16 minute read
an endurance racing legend
Bug’s life
By Lawrence Butcher
Ettore Bugatti created arguably the most successful racecar of all time with the Type 35
Few racing cars reach truly iconic status, and fewer still gain kudos beyond motorsport dilettantes. The Ferrari 250 GTO and Ford GT40 are two such cars, but at the top of the pile sits the Bugatti Type 35 (and variants of), its horseshoe grill and red emblem often eliciting recognition even in those unfamiliar with racing cars.
However, they are likely unaware that the Type 35 is arguably the most successful racing car of all time, eclipsing even the Porsche 911 if one considers the time span over which it competed. Between 1924 and 1930 the model secured more than 2000 race victories, and amassed 351 wins in the first two years alone.
However, the Type 35’s debut, at the 1924 Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France staged in Lyon, was less than stellar. Thanks to Ettore Bugatti insisting on the use of an unproven tyre, developed by Dunlop to his own design to specifically work with the car’s novel, two-piece cast aluminium wheels, all five cars entered had trouble. One retired, one crashed and only two of the remaining three were classified in the 11 finishers, in seventh and eighth place.
Following a switch to conventional rubber supplied by Michelin, the car’s fortunes improved rapidly. Over the following five years, the Type 35 and its derivatives would claim a plethora of victories across Europe, in Grand Prix and hill climb events.
Overall, around 400 of the type were constructed, and a large proportion remain in existence today with a significant number still actively competing in historic racing. This despite
Ferdinand de Vizcaya whose father, Pierre, funded Bugatti to start his company, competed in the 1925 Targa Florio driving a Type 35. A similar example won overall
the fact the entry price for ownership of an original is well north of £1 million, with ‘good’ cars fetching in excess of £4 million. There are of course replicas, some of which are eligible to race but for the purposes of this article, we will concentrate on the factory-built cars.
Complexity of nature ‘They are complicated cars, there’s no doubt about it,’ says Ollie Crosthwaite of long time Bugatti specialists Crosthwaite and Gardiner. As a result, originality is highly prized. It was not uncommon for cars to be bastardised. If an engine broke, there was no guarantee it would be replaced with an original unit, or even one from Bugatti. This complexity also means their upkeep is not the work of a moment and some parts in particular require an in-depth understanding of the
Bugatti was a force to be reckoned with on the Targa Florio and in 1927 Emilio Materassi scored another win for the young car maker in the Type 35C
original design intention and considerable engineering capabilities, beyond the skills of the average restoration outfit.
Although Bugattis only account for a small percentage of C&G’s work these days, the company has decades of experience from which it can draw. Founded in the 1960s by Bugatti racer
Dick Crosthwaite and toolmaker and restoration engineer John Gardiner, the company began as a specialist in Bugatti parts. Over the years it branched out into other marques and established an expertise in the restoration and recreation of components likely unmatched anywhere in the world.
Ollie, Dick’s son, took charge of day-today operation at the company in 2009. He had previously trained as a tool maker and worked as an aircraft mechanic, servicing the Crunchy Flying Circus’ aircraft, before returning to the family business via a stint on an historic race team.
In years gone by, the company held a considerable supply of new old stock parts, purchased from the Bugatti factory in Molsheim. ‘Dad used to go to the factory to buy parts in the 70’s,’ recalls Crosthwaite. ‘They’d wrap them up in these big Bugatti train posters. They had a big stack of them on the floor in the stores.’ The posters in question feature a Bugatti Type 57 racing a Bugatti styled train, and now fetch well over £1000 each.
Alas, the days of picking up NOS parts are long gone and for decades, C&G has produced many components for Bugattis of all types, as well as those for other historic cars. The company can manufacture all-new Coventry Climax engines as well as rarities such as blocks for Ferrari and Alfa Romeo Grand Prix cars.
In the past this work was undertaken on manual machines, but the company sold off many of its specialist tools, such as crank production lathes and cam grinders. It now relies on Haas CNC centres and a pair of Matsura five-axis machines, one of which can accommodate 850mm billets weighing up to 500kg.
The Type 35B competed in Grands Prix in the 1920s and it remains the archetypal high performance car of the time
When it comes to camshafts and rockers modern metallurgy makes new items more reliable than originals
The attention to detail on parts they produce is impressive. Take for example a Bugatti light bracket. In period, these were forged or cast. Today, they are produced by CNC machining, but the surface fi nish replicates the original.
