Bugatti Type 35C, supercharging the myth

Although Bugatti is known today for its supercars with amazing performance, the legend was not born of pure speed, but came from the track.

In the 1920s, hundreds of small car manufacturers started to build cars, and dozens of models were produced in garages. But if one thing is fatal for these craftsmen, it is time, because many of them will then sink into oblivion after having manufactured only 2 or 3 vehicles.

But our builder of the day has managed to survive this fatal time thanks to a legend based on one vehicle, the Bugatti type 35.

It was this particular model that allowed Bugatti to go from craftsman to manufacturer, and above all to continue its journey through time.

So the Type 35 saw the light of day in 1924 at the Grand Prix de Lyon, where its debut was rather mixed with a 7ᵉ place for the first car.

The Type 35 to the exposition "Speed" at the museum of Compiègne

But this was only the first year of the car. For if the Type 35 in 1924 was getting 100 horsepower out of its eight cylinder, very quickly the car knew improvements that would make it famous.

Thus, in 1925, the Type 35A was unveiled, intended for road use, and then in 1926, the legend was established with a first victory in the famous Targa Florio race.

But it was in 1927 that Bugatti experienced a meteoric rise with the Type 35C!

In cooperation with the Italian engineer Edmund Moglia, Bugatti launched a real racing car.

Moglia decided to install a compressor on the two-seater, increasing its power from 100 to about 120 horsepower. With its 700 kilograms, the car had incredible performance for its time.

Because the work in 1924 was done in depth, the type 35 was already a well founded car. The car stands on 2 rigid axles coupled with leaf springs, which allowed the Bugatti to not roll. The front axle forged in Molsheim is hollow allowing to lighten the car and at the end of this axle the new wheels more ventilated allow a better cooling of the brakes (essential brakes when one took 200km/h in these cars).

This fabulous mixture allows the Type 35C (for Compressor) to shine on all the races where it is present, and this, during two years. The car with this supercharger literally nailed its opponents on the spot during re-acceleration and the top speed of nearly 200 km/h was also destructive for the competition.

You had to be pretty crazy to dare to drive these cars with their fuzzy steering, drum brakes and most of the time on dirt roads and all this at close to 200 km/h. But it was all this that created the legend of motorsport and of certain manufacturers such as Bugatti.

Arthur Legrand