Strip the Bugatti Type 18 back to its specification sheet and the character is already there: 5027 cc Straight-4, 100 bhp. Bugatti built from 1912 to 1914, as the assembly line was turning motoring into an industry.
The background
The Bugatti Type 18, also called the Garros, is an automobile produced from 1912 through 1914. Produced shortly after the start of the business, the design was something of a relic. It had much in common with the cars Ettore Bugatti had designed for Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik but with the radiator of the Type 13. Only seven examples were built, and three are known to survive.
The engineering
Under the skin sits 5027 cc Straight-4; it is rated at 100 bhp. Kerb weight is 2750 lb. Power-to-weight lands near 36 horsepower per tonne, which is leisurely, which for a car of its age and purpose is the point. The gearbox is a four-speed sliding-pinion gearbox / final drive by side chains. The wheelbase is 100.4 in / Track 49.2 in. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Where it sits
Where it sits in Bugatti's history is not in doubt: it was built at Molsheim, Alsace, Germany. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Fiat S74, the Alfa Romeo A.L.F.A. 40/60 GP, the Fiat S61. Its Bugatti stablemates include the Bugatti 57 Galibier and the Bugatti 8-cylinder line.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Bugatti Type 18 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.