Material strain It is the Type 35’s engine that best illustrates the complexity of their construction. With the exception of the 4-cylinder equipped Type 37 (a development of the 35) all the cars featured a straight eight, with the majority of competition versions running roller bearing cranks. ‘If you bought a 35T, or 37, you got the boy’s model, with a 4-cylinder, solid front axle, and wire wheels,’ explains Crosthwaite. ‘They were expensive toys and if you had the money, it was hollow front axle, alloy wheels and the eightcylinder and a roller bearing crank.’
The construction of the crankshaft highlights the intricate nature of the engine. Constructed from eight sections, in two main halves, each throw is located by means of a taper and cotter pin. ‘The angle you grind on the cotter pin is how you line the sections up as you assemble it,’ points out Crosthwaite. The two main crank sections are joined by a tapered fi t and keyway.
C&G manufactures new cranks, previously using its own forgings for each section but now simply starting from billet. In the past, production this entailed many diff erent turning and milling operations on manual machines, made more complex by the fact the journals are case hardened. Now, the entire process can be completed on a single fi ve-axis machining centre. It takes the company around three weeks to build a crank from scratch.
The cylinder blocks are another case in point. Head gasket technology was far from advanced in the 1930s so, much like Miller with his Indy engines, Bugatti opted for a one-piece block and head. Although metallurgy has moved on since the 20s, the casting process for new blocks is still challenging as it is very fi ne and with modern health and safety, some of what’s needed to get the metal to run well isn’t allowed. C&G doesn’t currently produce blocks as there is already a supplier in Germany and Crosthwaite notes there is not much point in two companies vying for what is a relatively small market. However, he does propose that in time, additive manufacturing may provide a viable alternative to casting.
When the blocks do fail, it tends to be between cylinders two and three; liners can be fi tted but Crosthwaite states emphatically, ‘if they go there, its dead.’ However, blocks were never numbered. ‘[Original] Bugatti parts are only really valuable when they’re numbered,’ says Crosthwaite. ‘The crankcase and sump have the chassis number and engine number, as does the cam box, but not the blocks. As the block is machined on every face, you’d be hard pressed to tell a new block from an old one.’
Advances in materials technology have also paid dividends when it comes to reliability of the valve train in the straight-8. The cam is gear driven with bevel gears and Crosthwaite says the drive is generally reliable as long as you keep an eye on wear, particularly on the skew gears.
When it comes to the camshaft and rockers, modern metallurgy and manufacturing techniques make new items far more reliable than the originals. ‘We can make the cams and rocker fi ngers last a lot longer now,’ says Crosthwaite. ‘We have better materials and heat treatments and we probably know a lot more about surface fi nishing than they did in the 20s.’
Beyond straight improvements in materials or manufacturing methods, there are areas where the performance of the engines can be subtly improved,
The Type 35B had its first Grand Prix victory at Monaco in 1929 in the hands of W Williams after a duel with Rudolph Caracciola’s Mercedes
for example the superchargers. C&G manufacturers completely new supercharger units that are slightly improved over the original parts.
The original blower rotors are a three-lobe design, but C&G’s use a two-lobe rotor, similar to those found on later Type 57 cars. ‘They didn’t quite get the profile right and there are parts where the clearance changes,’ explains Crosthwaite. ‘Ours have a different profile and a constant gap [between the rotor and housing]. They’re just a bit more efficient.’
Overall, the engines, if looked after, are generally reliable. ‘You want to take a look at the crank now and again, keep an eye on the rollers,’ notes Croswthwaite. ‘You also need to change the oil regularly. The oil is so much
better these days, as long as you keep an eye on the methanol mixing with the oil and not letting it break down.’
Despite the inherent resilience of the originals, Crosthwaite says it is not uncommon for the company to supply entirely new engines, either fully built or in kit form. ‘A usual thing would be for a customer with a very original car that they still want to race,’ he says. ‘They may be due a rebuild and have an original engine with some new parts already fitted, but still have the original parts as well. They will build up the old engine with all original parts, put it to one side, then race the new engine and not be scared of putting a rod through the crankcase.’
