Start with what the Bugatti Type 35 is: a Underslung Type with 1092–2262 cc 3-valve SOHC straight-8, built from 1924 to 1930, the vintage years, when coachbuilders still shaped most of what was sold. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Ettore Bugatti.
Where it came from
The Bugatti Type 35 is a race car design produced by Bugatti at their Molsheim premises between 1924 and 1930. It was extremely successful when raced by the factory works team. It was also bought by a number of privateer clientele from around the world and pioneered the concept of a race-ready car available for purchase. The arch/egg-shaped radiator is emblematic, as is the rear of the car. The tapered stern has been called a 'Bordino tail' and Ettore Bugatti may have been influenced by the shape of the earlier Fiat 804 driven and modified by Pietro Bordino.
The car has also become synonymous with being the first to use cast alloy wheels. The Type 35 was successful in its intended purpose, winning over 1,000 races. It took the Grand Prix World Championship in 1926 after winning 351 races and setting 47 records in the two prior years. At its height the Type 35 averaged 14 race wins per week. Bugatti won the Targa Florio for five consecutive years, from 1925 through 1929, with the Type 35.
Under the skin
The engine is 1092–2262 cc 3-valve SOHC straight-8; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 650–750 kg. Drive goes through a 4-speed manual + reverse. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2400 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Bugatti line-up the Bugatti Type 35 has a clear place: it replaced the Bugatti Type 30; it handed the line to the Bugatti Type 51; the factory was Molsheim-Dorlisheim, Alsace (Usine Bugatti de Molsheim), France. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Rolls-Royce Silver-Ghost landaulet, the Tatra 13, the Citroën B10. Nearby in the Bugatti catalogue sit the Bugatti 57 Galibier and the Bugatti 8-cylinder line.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Bugatti Type 35 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.