23 years and uncovered much of its history through
correspondence with former works mechanics, notably Robert Aumaître.
Co-authors Mark Morris and Julius Kruta, wellknown in the Bugatti world
for their immense knowledge and enthusiasm, present a wealth of fresh
information and illustration in this fine book.