If an original motor has been damaged, there is still a case for repairing even catastrophic damage. However, as Crosthwaite explains, repairs can be more expensive than replacement. ‘They don’t call it restoration, these days it’s conservation and if you’re conserving an engine, it can get really expensive,’ he says.
The gearboxes are relatively conventional, a four-speed, crash unit, but gear wear is high. Again, C&G used to undertake the entire gear manufacturing process in house, but now it is more cost effective to subcontract out the cutting work, though they still produce the blanks and heat treat them. There are some refinements possible to the gear profile and surface finish, but driver quality can make a difference. ‘It’s a crash box and if you put a bad driver in the car, you’re going to need a set of gears pretty quickly,’ says Crosthwaite bluntly.
A company called Brineton Engineering does offer for the Type 35 a dogbox conversion which is highly rated, though not commonly seen in competition, as a lot of Bugatti racing customers prefer to maintain authenticity.
Simplicity in frame By the standards of a modern racecar the Bugatti chassis is beautifully simple, but compared to its peers it was an advanced design. It features two stressed channel sections running its full length, with the rails arcing out from behind the engine compartment to accommodate the body.
Various cross members span between these main sections and at the front, the engine is rigidly mounted while two cross members behind the engine support the transmission. ‘You want to make sure before you build a car that you straighten the chassis on a jig, because most if not all of them have had an accident,’ says Crosthwaite. ‘They’ve just been around a long time
The Type 35 was built on a simple spaceframe with crossmembers that added stiffness although the bodywork was wired into place due to movement
and in their day were an expensive car to repair, so you certainly need to make sure the chassis is straight and square.’
A unique feature of the Type 35 is the front axle, a patented Bugatti design which is of hollow construction with the front leaf springs passing through two holes, forged through the case-hardened nickel chrome steel. The springs are located in place by upper and lower wedges, the top wedge being adjustable to allow for changes in castor angle.
Damping is somewhat rudimentary relying on a relatively complex friction shock absorber, featuring a steel shoe pressing against a liner within a bronze drum; keeping these working smoothly is a constant battle for racers. When coupled with the semi-elliptical suspension springs, poorly adjusted dampers can lead to a jarring ride.
Innovative thinking One of the Type 35’s signature features are the spoke, cast alloy wheels, which also incorporate the brake drums. The wheels are a beaded edge design, with a detachable outer rim held in placed by 6mm, countersunk screws. The bead on the edge of the tyre fits into a ‘clincher’, which the tyre locks into when inflated. The use of a combined brake drum and rim not only reduced unsprung weight, but also allowed for (relatively) rapid changing of the brake shoes during a pitstop. The wheels are one of the most common parts C&G supplies. ‘The market for wheels is still very strong,’ observes Crosthwaite. ‘Wheels do crack and people are very conscious of [having] safe wheels.’
At the rear, the car features a twopiece, cast aluminium differential casing, with semi-floating halfshafts in steel axle tubes. The rear axle assembly is located by the springs to the rear and a pair of radius rods running forwards. A torque arm also bolts to the left side of the differential housing, fixed to one of the chassis cross members. Impressively, the axle tubes are machined from solid steel billets.
The bodywork is all aluminium, made in nine sections, with each section secured by screws. Bugatti knew that the chassis was flexible as he had designed it that way and as such, also recognised that the bodywork could not be rigidly attached. Instead, each screw sits in a brass ferrule, larger than the screw’s diameter, allowing for a degree of movement. To prevent the screws working their way out (they are not done up tight) each panel’s screws are wired together.
Bodywork is of course, the first casualty in any racing incident and here,
Bugatti knew that the chassis was flexible and that the bodywork could not be rigidly attached
Crosthwaite notes replacement is not entirely straight forward. ‘Getting the shape right can be quite hard, but even then, the hard bit is making sure the louvres are correct,’ he says. ‘That, and every body is different in its own way.’
Overall, though the Type 35 and its descendants may have acquired significant value over the years, they can be raced. Admittedly, their bespoke racecar pedigree can hold its challenges. ‘You don’t work on Bugattis without a lathe and a mill,’ points out Crosthwaite. ‘It’s different to, say, running a Jaguar E type, where you just need a big toolbox. A guy with a Bugatti has a smaller toolbox and machine tools. It’s a different sort car.’
However, when it comes to running them, provided everything is within specs they are reliable and, in the right hands, as competitive now as in period.
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